Cat just gave birth.. Are there more?

Question
Hi,

My persian cat (4 yrs old) just gave birth today. She mated on August 1 to 3 for 3 days. She is a little overdue as this is her 4th litter and she always had her babies on time. She gave birth to 3 kittens, one (dead) was extremely premature with no hair at all and barely had paws. If she mated for 3 days as mentioned above, why is there a premature baby? I am pretty sure that she didn't mate again after that date.

Also, I still think her belly is kind of large. How can I tell if there are anymore babies?

I also have another female persian (3 yrs old) and have had 2 litter until now. The first were a litter of 6, and the second were only 2, and recently she mated a while back only to find out it was a false pregnancy. She had all the pregnancy symptoms. Any ideas?

Thanks

Answer
Dear Blaze

Re your 4 year old.  She may have had a kitten that did not develop rather than being premature and that is why is was born dead.    If she has more kittens in there she may not settle with her kittens already born, but sometimes some cats that have had a few litters can remain big without any more kittens in there.  The only sure way to find out is to get your vet to scan her.  You could try feeling but even vets can be caught out by doing that.  The womb does take time to shrink down after birth so feeling something that feels like a kitten can often just be the womb.

Re your 3 year old, it is impossible to say why she had a false pregnancy.  It may even be that she did get pregnant but she reabsorbed them, either due to stress or infection.

Enjoy your kittens

Regards

Marcia