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The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

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Original poster

My tiny 'male' cat is about to become a mother

50 replies

Themasterandmargaritas · 12/10/2010 19:45

Not having planned to raise a litter of kittens, what must I do to help her? Where shall I put her? How long will the kittens have to stay with her?

OP posts:

yousaidit · 12/10/2010 19:47

As a non cat owner, but my grandma was, she insisted the cat will just need a private cosy spot ( a cardboard box, stinky favourite blanket?) to hide in and not be disturbed, somewhere quiet she likes to rest ( a bedroom, room under a bed or sofa or table?) plenty food and milk...

someone will be a lot more help than me, sorry!

But good luck!! I hope you find the naughty lady cat that did this to him!

Original poster

Themasterandmargaritas · 12/10/2010 20:29

She was a lady of the night.

I am contemplating sueing the vet.

She may take herself off somewhere in the garden. I just hope the dogs don't get to her first.

OP posts:

SecretNutellaFix · 12/10/2010 20:29

Congratulations!

Original poster

Themasterandmargaritas · 12/10/2010 20:31

Thanks.

OP posts:

SecretNutellaFix · 12/10/2010 20:31

Ideally Kittens shouldn't be rehomed till they are about 8 weeks old and after they are about 3 weeks old, need to be handled well, or they may get aggressive with their new staff owners.

Original poster

Themasterandmargaritas · 12/10/2010 20:40

Staff? Staff? Just what are you implying?

Oh they will be handled alright. It'll be difficult to keep the dc off them. I'm marketing them at the moment as the perfect Christmas present. I've got homes for 4 so far. I'm not sure what will happen if she only has three.

At what point do they wean and I have to give them real kitten food?

OP posts:

bubblerock · 12/10/2010 20:43

How old is she?

Original poster

Themasterandmargaritas · 12/10/2010 20:45

She is really young, only 10 months, my poor wee thing.

OP posts:

bubblerock · 12/10/2010 20:47

How come you didn't get it neutered? (I know you thought it was a boy)

Original poster

Themasterandmargaritas · 12/10/2010 20:49

Exactly, we were planning to take him as the dc put it 'to have his balls chopped off' now-ish, but then I noticed he/she was getting fatter.

OP posts:

bubblerock · 12/10/2010 20:52

Ok, is she birthing now?

Original poster

Themasterandmargaritas · 12/10/2010 20:53

Lawd I hope not. How long is gestation? When she is lying down I can see her tummy wriggling.

Will she start to hunt out suitable places? She is very keen on the wardrobes at the moment....

OP posts:

SecretNutellaFix · 12/10/2010 21:04

Yep, sounds like she is trying to nest. I think a quiet wardrobe away from the children especially for the first week or so would be ideal. That way you can ensure she has enough peace and quiet,

bubblerock · 12/10/2010 21:07

I've had 3 foster cats labour with me over the past 2/3 months so I can give you a little advice. It's about 60-70 day gestation.

I kept all of mine inside but this was because they were abandoned and I didn't want them wandering, they all started acting strangely before birth - looking for the most awkward places to hide and generally mooching about. None of them lost their appetites or took any notice of the lovely comfy beds I put out for them .

The first two were pretty straightforward, both at 3am the first one lost 2 kittens they were just too small to survive through the night, Mum seemed to know this and didn't clean them like she did the others so it was left to me. They were both brilliant Mums, the experience for me was amazing if a little gross when each placenta is eaten! It is quite bloody so try to get old towels down - first cat gave birth on our cream bedroom carpet

The last cat I had had a really traumatic time, luckily I was on the phone throughout to a vet nurse, 2 of the kittens were breach and got stuck, bags burst and I had to physically pull them out by their little legs/tails - it was soooo scary. Mum was going crazy. All 5 survived and everything was fine but not a fun experience.

Attenborough · 12/10/2010 21:08

You need to prepare somewhere that she can use as a birthing box - you can buy the right sort of cardboard box online for about £13; I'll link in my next post. Otherwise, you need a biggish box (at least 1.5ft each way) lined with newspaper and an old, clean towel. If you can, put two clean towels in it, one above the other, so that you can take the top one out when she's given birth without bothering her too much and you'll be leaving one in place that smells familiar. Put the box somewhere dark, warm and quiet - you need to keep your DC away from her if you can as if she feels harassed she might abandon them and then you're stuck with newborn kittens to handrear which is an impossible job with DC.

When our foster cats have kittens, we buy sterile scissors and kitten milk online (more links coming in the next post), just in case. You can also buy stuff called Nurish-Em which is basically a vitamin supplement in a squeezable jelly that you can give to the mother, or the kittens once they're a few weeks old if you're worried about their diet.

The mum cat should be on a mix of adult and kitten food now - kitten food is richer and she needs the calories. Put her onto kitten food for all meals when she's given birth.

She will spend almost all of her time with the kittens at first so keep a litter tray nearby - in the same room. She probably won't leave them to go to another room.

Will post more as it occurs to me. Links coming up.

Original poster

Themasterandmargaritas · 12/10/2010 21:09

Now I am worried. We are going away for a week on Saturday.

OP posts:

Hangingbellyofbabylon · 12/10/2010 21:10

our cat had her first litter at 10 months and she was quite little. Under the bed, no problems at all and had 4 healthy babies. If she is petite you'll probably find she gets quite a bit fatter before the kitties arrive, our puss looked like she'd swallowed a football in the end.

Original poster

Themasterandmargaritas · 12/10/2010 21:12

Thank you both, that's very useful. But how do I know when she is nearing her time? What if she doesn't want to go near my carefully prepared box?

Don't worry about the links, I am in Kenya so I can't get hold of such luxuries But I can get kitten food so will start giving her some of that.

OP posts:

bubblerock · 12/10/2010 21:13

In the first 2-3 weeks you don't really have to do anything, Mum does it all, feeding toileting (licking them) etc.. their eyes will open at about 10 days. At around 4 weeks you can start introducing food - I gave mine tiny bits of corned beef off the end of my finger but they were soon gnoshing along with the big cats (at one point this summer I had 5 cats & 25 kittens).

They are a nightmare from 5 weeks onwards - into everything - pooing, eating etc.. Mum still feeds them too but they are proper little cats and make such a mess. (I still have 5 here now causing havoc - treading on my laptop!!!)

Original poster

Themasterandmargaritas · 12/10/2010 21:15

Where am I going to put them! at 25 kittens. That's dedication.

OP posts:

whomovedmychocolate · 12/10/2010 21:16

IME The cat will give birth behind a large expensive electrical device. She will wander about for a few hours looking distinctly shifty first. You will wonder where she has done a poo for ages from the look on her face.

If she decides not to use whatever you supply, simple put a towel next to where she is and she will move onto it - eventually.

There's not too much mess actually, you'll be surprised.

You probably will not need to do anything. But with mine, I had to deliver one (that got stuck) and help it with a rub to get it breathing - bloody cat was an maternal as a hatstand - but mostly they just get on with it.

Attenborough · 12/10/2010 21:16

Scissors:

Kitten milk:

Kittening box:

Nurish-Um:

Attenborough · 12/10/2010 21:20

Sorry! Was busy linking and missed your post about Kenya.

You'll get the idea of the box from the pic, but any box will do. In some ways, it's no bad thing that you're away - she's far more likely to have a normal birth than not and most animals prefer to labour alone so if she happened to go into labour when you were away, it would be ok.

She'll roam a bit around the house and look distracted and unsettled as she gets closer. She'll search out places like wardrobes that could be suitable places to have her babies.

Attenborough · 12/10/2010 21:21

Btw, in an emergency, I think kittens do ok on normal formula milk.

GhostlyMissBeehiving · 12/10/2010 21:21

TMAM - congratulations and obviously you'll need to start a thread for names once they are born

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