From Hannah in Greece with pregnant young female

Question
QUESTION: Hello again Teresa, I've had to start again from this site as they told me I'd "asked a follow up" (reply) too many times. I didn't know the site limited how much I could talk to you... :-) Although I am very grateful to this site, it can be a little frustrating at times...
Anyway, my little lady is doing well, and shes not actually a little lady either, shes huge now and sometimes, depending on how she is sitting, I can see lumps and bumps on her tummy so I think it cant be much longer now. Her appetite is fine, she's eating loads as usual but she's still not interested in the box I've put out for her, but the other cats are sleeping in it which doesn't help. It's near impossible to keep the box private and just for her when there is approx. 14 other cats and kittens in residence right now. Would it be terrible to just let her have her kittens wherever she chooses, even if thats behind the oven, and move them all after the birth or will this be too much disruption? I fear this may be the only option as she is really not going for the box I put down...

I want to say thank you again for all your help, you've been wonderful! :-)
Hannah


ANSWER: Hi Hannah, I have no idea how this site works... how odd they limit you for follow ups?? anyways, regarding the mom-to-be. certainly if she really really wants to have those kittens behind the stove you won't be able to stop her !! lol. Is there room to put a box there if you pull the stove out a bit?? Perhaps because there are so many other cats coming and going she feels this is the only place she will have some privacy...  And of course when she is actually in labour you can try her with the original box.. but if she really wants the stove---let her have it, and just make it as safe for her as you can ! It sounds like she has a belly full of kittens ! I will be so excited to hear from you when they are all born and fine :)
Teresa

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QUESTION: Hello, I am proud to announce the arrival of 5 little kittens! And they were not born behind the oven after all, she was sitting beside me on the sofa when her purring turned to growling and she suddenly made a quick dash behind the sofa and I knew that this was it, I put a blanket down next to her which she happily moved onto, i got as many of the other cats out as I could and sat behind the sofa with her for almost 5 hours as she delivered each one an hour apart. She was fine giving birth but didn't go to clean them or anything, and looked at each one as if she's just had a poop, so I had to do the cleaning bit for her to get them dry and warm, once I'd cleaned/dried them and put each to her nipple she was ok and one of them was born in what looked like a water balloon so I had to pierce the sac to get the kitten out. I wasn't entirely sure of what I was doing but I can't have done anything terribly wrong as they are all doing pretty well I think...  :-)
One worry I have is that she wants to leave the kittens now. I have one room in my house that has been turned into a clinic/nursery for the cats so I closed her and the kittens in there with food, water, and litter but she is desperate to get out. Should I let her go and hope that she'll come back or make her stay put for a couple of days to give the kittens a good chance of survival?
Thank you SO much for all your help though this, you've been wonderful and made this a much less scary experience for me!
Hannah

ANSWER: OOOHHH>>> congratulations !! and it sounds like  you were a wonderful midwife !
you did everything absolutely correctly.. and most of this is really just common sense.. isn't it??
So,now  she wants to leave the babies. Is she wanting to be with you? or wanting to get outside? I would not let her outside for a couple of days for SURE> It is always possible that she has another kitten in there or some afterbirth that needs to be passed and that may be giving her the sensation of wanting to go outside and dig and have a bowel movement but that is too risky for her. Just keep her inside and try to spend as much time as you can spare being beside the kittens with her. ( I am sure you are doing that already :) !) New moms are sometimes a little nervous to be left alone with these "poops" and will look to you for some guidance. Also make sure the kittens are able to nurse every couple of hours and that they have good body temperature (feel warm to the touch) They should be gaining weight constantly and growing at a fast rate if all is well. If you have a small scale this is a great way to confirm this !
Get back to me and I will try to keep in touch as much as possible over this next few days which are the high risk days for newborns...and remember it is not unusual to lose a kitten or two at this age. so don't take it personally.Teresa

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QUESTION: Ok, so I'm doing the right thing by keeping her inside... I think she wants to go outside, I let her wander around the house but she was looking for an exit so I closed all doors and windows and locked the kitty door but she sat by the door crying so I led her back to her room with her babies and gave her a couple of kitty treats to help her settle again and she ate the treats and went back to her babies so she's not climbing the walls to get out or anything... How long do you recommend she stays inside?
I weighed the kittens with my digital kitchen scales and took a photo of each kitten on the scales as four of the five kittens are white with dark spots so it's not easy to tell them apart so this way I have each kitten with their weight in the photo. The weights are : 62g, 74g, 76g, 88g and 90 grams. Are they normal weights? And is there anything I can do or feed my new mom to help the kittens? How often should they be weighed?
Although they seem tiny, they all have a bit of strength, they are warm to the touch, and in case they get cold I have a mini electric heating blanket already in place under their main blanket and I check on them as often as I can to make sure they are all warm enough and nothing has happened. And when I go into the room, and my new mom gets up to greet me, they cry like crazy and squirm about looking for their mom...
At what age are the kittens 'out of danger'? I'm trying hard not to get attached to any of them in case any thing happens but they're so sweet and so tiny and I helped them into the world, I can't help but be falling in love with them a little bit...
I can't thank you enough Teresa, you gave me the faith that my little girl could do it and she did, you also gave me the confidence to jump in and know what to do when things go wrong... You really have been amazing! Thank you SO much for all your time, help & advice, and your kindness :-)
Hannah

Answer
hi Hannah,thanks for your "thanks", and thanks for the update !! we are all volunteers here so it is nice when someone appreciates you :)
So you have a few good things going on here.
You have 3 kittens that are normal sized (75-90 grams) and two that are a little small but it sounds like they are all nursing and doing so well !! When they squeal when mom moves that is a REALLY good sign !! It means they are healthy...not listless and weak.
I would recommend you weight them twice a day for 4 days sto keep an eye on them.. especially the little one. You can put a little nail polish on  a toe or two to help tell them apart ! It won't do them any harm.. or even on a piece of fur. Don't let mom lick it until it is dry of course. Keep a record and keep it handy for yourself so you can see their progress. ie front toe is 62 grams today and 72 grams tomorrow..etc.
As long as mom is getting lots of nutritious food and water there is nothing more to help her produce more milk or more nutritious milk. Check the heating pad though and make sure it is not TOO warm.. I set mine on LOW and then have a blanket on top of that... Otherwise mom gets too hot and wants to leave the kittens for a more comfortable place. Also if the kittens get too hot they dehydrate a bit..so it is a fine line !
I would recommend you keep mom inside for as long as you can.. but of course this is not always possible. She can come back into heat at any time and get bred so it would be nice to give her a good break. Just do your best and if you can keep her inside for a week minimum at least the kittens will get a good start. I have received emails though where the mom cat goes out and the kittens are 2 weeks old... and mom never comes back so maybe is killed, poisoned etc.. and then the owner ends up trying to raise the orphan kittens.. groan.. not a good situation. So, just do your best, but I am sure it is hard with other cats coming and going and with this cat always having had the freedom to roam...
Keep me posted !! every day is a victory with babies.. and most deaths of newborns are within 48 hours.. but some can still be lost after that although the percentage is much less. I get so attached to my babies also ! As soon as they are born all my maternal hormones go crazy !! They are so sweet and innocent.. awwww..... Teresa