Cat Birth
In a normal birth, all the kittens will usually be delivered within two hours, although some cats take three or four hours and others may takes long as seven or eight hours. If a cat labors more than eight hours without delivering a kitten, something is wrong. Call the vet for instructions. Similarly, if there is an interval of more than three hours between kittens, the cat is in some difficulty and you should seek veterinary advice.
When the cat first begins labor, let her alone. The labor contractions will start slowly, with long intervals of no activity. During the contractions, the cat will pant, move around and perhaps even leave her bed. Bring her back to the bed and watch from the sidelines.
The first kitten should be born within two hours after the contractions have speeded up. In a normal delivery, the kitten emerges headfirst. If the kitten appears with the hind legs first, it is a breech delivery. The cat may have some trouble with breech deliveries, in which case you can help by holding on to the kitten’s rear legs with a clean towel and pulling gently as the cat labors. Time your tugs with her con-tractions, pulling lightly as she tries to expel the kitten. If this is not successful, call the vet.
Each kitten is born encased in a transparent sac or membrane (grayish, bulky mass) with the kitten visible inside. The membrane is attached by a cord to the placenta or afterbirth, which should come out immediately after the kitten. The placenta, the lifeline from the mother cat, is the means by which the kitten is fed while in the uterus.
The foetal membrane may rupture as the kitten is expelled. When this happens, pick up the membrane and kitten in a clean towel and place them in front of the mother. Normally, the mother will break the membrane, chew off the navel cord and lick the kitten clean. If she fails to do so, you will have to assist. If you have to break the membrane, pick up the membrane and kitten with a clean towel, gently stretch the membrane near the kitten’s head, hook your finger into it and carefully rip it open, remove the kitten and sever the navel cord.
When the membrane is broken, the kitten should gasp for air. Let the mother lick the kitten clean. If she refuses, wipe the kitten with a clean towel. In some cases, breathing may be blocked by mucus in the kitten’s nose, throat or lungs. This mucus must be removed. Open the kitten’s mouth, insert a medicine dropper or eyedropper and draw out any mucus. Then rub the kitten vigorously with a clean towel, both with and against the lie of the hair. This will stimulate circulation.
If the kitten still does not breathe, take more drastic steps. Wrap the kitten in a towel, hold it cupped firmly in your bands, with the head toward your fingers, and swing the kitten downward in an arc in front of you, holding on tightly. Stop the swing suddenly. The centrifugal force should dislodge any mucus from the throat and lungs.
Should this procedure still fail to start the kitten breathing, attachone end of the rubber tube (listed previously as needed obstetric equip-ment) to the syringe. Squeeze the syringe firmly and then insert theloose end of the tubing into the kitten’s mouth, well down into the throat. Release the syringe, thus sucking any mucus upward into thesyringe. Keep working and do not allow the kitten to become chilled. Ahot-water bottle wrapped in a towel will provide heat.
If the kitten still does not breathe, remove the syringe, insert therubber tubing into the kitten’s throat, and try forcing your own breaththrough the tube. First breathe air into the tube, then stop and pressgently on the kitten’s rib cage with your fingers. Do not press too hardor you may break the ribs. Keep trying and do not give up too soon.
THE PLACENTA
Cat owners sometimes become alarmed when their cat eats the placenta, or afterbirth, but this is a normal action. There are various theories as to why animals eat the placenta. One of them is that the animal does so to remove traces of the birth. This is important’ to wild animals, which must guard against other predatory animals lurking nearby, many of which will eat the young. Another theory is that the mother eats the placenta to provide a temporary source of nourishment, since she will be unable to leave the newborn animals for sometime.
Try to keep a count of the placentas as each one is expelled. Aplacenta should follow the birth of each kitten. Sometimes a placenta isretained when the cord between the foetal membrane and the placentabreaks. If the cat does not expel the placenta, it must be removed inanother way. Grasp the broken cord hanging out of the vagina with aclean towel and gently and slowly pull out the placenta. A retainedplacenta may interfere with the birth of the next kitten, and, if retained after the last kitten is born, will decompose and cause infection.
AS THE CAT CONTINUES TO LABOUR
Even after the first kitten is born, there is no assurance that the others will follow quickly. Remain near the cat, and if her labour continues for more than three hours between kittens, call the vet. Be pre-pared to tell him when the first kitten was born, whether it was a normal or breech delivery, how long the cat has been in labour with the present kitten and other pertinent information.
If all goes well, the kittens should be delivered and nursing within two hours. The mother will stop labouring and panting shortly after delivering the kittens and, unless there is a kitten left inside, will settle down to taking care of her new family. To check whether there is a kitten remaining in the birth canal, place your fingers on the cat’s abdomen, on the underside of the pelvic region. If there is a kitten inthe canal, you should be able to feel it, in which event leave the cat alone for a few hours. She may expel it. If she does not, call the veterinary surgeon.
The mother cat may become so absorbed in her kittens that she will refuse to eat. Some mothers have been known to go as long as twenty-four hours without eating. Place a saucer of warm milk near the cat.She may drink some of it. When she does want to eat, however, she will let you know in unmistakable ways. Then feed her regular rations fortified with vitamins and minerals. Tinned or whole milk is an excel-lent food for the nursing cat and may be fed freely during the nursing period. Keep fresh water near the cat at all times.
SOME POSSIBLE OBSTETRIC DIFFICULTIES
As mentioned before, most cats have no difficulty in delivering kittens. Obstetric troubles, when they do occur, may be caused by disease or malfunctioning of the reproductive system.
BREECH DELIVERY
As already stated, in a breech delivery the kitten arrives hind feet first. Usually the head of a breech kitten is large and the cat has diffi-culty in expelling the kitten.
CAESARIAN SECTION
When kittens cannot be born in a normal manner (that is, through the birth canal) they must he delivered through an incision in the cat’s abdominal wall and into the uterus. This operation is, called a caesarian section.
Caesarian sections can sometimes be anticipated early in pregnancy when the vet determines either by X-rays or palpation that the kittens are going to be too large to be delivered normally. Sometimes the vet must perform a caesarian to remove the remaining kittens after one or two kittens are born. The cat’s uterine muscles may become fatigued,making her unable to expel the kittens. This is one reason for calling the vet if your cat labours for more than eight hours without producinga kitten.
ECLAMPSIA
Eclampsia is a serious condition that often follows the birth of kittens. It is brought about by a depletion of the blood calcium. The symptoms include excessive panting, restlessness, loss of appetite, a temperature above 103 degrees F., a stilted walk and convulsions,eventually followed by collapse and coma. There is nothing you can do for the eat. Call the vet immediately or rush the cat over to him. He can revive the cat quickly by injecting calcium gluconate into her blood stream.
POSTNATAL PERIOD
The cat will have a discharge for a week or ten days. This dischargeshould be red or dark red in colour. If it is green or greenish-yellow,there is something wrong. A placenta may have been retained despiteyour vigilance and serious infection may result. Such an infection maycause the cat’s milk to dry up and eventually lead to her death, andthat of her kittens. Do not delay when you see a green or greenish-yellow discharge. Get the cat to the veterinary surgeon immediately.