cats labor

Question
hi
i think my cat is in labor. she has been having some twinges around her belly but this is now the fourth day. when it first started she was in a lot of pain she would run, squat, lick her sides, and would be very affectionate towards me and the dog she would rub on her and my cat can not stand the dog. when i would touch her sides  it look like she was contractting she would meow and nip at me but not to hurt me, then at times when she would go to a corner i would call her and she would just sit their. i check her temperture two days ago it was 99.4.
she does still like to eat she won't drink too much water or milk.
this has been going on since saturday it is now wensday. now it just seems like she does not want to be botherd. she will go and sit in the bathroom or go and sit in my extra room. she does not have discharge. she does not smell. i feel at least two babys moving in her. she looks relaxed because she wants to sleep a lot. her body twinges ever so often i do have a noisey house at times because i have five kids.can u explain any of this?
is she in labor?
is this normal?
could too much activity in the house stop her labor?
how long can she stop labor?
when i see her back tightning are these contractions?

Answer
Hi Renee.  Stress can stop labor, so if there is too much activity going on, it could be a factor.  Try to limit her to a room where the children will not be allowed to enter to help reduce noise and activity and also to keep the kittens safe - the less traffic, the lower the risk that they will get stepped on.  If not possible to section off one room, I would consider buying or renting a dog crate.  My sister has four children and uses a cat playpen when she fosters kittens.  Her kids are wonderful with animals, but the kittens wouldn't stand a chance if they ended up in the middle of four stampeding children!

It sounds to me like she was definitely in labor on Saturday and should have had the kittens within the next several hours after she started showing symptoms.  The tightening you're seeing does sound like contractions, during which her sides will feel extremely hard.  You can see mild contractions happening before true labor, but her squatting and licking herself sound like she was ready to give birth within hours.  Your cat's temperature is a little low.  Sometimes it will drop a day or two before labor, and since it was 99.4 two days ago, I would have expected her to have begun delivering by now.  Cats can go into labor and then go out of labor for a day or two, which is not necessarily an emergency if she's not pushing, not bleeding, and not having unusual symptoms.  But for her to have gone from being extraordinarily friendly (which I see commonly with cats who are delivering) to extraordinarily withdrawn, I worry something has gone wrong.

I'm afraid that your kitty should really see a vet.  I've had numerous complicated pregnancies with my cats.  Sometimes the muscles become exhausted after hours of contractions, and labor stops.  Of course, carrying the pregnancy too long is not healthy for her or the kittens, and a shot of pitocin may be needed to induce labor or strengthen contractions.  

Your vet will probably want to do an x-ray to see if it looks like any of the kittens are too big to deliver, which usually means she should be spayed immediately and have the kittens by c-section.  In this case, most mothers will still nurse their litter, but you might need to be prepared to bottle feed them, since her mammary area will be tender from the surgery.  

At the very least, the vet will examine her and tell you that things seem to be moving along fine and advise you to wait for a couple more days.  If this is the case, I would recommend you have an x-ray done while there.  I always have my queens x-rayed to determine how many kittens to expect.  This way, you are not scratching your head after some kittens are delivered, wondering if there are more, but a problem has occurred.