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From: liz@tove.UUCP (Liz Allen)
Newsgroups: net.pets
Subject: Re: pregnant cats
Message-ID: <128@tove.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 13-Feb-85 11:04:26 EST
Article-I.D.: tove.128
Posted: Wed Feb 13 11:04:26 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 17-Feb-85 05:09:02 EST
References: <445@decwrl.UUCP> <127@tove.UUCP> <1094@opus.UUCP>
Reply-To: liz@tove.UUCP (Liz Allen)
Organization: U of Maryland, Laboratory for Parallel Computation, C.P., MD
Lines: 47

A couple more remarks.

>> = Liz Allen
>  = Dick Dunn
>A few additions to the parent article on dealing with pregnant cats:
>[...]
>> ...The biggest thing to
>> watch for is if she goes into labor and isn't getting anywhere.
>> If she hasn't yet had any of the kittens, this is harder to tell,
>> but if she has and she's stays in labor for two hours and hasn't
>> had any more, that's a warning sign.  About a half hour between
>> kittens is average, but I've seen four kittens born in the span of
>> half an hour(!) but longer than half an hour is not unusual either.
>
>This is a hard one to call.  Particularly for the first litter, a queen may
>have one or two kittens, then wait/rest for several hours.  Second and
>succeeding litters are easier.

Right!  But, you can usually tell if she is in labor or not by
observing her.  After each kitten is born, she will rest a little
then clean off the kitten.  After that, she'll go into hard labor
again to have the next kitten.  If she is in labor -- restless,
contractions, and, after a while, distressed -- and it's been a
couple hours, you might want to think about getting her some help.

When my cat's having kittens, my primary concern is for her.  After
the kittens are born and I know my cat's fine, then I start thinking
more about the kittens -- you don't really want anything to happen
to them, but it's not unusual to lose a kitten.  I lose one about
every other litter.

>[...]
>Overall, remember that cats have been having kittens without human
>assistance for a long time.  The main things you need to do are to
>accomodate the mother's needs and give her attention.

Right again!  My rule of thumb is to take care of the mother and
let her take care of kittens.
-- 
				-Liz Allen

Univ of Maryland, College Park MD	
Usenet:   ...!seismo!umcp-cs!liz
Arpanet:  liz@tove (or liz@maryland)

"This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you:  God
 is light; in him there is no darkness at all" -- 1 John 1:5