:Pregnant

Question
My friend found a kitten on the road in august 2006. The kitten was probably 2 or 3 weeks old when we got it. It's a girl i named it Miley. She's about 11 or more months old. I believe she pregnant. Her nipples are larger, her stomach is bigger, harder, and rounder, her appetite has indeed increased. She's very young. So i didn't think that her babies would make it. We live in the country and we have a big house, shes an outside cat so i don't know how to make her have her babies in one place. I don't know how to make her have her babies somewhere we'll know and somewhere safe. She's gotten longer. I don't know how to tell how many babies she's having. She has 4 or five nipples. The questions i am asking are

1. How do i make her have her babies somewhere we'll know and somewhere safe.?
2. how many babies is she having.?
3. will her babies make it.?
4. how do you know how many weeks the cat is pregnant.?

Answer
Hi Tayler, thank you for the questions. You cannot MAKE her have the babies anywhere she doesn't want to but you can ENCOURAGE her to have them in the house by having a nice bed set up for her in a quiet safe place in the house that she will feel she will not be disturbed. If you want her to have them in a specific place outside of the house you would do the same thing and bring her to see the box and bed you have ready for her. I have no way to tell how many babies she is having without seeing her and even then it would just be a guess. I also cannot tell you if her babies will be healthy and will make it. You would need to have an ultrasound done and a heart monitor to know the condition of the kittens. I can tell you that 11 months is not too early to have kittens. Most cats come into heat and can be bred anytime after 6 months old. A cat pregnancy is a total of 9 weeks so if you are just starting to see her thicken out and you have not felt movement of the babies she is probably somewhere between 4-6 weeks pregnant. That is as close as I can estimate from an email. Teresa