Pregnant foster cat and no delivery ...

Question

Pregnant Kitty Mammari   QUESTION: Hello,

This is my first cat pregnancy and I am confused and concerned, but don't
know if I should be!

I am currently fostering a pregnant cat for the local humane society.  She is a
beautiful and incredibly friendly Manx kitty who was surrendered while
pregnant and the vet who serves the humane society decided that the kitty
was too far along in the pregnancy to spay her.  She was turned over to me
and I was told that they estimated 1-2 weeks before she delivered.  She had a
respiratory infection at the time and I was to give her antibiotics once a day
for a week, which I did.  She had a round tum and very, very prominent
mammary glands, which had shape to them.  On her 3rd evening with me, she
has a weird spell where she suddenly yowled and ran off to cower in a
bookshelf.  Concerned that she might be going into labor, I left her there
alone for a half hour and returned to check on her.  She was very agitated and
when I comforted her she slunk off under a table.  I coaxed her into a crate I
had set up for her, where she bunkered down.  I checked on her every half
hour, she was occasionally panting for an hour or two, then went to sleep and
nothing more happened.

She has been with me for 5 and-a-half weeks now.  She is very active,
friendly, and playful.  She spent about a week-and-a-half hanging out in
that crate when I discovered she had ear mites and we took her back to the
humane society and they took her to see their vet (the vet is in another town,
they take the animals that need to be checked there once a week).  I got her
back 2 days later (I have no car and rely on friends to transport my foster
animals) and was given Otomite Plus to drop into her ears once a week, and
was told that the vet thought she was another 2 weeks away from delivery,
but that the humane society staff was sure it'd be less and that the vet was
bad at guessing pregnancies.  It's been more than 3 weeks since then, and my
major concerns are that she is no longer nesting, is still very active, and
mostly that her mammaries seem to have disappeared.  I am afraid that she
somehow stopped her labor and the kittens have died inside, or something
similar.  She is a very small kitty, but I have never seen kittens moving
through her stomach or felt them moving, although she does not like having
her stomach handled and I don't know exactly where I should be feeling.  

I'm sorry this is so long!  I have attached a picture showing her the day after
we got her and today to show the change in her mammaries.  I don't know if
this is something I should be concerned about or the humane society staff
and vet don't have a clue and are just really bad at guessing the pregnancy
because she is so tiny.  Their next vet run isn't for another 5 days, so there's
nothing to do between now and then unless there's an emergency.  What do
you think is going on with kitty?

In summary:
-Brought home (told 1-2 weeks until delivery)
-3 days: hiding/panting fit
-2 weeks: back to shelter for ear mites
-2 weeks, 2 days: brought back home, stops nesting (told 2 weeks until
delivery)
-5 weeks, 2 days: today, still no delivery

Nothing about the way she behaves indicates to me that she is sick, nose is
cold and wet, eats healthily, spends lots of time running around playing with
toys, and follows me around talking to me and rubbing affectionately.

Thank you so much for taking the time to look at my situation and hearing
my concerns, however legitimate or illegitimate.  I just want to make sure she
is okay!


ANSWER: Hi Elizabeth

I only wish everyone gave as much information as you have - it is generally even more of a guessing game with some mails, so that you.

We suspect that she may have been mated to another Manx and it is known that a lot of Manx to Manx matings are not successful and the cat quite often reabsorb the kittens at around the 35 to 40 days of pregnancy so in this case I suspect that's what's happened as she was probably approximately 21- 28 days pregnant went she came to you.  Stress can also cause reabsorption and this little cat certainly appears to have had more than her fair share of stress, though she sounds more relaxed now with you.

My guess is that if she is pregnant (which I feel to be unlikely) she is probably around the 8/9 weeks pregnant now and you should be feeling and seeing the kittens moving unless there is only 1 kitten and she is holding it high up.  The only sure way now of knowing would be to either hold on and see what happens in the next week or so, or may be the vet could scan or xray her to see if there are any kittens present.

My gut feeling is that there are no kittens.

Regards

Marcia.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you very much for your very informational and helpful response.  The
humane society took the cat to their vet this past week and xrays showed no
kittens like you predicted.  She will be spayed this week and I'll be adopting
her as she has really taken to me and me to her.  Thank you again so much
for sharing your insight and knowledge with us poor confused newbies to cat
pregnancies.  It is really reassuring!

Answer
Hi Elizabeth

I am so glad all has been sorted out now and that you had her xrayed.  At least she and you can now move on and I was delighted to read that you will be keeping her.  Sounds like a match made in heaven.

Thank you for letting me know the outcome.

Marcia.