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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.

Ye gods, my cats gone and got herself knocked up

340 replies

MalodyandJim · 13/09/2016 07:05

Confused

She's a beautiful pure breed birman. We've had her just over a year. We bought her off a family member who has bred birmans for years and she was from the last litter ever. She was the only girl and we had decided with them that we would keep her for breeding possibly one litter (family member shows cats all over the country). Hence why she hasn't been spayed.

She started calling in June and we kept her in for a week. She stopped calling and everything seemed fine, we let her back out again. Around this time I took her to the vet as she seemed off her food, vet gave me some overrid? to stop her ovulating as ideally we didn't want her having a littler until she was older.

Last week she seemed to suddenly explode, checked her nipples and yep pink and huge. She's bloody pregnant! I don't think she got pregnant in June as she would have had them by now. So no signs of calling and the overrid doesn't seem to have worked.

Except now I have no idea how far along she is! She's pretty big, very big pink nipples and I can feel the kittens moving around inside her so I don't think she's got very long to go.

Family friend is away for a month so is no help. What do I do?! Does she need to go to the vet? I've been reading up and it all seems straightforward but it's a pain not knowing when exactly she's due.

I've got her a nice box and old blankets for the birth, is there anything else I need to do?

Ye gods, my cats gone and got herself knocked up
OP posts:
Thread gallery
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torthecatlady · 20/09/2016 17:44

We haven't had any pics in ageeeees! Sad
I'm desperate to see them in all their cuteness!

Meadows76 · 20/09/2016 17:47

Gorgeous kitties. Try not to handle them though, they are really too young.

Iliveinalighthousewiththeghost · 20/09/2016 17:49

How is the new mummy and her little ones doing.
Do you know the gender of them, yet.

PinkissimoAndPearls · 20/09/2016 17:57

I am so sad I sent the photo of the new kitties to DH who said "TBH I don't really like newborn kittens" HmmShock Grounds to LTB, I think so?!

Slightly betraying my usual MN cynical unsentimental persona herebut if anyone has Sky, on TLC there is a programme called "Too Cute" which features new kittens, puppies, little pigs and hedgehogs etc...

Whenwillitrain · 20/09/2016 19:48

Don't like newborn kittens? Envy

Iliveinalighthousewiththeghost · 20/09/2016 20:00

"To be honest I don't really like newborn kittens".
I just can't understand that.

Iliveinalighthousewiththeghost · 20/09/2016 20:00

Definitely grounds to LTB.

Fluffycloudland77 · 20/09/2016 21:16

You think you know them & then they say something like that.

PinkissimoAndPearls · 21/09/2016 07:45

I know, I actually think it's reasonable grounds for divorce Grin

How are the humungous kittens today op?

saffronwblue · 21/09/2016 08:26

Did they turn into lions overnight?

MalodyandJim · 21/09/2016 10:29

Morning all

Slight problems on the home front. Mummy seems to be ignoring them Sad lots of squeaking in the night and she was asleep under my bed

I put her back in the drawer and laid her down stroking her. They all clambered on and had a feed but she seems v stressed. Trying to get out of the room and follow me.

Ye gods, my cats gone and got herself knocked up
Ye gods, my cats gone and got herself knocked up
Ye gods, my cats gone and got herself knocked up
OP posts:
SiaMia · 21/09/2016 10:31

On another note I don't think I've seen her cleaning them either. Breeder is coming over later to advise. Hopefully she just needs a good sleep. Kittens nice and warm, not lethargic at all

Soubriquet · 21/09/2016 10:32

Aren't mummy cats supposed to ignore them for a bit before feeding?

I'm sure I've heard that somewhere

MalodyandJim · 21/09/2016 10:32

Major name change fail! Ignore Blush

OP posts:
AnchorDownDeepBreath · 21/09/2016 11:09

That doesn't sound unusual to me - as a child, our cats were always having kittens under my bed and they'd squeak like anything. Mum ignored them a fair bit, too. Kittens can be hard work! Are you currently keeping her in the room all the time?

Ours cats are were random rescues and mongrels though, not pedigree at all.

cozietoesie · 21/09/2016 11:24

She might be rather overwhelmed with it all. It happens on occasion. Give us an update when the breeder has been?

cozietoesie · 21/09/2016 11:31

Thinking about it, can you imagine telling a new human mum that she was going to have to lick clean the backside of even one baby, let alone four? Cat mothers are made of stern stuff.

GoldenPlatitudes · 21/09/2016 11:37

I want one! Majorly broody for a kitten

MirabelleTree · 21/09/2016 11:38

Oh how lovely! Is she eating the extra food she needs plus drinking enough?

ThomasRichard · 21/09/2016 11:48

That takes co-sleeping to a whole new level.

RedDogsBeg · 21/09/2016 11:56

We had a cat who was a bit like you describe after giving birth, the one thing she did do well was clean them but she had no interest in them other than that, didn't want to feed them, interact with them, keep them warm, etc., we had a dog at the time that mothered anything and everything and the dog just looked and said "Right, I need to take over", and the cat looked at her as if to say "Carry on".

Between all us humans and the dog with the occasional input from the cat we managed to raise them all.

Cat loved the sex bit, not a fan of the mothering bit.

SoupDragon · 21/09/2016 12:37

They have a wonderful set of markings been them - great variety! Is the black one pure black or is it tabby underneath?

CremeBrulee · 21/09/2016 12:42

Some cats are not good mothers. We had a tonkinese (Siamese x Burmese) who had a planned litter but was an appalling mother. They were just too much like hard work. She would look at them as if to say 'oh god, are you lot still here?'.

Luckily we had an older Siamese girl who was an excellent mother and she kicked into social worker mode, adopting them and carrying them out of danger when bad mum tried to move days old kittens on to the top of the tall wardrobe. That was a stressful day, mum would pick up a kitten and leap up on to bedside table, then the cast of drawers and finally onto the top of the wardrobe, smacking the kitten into the furniture with each jump. Social worker cat would then leap up, steal the kitten and bring it gently back to the box.

Be prepared to have to look after the kittens yourself if she isn't interested in feeding and toileting them.

emotionsecho · 21/09/2016 12:42

I like the little grey one, but they all have interesting markings.

cozietoesie · 21/09/2016 12:52

Oneago's mother abandoned her (first) litter pretty well at birth but Oneago and his remaining litter brother were successfully raised by their breeder. Your girl doesn't sound quite so bad but she does sound a little fed up. I'd agree that you should be ready to intervene quickly if needed. The breeder will advise. Smile