Pregnant stray cat giving birth right now

KatW4

So we got home about a half an hour and as we were about to go inside the house we heard a stray cat meowing. She came right up to us and straight into the house.

She's literally giving birth as we speak, one kitten is almost out, but we have no idea what to do! If you have any tips I'd really appreciate it!!!

Also we have 3 cats and they are not too pleased about this intruder. If anyone has any tips on how to keep the house calm and peaceful that would be great too. Thank you!

Nody

Well for starters try to get the mother and kitten into a separate room you can close the door completely on. She will need peace and quiet and plenty of kitten food (for her, not kittens until about 5 weeks) or if not available normal cat food to help her keep up her energy and nourishmeent, water and a box to keep the kittens in along with a litterbox. Keep an eye on the kittens to make sure they eat/are being fed, if not you're in for a few long weeks of bottle feeding...

Secondly for your house; feliway plug in spray and separation are your best bets at this stage and down the line to neuter her and release her back out (if you can't keep her).

KatW4

Thank you so much. We have all the others upstairs and away from her. We have most of the stuff you have suggested so I guess we aren't too bad after all. We will get kitten food as son as we can but we have normal food and water here for her already.

Thank you for your help, I really appreciate it!

Kitten number 2 has just been born

Knine

KatW4 wrote: »

Thank you so much. We have all the others upstairs and away from her. We have most of the stuff you have suggested so I guess we aren't too bad after all. We will get kitten food as son as we can but we have normal food and water here for her already.

Thank you for your help, I really appreciate it!

Kitten number 2 has just been born

What a kind decent person you are. The cat picked the right house to visit.

KatW4

Knine wrote:

What a kind decent person you are. The cat picked the right house to visit.

That's very sweet of you, thank you. Id hope most people would do the same!

We have 4 little kittens now so far and another is on its way.

This is definitely not what we were expecting to do tonight but it's amazing!

KatW4

5 kittens altogether and they're all doing very well. The mammy is still very friendly but you have to make sure to pet her a lot before she will let you look at the little ones. She hasn't stopped purring since she's arrived!

Kovu

Ah! That is lovely to hear, good on you for giving her a safe place to give birth in.
Kovu brought home a very quiet pregnant cat one evening about four years ago at this year. She had two kittens out in our boiler house and we used to see mammy cat, Kovu and the two wee ones all squeezed in a big box snoozing away together.
Mammy cat was henceforth named Squeak and she hasn't left our house since! The kittens were spayed and rehomed together too, still don't know if they were Kovu's progeny or not :pac:

intheclouds

KatW4 wrote: »

5 kittens altogether and they're all doing very well. The mammy is still very friendly but you have to make sure to pet her a lot before she will let you look at the little ones. She hasn't stopped purring since she's arrived!

I feel like purring myself reading this thread

OldNotWIse

I love this thread!

kathleen37

Oh wow - well done you - and cat mummy!!!

morgana

Aww and I'm with intheclouds > Great to see and cat mummy knew what she was doing when she moved in lol.

KatW4

Kovu wrote:

Ah! That is lovely to hear, good on you for giving her a safe place to give birth in. Kovu brought home a very quiet pregnant cat one evening about four years ago at this year. She had two kittens out in our boiler house and we used to see mammy cat, Kovu and the two wee ones all squeezed in a big box snoozing away together. Mammy cat was henceforth named Squeak and she hasn't left our house since! The kittens were spayed and rehomed together too, still don't know if they were Kovu's progeny or not

Ah that's a super story, I love it! I have a feeling the mammy cat will be staying with us too, unless she runs away!

KatW4

kathleen37 wrote:

Oh wow - well done you - and cat mummy!!!

She did a great job and she's a super mammy. She's really looking after them!

morgana wrote:

Aww and I'm with intheclouds > Great to see and cat mummy knew what she was doing when she moved in lol.

Haha oh she knew right well what she was doing, the little monkey. I am glad she came to us though and not someone who wouldnt bother to help them.

Knine

Pictures. We want Pictures!!!!!

intheclouds

KatW4 wrote: »

Haha oh she knew right well what she was doing, the little monkey. I am glad she came to us though and not someone who wouldnt bother to help them.

I think they go to a house where they smell other cats when they need help.

We saw our second one looking in the window at our first one a few times before we found her with kittens - she was looking in as if to say "Thats a nice looking bed, how did you get in there and get that?".

Another neighbour who already had a cat found a half dead ginger kitten on his doorstep one day too.

OldNotWIse

intheclouds wrote: »

I think they go to a house where they smell other cats when they need help.

We saw our second one looking in the window at our first one a few times before we found her with kittens - she was looking in as if to say "Thats a nice looking bed, how did you get in there and get that?".

Another neighbour who already had a cat found a half dead ginger kitten on his doorstep one day too.

This might explain how we are now caring for eleven :pac:

intheclouds

OldNotWIse wrote: »

This might explain how we are now caring for eleven :pac:

Yes. Yes.

Pusses just come.

NamelessPhil

I agree, there must be a sign in cat language above our house that says "Suckers live here!" Most of mine have moved themselves into our house via the cat flap!

OldNotWIse

NamelessPhil wrote: »

I agree, there must be a sign in cat language above our house that says "Suckers live here!" Most of mine have moved themselves into our house via the cat flap!

We don't even have a flap! We do live in a dumping hotspot though, which might explain it. Our latest additions arrived under the same circumstances - dumped pregnant cat, had her babies with us. Sadly she strayed again (at least we had her spayed first) and now we have two of her "babies" :pac:

jenn1984

This is all sounding very familiar! We have one permanent resident and four strays/neighbour cats that we feed. As of ten days ago another stray that we feed decided to have her babies in our kitchen so we now have mum/three kittens for the foreseeable future as well! The amount of cat food we are going through is unreal!

OldNotWIse

jenn1984 wrote: »

This is all sounding very familiar! We have one permanent resident and four strays/neighbour cats that we feed. As of ten days ago another stray that we feed decided to have her babies in our kitchen so we now have mum/three kittens for the foreseeable future as well! The amount of cat food we are going through is unreal!

Its madness alright. We spay everything that comes through the door (and joke that guests sleep with one eye open lol) but even at that we are somehow in double figures. I find buying the cat food in bulk online works out cheapest (I can PM you the website and brand name if you like).

jenn1984

OldNotWIse wrote: »

Its madness alright. We spay everything that comes through the door (and joke that guests sleep with one eye open lol) but even at that we are somehow in double figures. I find buying the cat food in bulk online works out cheapest (I can PM you the website and brand name if you like).

That would be great thanks! The cheapest wet food (pouches) we get in supermarkets is €3 and it's not the best quality to be honest. Half the cats are picky about canned/dry food.

taytobreath

jenn1984 wrote: »

That would be great thanks! The cheapest wet food (pouches) we get in supermarkets is €3 and it's not the best quality to be honest. Half the cats are picky about canned/dry food.

i just bought 80 pouches of felix cat food for 13 euros on amazon, if u subscribe and save and then use this code SAVE30VC16

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Felix-Wet-Food-Adult-Pouch/dp/B01A6KBFUW/?tag=hotukdeals03-21


omg its just gone up 7 or 8 euros in the last few mins, im sorry

Hoboo

I find zooplus.co.uk the best.

Buy a membership card for around €5 and that gives you money off each time. First order you're up money. And type in STOCK-UP in the discount code for another 5% off. Doesn't work on zooplus.ie so use .co.uk.

Free delivery, takes around 3-4 days.

KatW4

Knine wrote:

Pictures. We want Pictures!!!!!

I'm not sure how to do it but I will try and work it out soon. They are very cute!!

intheclouds wrote:

We saw our second one looking in the window at our first one a few times before we found her with kittens - she was looking in as if to say "Thats a nice looking bed, how did you get in there and get that?".

Haha I love these stories! Cats are funny creatures.

Up until last year, I didn't like cats. I got Pepper because she was in danger on my boyfriends farm. Now I'm obsessed and currently have 9, thanks to this stray cat! I have my eye on 2 other kittens too!!!

KatW4

Okay, I'm not sure if this will work so if someone could check that would be great.

Please ignore the mess, it was a very quick and unexpected set up we had to sort out.

https://imgur.com/a/FEU1S

taytobreath

KatW4 wrote: »

Okay, I'm not sure if this will work so if someone could check that would be great.

Please ignore the mess, it was a very quick and unexpected set up we had to sort out.

https://imgur.com/a/FEU1S

they have lovely colours, you'll have no problems finding good homes for them, that is unless u want to keep them

KatW4

taytobreath wrote:

they have lovely colours, you'll have no problems finding good homes for them, that is unless u want to keep them

They are pretty adorable! I think we will have to give some or all of them away because we won't be able to afford 9 cats!

intheclouds

So cute!!!

Mamma looks very comfy and happy. Great you can handle them so young!

KatW4

intheclouds wrote:

Mamma looks very comfy and happy. Great you can handle them so young!

They don't mind it at all, they cuddle into you almost immediately. We don't pick them up too much, we leave them to their mammy!

TG1

Awh! I had no advice but was following for the inevitable pics! They are very cute, well done you for taking her in!

KatW4

So <snip> have found the owner for the cat. I'm heartbroken and a little worried. I don't know what to do. The owners didn't know she was pregnant, she came to us to have her kittens and she was covered in cuts. We have to ring the owner later which of course is the right thing to do but it's killing me. I was so looking forward to seeing them grow.

Kovu

How the hell did they not know she was pregnant?! Squeak only had two in her and she was the size of a house.
Perhaps you can speak to the owners and see what they think, maybe a cat with kittens mightn't suit them at all, they could have young kids/dog etc. You could perhaps foster her until the kittens are ready to be weaned.

KatW4

Kovu wrote:

How the hell did they not know she was pregnant?! Squeak only had two in her and she was the size of a house. Perhaps you can speak to the owners and see what they think, maybe a cat with kittens mightn't suit them at all, they could have young kids/dog etc. You could perhaps foster her until the kittens are ready to be weaned.

I don't know, she was absolutely massive! I think it's an elderly couple who had her and she was a stray who they took in.

I'm hoping we can foster her and the kittens until then. At least then I wouldn't be worrying about how they're doing. Thanks Kovu

OldNotWIse

KatW4 wrote: »

So <snip> have found the owner for the cat. I'm heartbroken and a little worried. I don't know what to do. The owners didn't know she was pregnant, she came to us to have her kittens and she was covered in cuts. We have to ring the owner later which of course is the right thing to do but it's killing me. I was so looking forward to seeing them grow.

Oh no! Maybe they wont want her back?

KatW4

OldNotWIse wrote:

Oh no! Maybe they wont want her back?

We spoke to them and they are too elderly to look after them all and give them what they need so they have said to keep her. I feel so bad taking their cat but they said they're happy to know someone is taking care of her and her kittens!

morgana

Aww - sad for them to loosing their cat, but then, mummy cat may go back for visits after kittens are a bit older, who knows.
But they did the best they can for her, making sure she has all she needs for herself and her babies.
That mummy cat sure landed on all her 4 paws .
Congratz on your brand-new feline family, lol.

OldNotWIse

KatW4 wrote: »

We spoke to them and they are too elderly to look after them all and give them what they need so they have said to keep her. I feel so bad taking their cat but they said they're happy to know someone is taking care of her and her kittens!

Don't feel bad, you're doing an amazing thing!

OldNotWIse

morgana wrote: »

Aww - sad for them to loosing their cat, but then, mummy cat may go back for visits after kittens are a bit older, who knows.
But they did the best they can for her, making sure she has all she needs for herself and her babies.
That mummy cat sure landed on all her 4 paws .
Congratz on your brand-new feline family, lol.

We did this a few years ago. Long story short we ended up with a cat who had a serious (but treatable) illness and the woman who owned him couldn't afford the treatment and didn't drive, was elderly etc. So we sort of fostered him for her and made sure he had all his treatment etc, and on a Sunday we would drop him off at hers and come back a few hours later and collect. Strange set up but she was happy with it because pts probably would have been the only option if she had nobody to mind him

VonVix

KatW4 wrote: »

We spoke to them and they are too elderly to look after them all and give them what they need so they have said to keep her. I feel so bad taking their cat but they said they're happy to know someone is taking care of her and her kittens!

Oh god, where are all these lovely people coming from? That's a lovely outcome, I was really worried thinking someone would just let their unneutered cat out to get pregnant and whatnot, but considering the circumstances it's a little more understandable!

CaoimheSquee

This thread is happiness

KatW4

Thank you so much everyone for your lovely messages. You're all so sweet!!

I had an awful evening yesterday worrying about Angel (her actual name) and her kittens and about my own 3 but I'm feeling much better that I know that they'll all be safe!

Now if I could only get the other cats to accept her and the kittens and to calm down, we'll all be a happy family!

PlainP

Fair play to you. Great thread and the pics are lovely.

Just wanted to give my congrats on the new additions. Not much else to say really but hopefully all will settle down for you in regards to the other moggs. You'll have your hands full with 9!

PS: More pics would be great ;D

KatW4

PlainP wrote:

PS: More pics would be great ;D

Haha I'll get on that

KatW4

Here we go I love how she hugs them!

https://imgur.com/WAd3gaa

https://imgur.com/71OrFNk

And here are some of my other cats, Pepper, Fluffy and Luna. (Just so they don't feel left out ha!)

https://imgur.com/rbnk9FY

https://imgur.com/cNg3NJR

https://imgur.com/x7Kmuw8

trixychic

I love this thread and pictures are so gorgeous!!!! She looks like she was chuffed with herself. The big grin on her!!! Love how she cuddles them!!!

KatW4

trixychic wrote:

I love this thread and pictures are so gorgeous!!!! She looks like she was chuffed with herself. The big grin on her!!! Love how she cuddles them!!!

I know, it's so adorable!!! I just sit for like an hour and watch them!

trixychic

KatW4 wrote: »

I know, it's so adorable!!! I just sit for like an hour and watch them!

I can totally get that!!! We had plenty of litters throughout my childhood. When I got to my teens I would often be on night duty... Just makin sure everything was ok. I would lie awake for hours just watching the little happenings. So mesmerising!!!

KatW4

trixychic wrote:

I can totally get that!!! We had plenty of litters throughout my childhood. When I got to my teens I would often be on night duty... Just makin sure everything was ok. I would lie awake for hours just watching the little happenings. So mesmerising!!!

That's the perfect word for it! I love watching them squirm around blindly and stand on each other. It makes me laugh. I love them already, it'll be hard to give them away.

trixychic

KatW4 wrote: »

That's the perfect word for it! I love watching them squirm around blindly and stand on each other. It makes me laugh. I love them already, it'll be hard to give them away.

Oh that is heart breaking alright. I don't envy you there. Good luck with that.

KatW4

trixychic wrote:

Oh that is heart breaking alright. I don't envy you there. Good luck with that.

Thanks, I'll need it!