just born kittens

Question
I have recently taken in a stray cat.  I recently discovered it was pregnant.  Unfortunatly, with an already full house of 3 dogs and 1 cat I am unable to seek vet. care.  Tonight appears to be the night.  She has had 1 kitten so far.  I have bred dogs in the past and it seems as if a cat birth is basically the same.  The mom seems to care for most things.  I am concerned on the kitten feeding. How quickly should the kitten attempt to feed?  The teats do not seem to be very enlarged so it appears that the kitten is having trouble latching on.  When should I be concerned?  Also, it has been a good 1/2 hour since the first kitten.  I still haven't seen the after birth, unless I missed it.  Should I be concerned?

Answer
Hi Becky.  Glad you have some experience - this will come in handy!

I wish I was able to address your question earlier - I suspect this answer probably finds you late and that mama has delivered all of the kittens and all is well.

If not, here are the basics -

Kittens should begin nursing within an hour after birth.  Nuzzling them against a teat can sometimes encourage them.  And a nursing kitten will speed the rest of delivery.  If a kitten goes a couple hours without nursing, it is probably time to step in and bottle feed with some kitten formula.

There should be one afterbirth for each kitten, but it isn't uncommon for them to become separated during delivery.  As long as you count the same number of afterbirths as you do kittens after labor is through, you are okay.  A retained afterbirth, however, can prove fatal to the mother, and if vet attention isn't within reach, you may want to turn mama and kittens in to your local shelter with an explanation, or call around to local vets and see if any would be willing to help out or take her in.

In general, kittens are born 15-45 minutes apart until the litter is all delivered.  There may be breaks as long as a couple hours in between, which is okay as long as mama is not pushing all during this time.  Heavy pushing should result in a kitten within 45 minutes, or there may be problems.  This is another situation where vet attention is really important to save lives.  A stuck kitten can be deadly.  However, if she is no longer pushing or bleeding, there's a possibility this was her only kitten.  If this is the case, I'd have to recommend keeping some kitten formula on hand, since mothers are more likely to reject single-kitten litters.

Most cat births go smoothly, however, and they make wonderful mothers.  Hopefully, all you will have to do is sit back and enjoy!