My pregnant cat is spraying everywhere!

Question
QUESTION: Hi Norm,
I had asked you a few questions this past week about my young Bengal that should be due any day now. The past 3 days I have been thinking that this is it she's going to have them today. But still no kittens. However her behaivor has changed alot. She walks around meowing everywhere and sniffing every little thing including the floor. She is licking herself a great deal and she seems to be uncomfotable and some what confused? Today I saw her spray 3 times. I now have her confined to the cat room and have her totally seperated from my other two cats. Why is she spraying things? Is that normal? I have not read anything about pregnant cats doing that. She has also made a few strange noises and I think she might be going into labor but then she falls asleep agian. She I be worried or does it just sound like labor is coming? She is still grazing and drinking water but has not played today. If I take the median date in which I think she got pregnant then she would be 66 days.

Thank you agian for your help,
Julie

ANSWER: Julie,

The pregnant queen can get quite hormonal and uncomfortable.  This may be why she is spraying.  The kittens are probably putting pressure on her bladder.  Anyway, you can clean it up with an enzyme based cleaner specifically for pet stains and pet odors (available at pet supermarkets and/or farm stores).

This is the part of the pregnancy I hate.  Waiting, waiting, waiting until the queen is good and ready to have kittens.  At 66 days, things should be getting pretty close.  Until she hits day 69, I would not be worried.  BTW, we begin counting from the SECOND day of breeding, so she may really be at 65 days.

Again, every queen does this a little differently.  As long as she is not in distress, I would not worry.  They seem to know more about what they need to do to get kittens out than we do.  Just, as a precaution, make sure you have arrangements with your vet to get her in any time of day or night with no appointment in case she does run into trouble.

The first stages of labor will be restlessness, sometimes lots of going in and out of the litter pan as the pressure increases.  The first contractions will be positioning contractions to move the first kitten towards the birth canal.  When she goes into true birthing labor, you will know.  Normally, it takes an hour for the first kitten to arrive once hard labor begins.  Always keep a watch handy along with paper towels, scissors (for clipping the umbilical, if she does not), alcohol, a soft face cloth for cleaning the faces of kittens (if need be). Normally, about half the kittens will be born breach!

On a first litter, it is not known how the queen will behave, so there may be lots of variations to how she decides to get the job done.

One other tip, go to a health food store and get marshmallow root powder capsules.  See if she will eat the contents in a meat baby food as a treat.  This is supposed to help milk production.  We usually start ours on it about 3 days before we think the kittens are to be born until about 3 days after they are born.  One capsule twice a day.

Please let me know how it goes.

Best regards... Norm.



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

QUESTION: Thanks for the info Norm, you have been a great help! Today I noticed her vulva  looks wet like water? Does that mean her water broke? The wetness is just there at the opening not dripping or any thing. She is still spraying too. The biggest problem I have right now is wether to keep the males separate from her. I think one of the reasons she hasn't had the kittens yet is because she is not settled with a spot she likes. I now have cleared a cabinet out and put newspaper in it that she is shreading while I write this. And I got the carrier out that I have a towel in and the original birthing box with her favorite fleece blanket in. Hoping she will take a liking to one of them soon. When I separarte her from the males they all stay at the door and cry for each other. I know she needs to concentrate on nesting which is hard when two other cats are in her space but then when she is alone all she does is cry and not nest. Which is better for her to be alone and be stressed over that or with both of them who could get in the way of her nesting? I have tried it all different ways but nothing seems to work. I realy hope she has them soon. I wouldn't be so concerned if she wasn't 8 months and a small cat to boot. Say the kittens were to big to fit through her pelvis would that make it so she never went into to flow blown labor or would she go into labor and just not be able to push them out? My husband is very concerned about a possible high vet bill. So far she is still energetic and eating & drinking. Her eating has slowed down a bit today though. I'm thinking we are close just want your opinion about her wet vulva and what I should do about separating the cats. My Maine Coon would be the best mother ever if he were a she. I dont know if it would be better if he were in there with her to possibly help if I miss the birth or not? The Bengal kittens actually just got out of the habit of nursing my male cat LOL. Agian thank you for all your help you have been great. Hopefully she'll have them before you ever read this and all will be well.

Thanks,
Julie

Answer
Julie,

It is possible her water broke which means kittens are due within a few hours (normally).  You really need to keep the males out or who knows what may happen.  If she decides the males need to stay away from the kittens and they do not, you will have mayhem in that room and, possibly, in a full fight/flight reaction, she may harm the kittens as well as everyone else.

It sounds as if one of the places will do to have kittens.

If she cannot pass the kittens, just like in people, the vet will do a C-section.  Normally, once true birth contractions start (and you will know them when you see them), within a half hour to 45 minutes (or a bit longer), she should produce a "bubble", this is the sack with the first kitten.  It takes about an hour for the first kitten to be all the way out.  There is about a 50% probability the kitten will be breach.  As long as there is progress, there is no need to involve the vet.  If after 2 hours of hard labor, nothing is produced, it is time to see the vet.

On the good news side, size of the female does not matter, per se, but the width of the birth canal through the pelvis is what matters most.

Please let me know how it goes.

Best regards... Norm.