Nipple care during pregnancy and other ???

goodlife · Post by **goodlife** » Wed May 21, 2003 12:31 am

Hi everyone!
This is my first time posting here.
I have a little female calico who is about to give birth anyday now. I have a few questions.
First...I noticed that her nipples appear very dry and cracked and crusty. Is this normal or should I try to put something on them?
Secondly...I have no idea how old my cat is. I was sitting out on my front porch one night and heard a meowing sound and then this little tiny kitten just walked right up to me and jumped in my lap. So she became ours. And this is very ironic. I called our vet one morning to talk to them and get information about having her spayed. I told them I was going to bring her in at the beginning of the next week for them to do it. That very night my son came to me and said..."Something is wrong with Aimee, come see" When I went outside to see, Aimee had a visitor- hence the kittens that will be born any day now...LOL Anyway, it is my guess that she is now not older than 8-9 months old. I've informed my vet that she is due any day and they said to just call them if we need them. But, do you think at her young age that she will know what to do and be able to handle it? She is a very petite cat.
Thirdly, as of this morning, I put a cardboard box for her in my bathroom. I put a few extra bath rugs on the floor and put her food and water bowl in there with her and have her confined in there. I did this mainly because we have another cat...a male..and I don't know how he would react if she were to have her kittens somewhere else in the house and he were to find them. Everytime I've gone in there to check on her, she's been laying in her box. I guess that's a good sign.
Fourth...how long after she delivers until I can have her spayed? As soon as she weans them? We certainly don't want her to have anymore kittens.

And just out of curiosity...what is a feral cat?

Post by **Traci** » Wed May 21, 2003 12:40 am

The best thing you can do, and most importantly, is get her to your vet ASAP for an exam. Gestation is roughly 63 days, if she is not around full term, she can be safely spayed.

You need to be concerned about her own health and ability to deliver without complications. If she is only 6-8 months old, she's just a kitten herself and may not be able to safely deliver, plus, you don't know how many kittens she may have (putting a burden on both her and yourself). If your male cat is not neutered, he may be a risk to newborn kittens (territorial, agressive, some male intact cats will attack/kill newborns)

Get her to your vet for an evaluation, he can tell you at what stage her pregnancy is at, her general health condition, test for FELV/FIV, etc. Don't even wait another day on this please.

goodlife · Post by **goodlife** » Wed May 21, 2003 12:57 am

Tomorrow is 63 days...which is why I said she is due to give birth any time. I chose not to have her spayed once I knew that she had mated...that's just like an abortion.
We've had the cat since last November so I know that she is at least 8 months old probably closer to 10 months old. My main concern is that she is kind of petite. I've spoken with our vet several times. I went there yesterday to get some Advantage for both cats and talked to them about her again. They are on standby in case of an emergency. We are also very familiar with the After Hours Emergency Animal Hospital because our male cat gets urine crystals and it never fails he gets sick on a weekend. (Thankfully, he is now on a special diet and hopefully it won't happen again!) But Aimee is in good health. We brought her to our vet not long after we decided to keep her and had her checked out.
Our male cat (Tibbles) is neutered. He does not have access to the bathroom where Aimee is, and that is the reason I have her in there.
Tibbles and Aimee get along great but I didn't want to take any chances.

kate & kobi · Post by **kate & kobi** » Wed May 21, 2003 1:04 am

you asked about feral cats - feral means "wild." yours doesn't sound feral at all, if she jumped right into your lap the first moment she met you! usually feral cats are initially very timid around humans as a result of not being exposed to positive human contact very early in life, or just having lived in the "wild" for a long time - though the "wild" may mean in a colony of cats in a town or city.

good luck with your kitty! Traci has lots of great info on what to do when your cat is expecting ... check out the links under "Feline Health" if you haven't seen it already.

-kate and kobi (ex-feral sweetie)

goodlife · Post by **goodlife** » Wed May 21, 2003 1:12 am

We think that someone came to our neighborhood and dropped her off. Not really sure where she came from. I called our vet and some of the others in the area and the pound to ask if anyone was looking for a little lost calico kitten but had no luck. And she was just the sweetest little thing. She loved to be held and curl up next to one of us at night. After the first day, she had won over my husband. He called to her and she went right to him and that did it. He said that was the first cat that had ever come to him when he called it....LOL

kate & kobi · Post by **kate & kobi** » Wed May 21, 2003 1:25 am

Sounds like fate! Sometimes I think cats have radar that points them to people who will love them.

btw, is your male cat the father? is he neutered?

goodlife · Post by **goodlife** » Wed May 21, 2003 1:37 am

No, our male cat is not the father. He is neutered. I saw the father but I have no idea where he came from or who he belongs to. I've never seen him again.

How do you know if your cat would be more comfortable with you there when she gives birth or if she would rather be left alone?
I just went to check on her and she's happily laying in her box.

Tina B and crew · Post by **Tina B and crew** » Wed May 21, 2003 7:23 am

my cat frodo practically begged me to be with her when she gave birth....she followed me if I left the room, even when she was in the process of delivery!! But our foster Gretchen, who just gave birth 8 weeks ago (and has since found a home

) got increasingly grumpy as she got closer to delivery day. Most cats don't have problems with delivery however I would keep a very close eye on this one, at 8-10 months and petite you are best to be safe than sorry. Make sure you have the number of an ER vet in case she has problems after hours. But chances are she will do just fine.

As far as spaying her, it can be done once the kittens are weaned. She can and possibly will go into heat while she is still nursing, so be aware of that and do not let her out. Cats can get pregnant again right away. Once she has had the kittens keep an eye on them to make sure they are nursing well....when our foster Gretchen was pregnant I got a can of KMR kitten formula from the vet just in case we needed to supplement. She had 7 kittens so I was concerned they wouldn't get enough...but she did fine. You also want to make sure she is cleaning them and stimulating them to use the bathroom. She will most likely know how to do all this by instinct, but it's always good to know what to watch for. Good luck...do keep us posted

Post by **Traci** » Wed May 21, 2003 2:12 pm

goodlife wrote:I chose not to have her spayed once I knew that she had mated...that's just like an abortion.

No, on the contrary, it is not. Animals do not equate 'abortion' as humans would, this is simply not an approach to be confused about. Think of it in the following terms: For every litter you allow to deliver, an equal number of kittens wait at a shelter for a loving home, and a very high percentage will be euthanized simply because there is no home available to them.

Ownership begins with responsibility and education!

Love Your Pets - Spay & Neuter

goodlife · Post by **goodlife** » Wed May 21, 2003 3:23 pm

Are you implying that I am not a responsible pet owner?