breech birth

Question
QUESTION: Is anyone there? Just got home to find my cat partially delivered and the kitten is dead-one of hind legs got hung up. I pulled the leg out and I don't know how long Pearl has been in labor. She seems tired. Do I give her some more time to deliver the kitten (a little more than half way out)? Or should I try to pull it out? I don't have the $300 to take her to the vet. This is the last time I take in a cat that someone else has thrown out. I don't have the resources. She is four years old or so, and it's her first pregnancy. I should have taken her to the shelter when she got left behind. This is my fault, I know it. Please help.

ANSWER: Hi Renee,

If she is still pushing, gently pull the kitten out when she pushes. If she's not pushing anymore, it's risky to tug on the baby. It can cause her injury. But the baby will bloat and be even harder to remove the longer it stays there. So you should try to ease it out slowly. Of course, the best idea is to have a vet remove it. I would really urge you to see if there are any available funds to help you. There is a Companion Animal Fund in my state that helps people in emergency situations like yours. The vet would know of any help programs.

Best of luck,
Jessica

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

QUESTION: I was able to contact a vet in New Jersey who I met through a Great Dane rescue, and also had a conversation with a friend who has delivered all his own Beagle puppies, calves, sheep, you name it. Between the two of them, and the help of some KY jelly, I was able to remove the dead kitten.There was no bleeding. This was last night. I'm not finding evidence of any more kittens, but when I was pressing her uterine area, some pinkish fluid and a mass of tissue about the size of a quarter came out. It had some reddish areas, but no discernible odor. Could this be the remaining placenta from the kitten? There was a reddish mass over the kitten's face when I pulled it out of her.

Answer
It's really difficult to say. A placenta looks a lot like a fresh liver (much smaller than a beef liver, obviously), and it will not be directly attached to the kitten. It will be attached by an umbilical cord that is about 3-4 inches in length. In a difficult birth, the umbilical cord may tear and the placenta becomes detached, but I haven't seen a placenta tear, personally. They are quite tough.

My suspicion is that this may be a blood clot, which is not all that uncommon after any birth. Bleeding is normal during delivery, and because of the anatomy of the cat, blood does not drain out as consistently as it does with humans. The blood is allowed to pool in the birth canal, where it begins to clot. When mom sits up or has pressure applied to the area, drainage occurs, and clots are flushed. It may seem like she's bleeding a lot at this time, too. As the days go on, the blood will become more and more clotted.

If you don't think it's a clot, I would be a little worried there may still be babies in there. It doesn't sound like a full-sized placenta, but some are under-sized (and those kittens are usually not the most robust). Rarely, there will be an extra placenta with no kitten.

If there is no way to have her x-rayed, the best thing you can do is wait and see if she starts to show signs of distress or labor again. I wish I had a clear-cut answer for you, but difficult births are complicated for so many varied reasons.