cat birthing problem ?

Question
Doing search for online friend with dialup.
Cat birthing starts. (hours ago) First birth is cold and hairless. Then nothing. Alice is thinking it's a preemie and the gestation will continue. My thought is once the birthing starts it should continue.

Answer
Jim,

While not very common, this does happen on occasion.  There may have been a problem in this kitten's development, so she expelled it (along with a placenta, I hope).  I would have your vet ultrasound the queen to see if there are any heart beats.  Also, x-raying them to see if the kittens have moved into birthing positions would be a good idea to better understand what is going on.

You never did tell me how far along she is.

I have heard of a female expelling a kitten and continuing with normal gestation.  I have also heard of a preemie kitten being born as an onset of labor for the rest.  Depending on how she was bred, there could be kittens in different stages of development in the womb.

Usually, once the first kitten is born in a normal delivery, the other kittens (assuming there are more than one) come pretty quickly thereafter, but not always.  Sometimes, the queen will empty one horn of her uterus and wait up to 24 hours before emptying the other horn of the uterus.

Please let me know what you find out.

Best regards... Norm.