pregnant cat (urgent)

Question
QUESTION: Hi there and thank you for any help you can give me.
I have a cat that is due any day now to have her kittens,
last night i saw a very small piece of discharge from down there and today there was a little bit more like a redish colour and today she is also following us around every where crying how much longer do you think before it will be until she has her kittens, she is still eating and drinking and i took her temp last night and it was 35.7c over the last 2 weeks her temp has been around the 36.7c if we still down on the floor with the cat she is happy and just lies there and stops crying but as soon as we get up and walk away she follows us and crys again,
Do cats normally have big breasts when they about to have there kittens as mine dosnt she only has large pink nipples.

Any help would be great as we dont know anything else about this cat as we have just moved into this house been here 8 weeks and the last people left her here so ny kids have taken care of her now.

thank you again.

Cindy

ANSWER: Hi Cindy.  All of this sounds like she's close to delivery.  When you say there was a piece of discharge, what did it look like?  If she is passing small amounts of a blood-tinted fluid, this can signal the beginning of labor, but if she is passing any solid tissue or blood clots, you should get her to the vet.  She shouldn't be passing any tissue until she has the kittens, at which time the placentas should pass as well.  Also, I would not allow bloody discharge to go on for much longer than 12 hours before calling a vet if the babies haven't been born.  A delay in delivery could signal something is wrong.  Once the kittens have all been delivered, this kind of discharge will often continue for a couple days.

Cats do have a swollen mammary area when they are about to deliver, but it is much less noticeable than it is with other animals, like dogs.  You won't generally notice them hanging down when she walks, but the area should feel lumpy and the individual mammaries should be rather firm.  The area will continue to get larger as the kittens eat more, and mom produces larger quantities of milk.

Please let me know if any other questions arise!

Good luck,
Jessica


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

QUESTION: Hi there and thanks again for getting back to me so quick.
Your not going to belive this about 30 mins after sending you the email she had a kitten,
But after reading all sorts on the net about cats going to hide and nest, well how wrong was my cat she sat beside me on the floor and then out came a kitten she has had 3 so far about 45min in between each one

ANSWER: Excellent!  Congratulations, it sounds like things are going perfectly according to schedule.  I tend not to look for nesting as an indication of impending delivery, because only a couple of my cats have ever nested.  The rest were just like yours, insisting I be there for the event!  I think this shows how much she trusts you, and how much your presence reassures her during stressful times.  

Be sure to gently handle the kittens for a few minutes several times a day.  There are myths on the internet that mom will reject the kittens if humans touch them.  This isn't true.  Kittens handled daily from birth are proven to grow into the sweetest pets.  They also open their eyes earlier and leave the nest younger than kittens who receive no human contact.

Enjoy your little ones!

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

QUESTION: Sorry to bother you one more time, she has had 3  kittens now and has been lying in her bed happy feeding the kittens for the past 5 hours since she last had her 3rd kitten, she just now has stared crying again but as soon we sit with her again she seems to stop crying and is happy again, about 3 hours ago we moved mum and kittens into her nesting box also but she dosnt seem to wont to stay in there on her own could she be trying to tell us that she is having any more kittens is it still possible after 5 hours to have more kittens in there waiting to come out, she isnt showing any signs of pushing she is just crying when left on her own with the kittens.

Thank you again.
Cindy

Answer
It is possible that she could have more kittens to be delivered.  Many cats go through a break between delivering the kittens in one half of the uterus (called a "horn") and the other.  However, if she has still not had any more kittens today, then it would be somewhat abnormal.  There are cats who go a couple of days between delivering all their kittens, but this is not ideal and can indicate a problem.  Chances are that all of her kittens have been delivered, but the only way to be absolutely certain is to have an x-ray done.  This would detect the skeletons of any unborn kittens if there were any.

If she is eating normally, caring for the kittens, is not having contractions and you can't feel any other babies moving in her belly, it may be safe to assume she's just needy for attention with all the changes she has just been presented with.  Try to keep the nesting box in an area where someone spends a lot of time to keep her satisfied.  However, keep a close eye on her for any subtle change in appetite, behavior or for a foul-smelling or excessively bloody discharge, and have a vet check her out right away if any of these develop.