Your top tips for the birth of kittens...

[SoupDragon]

Not for me, for a friend .

Young cat (under 1) due imminently. What help will she need?

[PurpleOne]

Like little kittie dalmatians!!!

Soupy, they are gorgeous.

Can't take any here, no room at the inn. We already have 4 kittens here trashing the gaff. They're nearly 4 weeks old.
Our darling Dcat laboured right in front of me and the DDs and only took hour and a half.

My cat ate everything too, including her firstborns tail and half a leg (shes gone to cattery in sky now) and secondborns tail also.

Wishing you all the best x

[MumHadEnough]

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww THEY'RE BEAUTIFUL /

Congratulations on being midwife!

[BecauseImWorthIt]

Oh they're so beautiful!

Don't think my two cats would think very kindly of me if I had one though...

[ilovesprouts]

dd seen them now wants one !!

[ilovesprouts]

ill have the other 2 whith the spots on in my dreams lol !!!

[SoupDragon]

I've bagsied the one that has no spots on the body but 2 near the ears and a black tail.

Not that I'm actually having another cat Should it turn out to be a short haired male, I may find it difficult to resist though...

[ilovesprouts]

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH I want one with the spots on

[SoupDragon]

sigh

[ilovesprouts]

oy yes love the white black spots so cute i want one

[SoupDragon]

Oh yes, she ate everything [barf]
They're gorgeous. The white ones are all mostly white with black spots and black tails. They're adorable!

[ilovesprouts]

dh has fallen in love whith them ,i remember when i lived at home my mum was always spot on when our cats was going to give birth,she was like an old mother hen ,also wen my cat gave birth my dh watched them been born ,even when they ate the placenta [boak]

[ilovesprouts]

ooh so sweet ,want one not showing dd the pics

[SoupDragon]

Picrures on this thread if you're interested. Thanks for your help BTW.

[SoupDragon]

5 little kittens! 3 white-and-black, 2 black-and-white.

Text book birth, no still births, no cutting cords or anything.

I turned up at IB's house with a large old towel, put the kettle on and then heard the mother-to-be yowling. She appeared to be stuck in the fireplace behind a toybox so we moved the box and lo! there was a kitten hanging out of her. Towel was arranged under her, kitten helped into the right place and off she went. 1 kitten produced every 15 minutes or so with the mother purring in between. Can't tell you how delighted I was to act as midwife!

IroningBoard even managed not to throw up when the mother ate the placentas

[IroningBored]

Cutting the cord
Piles of dirty towels
Removing the sac

Gross.

I am hoping she will have kittens tonight on white washable Ikea doormat/rug and I can simply swap the rug out for another in the morning and let the kids coo at the new kittens.

better scenario still, she will have them tomorrow when SoupDragon is around (and I'll pop down the gym till its all over)

[SoupDragon]

Damn!

[ilovesprouts]

no west yorkshire thank god, we allready have 4 cats ,

[SoupDragon]

Is she near Croydon/Kenley?? [innocent]

[ilovesprouts]

dont tell my dd

[SoupDragon]

Oh god - 8 kittens. This cat looks football sized...

Need to find homes for them all!

[SoupDragon]

Thanks

Apparently the cat's bump has dropped.

I'm very excited about it - more so than my friend!

[FrogmellaMoonbeam]

After we got our cat (approx 6mths old) from the rescue centre we took her to the vets 4-5 weeks later for injections and to book her in to be spayed and got told we would be having kittens within the week. 2 weeks later with her looking like she had swallowed a football she decided to labour and birth in the middle of our living room floor and produced 8 live kittens. One needed a bit of help feeding as it couldnt latch on and was much smaller than the rest and at the time we didnt think it wouuld survive but we gave it some milk soaked bread to suck and then put it back with mum and ecpected it to have died overnight but a week later we could tell which it was and soon had a very traumatised mum and 8 boisterous kittens wrecking running round the house.

[BecauseImWorthIt]

One of our cats had her litter (4) before she was a year old and all was fine.

Only thing that went (nearly) wrong was that she tried to give birth under the duvet in our bed! I had bought a soft, furry basket for her but she wouldn't go anywhere near that. I had a brainwave - I wore a really big t-shirt to bed one night, and then lined the basket with that - she was happier then because it smelt of something familiar.

The mother should eat all the placentas.

Good luck - how exciting!

[SoupDragon]

My friend is worried about stillbirths, especially as the mother-to-be is very young (discovered to be pregnant at the spaying appointment!). I shall tell her to find some round ended scissors - I can't quite envisage her using her nails. I did tell her she'd have to nibble it off and lick the kitten clean if necessary - she wasn't impressed!

Does the mother eat the placenta(s)? Are there placentas? I have no idea.

I think we're going to have to go to Ikea tomorrow for shed loads of cheap towels!

[ravenAK]

My cat had two litters. Should've had her done, but she'd originally been a 'look after for a friend for a few months' cat - NO sign of coming on heat until at the age of 7 she suddenly shot past us & out...!

First litter: stillbirth, 2 livebirths, 2 stillbirths . Very nearly lost the survivors - Verity (mother cat) had no interest in them after producing the first dead kit & legged it.

If you do have to intervene, have something to rip the caul (round ended scissors?) - I used my nails - & be prepared for a stressful time - I had a very upset black cat hiding in a pitch-black cupboard & two clueless black kittens. Eventually we got them latched on & they're now both ENORMOUS neutered toms living with my parents!

Second litter (yes, she escaped AGAIN the day before we had her booked in for spaying) she produced another litter of 5 - all alive this time & managed all on her own.