Young female, overdue for delivery

Question
QUESTION: Hi Teresa, I wrote earlier to someone else and they haven't sent a reply.  I've been reading your answers and I really hope you might have some advice for me.  I have a 9-10 month old female.  She is small in stature. She was in heat the week of March 12th and got out and stayed gone for a week.  She is now I estimate 65 days into her gestation.  She is as big as a pack mule.  My worry is this:  About 3 weeks ago, I noticed a sweater she had been laying on had dried pink fluid on it, fairly big stains, but they were dried.  I noticed she had some tissue - not much, but something that was protruding from her vaginal area.  I thought at first it was maybe a small amount of feces, but I removed what I could, and the color was red/brown and went I dropped it in the toilet, it rehydrated and turned a gray/white, and almost looked like umbilical cord.  I didn't rush her to a vet because I am like others who've written in, and don't have a lot of $$ for an emergency trip to the vet.  I spoke with the animal hospital here.  They wanted me to bring her in but said a cesarean delivery would cost anywhere from 1400 to 2800 dollars.  So, I've been watching her carefully over the last two weeks.  There has been a small amount of tissue still that I've seen and tried to clean, and a lot of the fur around her vaginal opening is almost stiff, as if something sticky like soda had gotten on her fur.  But, no kittens yet and no signs of labor.  I do still feel movement in her belly, but I have a feeling at least one of the kittens has probably died, based on what I think was a rupture of her membranes a few weeks ago.  She is still alert, eating, and seems to be feeling okay and doesn't look ill.  But, since it's been at least 65 days since she was impregnated, is there a possibility that she wont' go into labor?  I keep hoping that nature will take over and she will deliver soon, but Im worried about that fluid and tissue I've seen, and I know I should have taken her to the vet with this possible complication she is having, but doing so literally would have caused me to lose the place I live as I would have not been able to pay my rent and take her to the doctor.  It's just too expensive.  Do you have any suggestions or ideas of what I might expect with her, or thoughts of how long I should wait before I absolutely rush her to the vet (after robbing a bank to pay for it, LOL)?  I've just been very worried about her pregnancy now for weeks and I can't get any solid advice on what to expect or when to expect the delivery, and the only thing I've been told is to get her to the vet.  

I sure hope to hear from you.
ANSWER: Hi Christina, Well put away your bank robbing equipment and let's see what we can do for this girl. The good news is that she is the size of a pack mule. this means that she is feeling ok and eating well and that the babies are GROWING! It also means that she is due any minute! The other good news is that you told me the babies are moving. She will indeed go into labour so you don't need to worry about that. At this point I would recommend you wait things out. It is possible a membrane may have ruptured. BUT, membranes can also re seal after losing a little fluid ! It is also possible that you are just seeing her mucous plug coming out. Cats do have a bit of discharge before they deliver and it can be sticky. You would not have noticed it if the mom cat wasn't so big because she would be able to reach around and clean it before you saw it. I really doubt that it was part of an umbilical cord that you saw. The umbilical cord is very strong, I can't imagine a piece of it coming out and you not seeing the rest of it.
NOW< re the piece of something that you picked off her. Well it is possible she has prolapsed her uterus.. but that is unlikely as she hasn't delivered yet and that is more likely to happen from the contractions. It is also possible that you just picked some dried up mucous off of her?! How big was this piece? Perhaps she was discharging some sac material? The problem is, a c-section is not going to help if she passed something 3 weeks ago. (And I don't know how your vet charges so much for a c-section! I have never paid more than $1,000)
NOW< I do want you to promise me that you watch her like a hawk AFTER she delivers ! this is when you are going to see problems if there are any. When the kittens are being born you need to check to make sure there are the same number of afterbirths as there are kittens delivered. I also want you to monitor the discharge after she delivers. It should be bloody but not "mucky" and it should stop by day 3 or 4. It should not have a bad odor.
Also watch her eating and drinking. If she stops eating she will need to see a vet. If she stops caring for the kittens she needs to see a vet. It is ok if she doesn't eat while she is delivering but she should be eating like normal by the next morning. what I am worried about is that she may retain a dead kitten or an afterbirth or that she has a uterine infection. If this is left you will lose her. So it is very important that you note all these things or take her for an xray and oxytocin injection after she delivers. But at this point I would not upset her by moving her and it sounds like things are stable right now. She can go up to 69 days to start labour so I would imagine you will have kittens today or tomorrow...
And start saving to get her spayed....
Teresa

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

QUESTION: I forgot to answer your question about the tissue.  When I first saw it, I almost thought it looked like the tip of a black kitten's tail protruding from the opening.  But with a gloved hand I was able to try and pull it gently, and the mamma meowed each time I tried.  A piece of it broke off and it was very small, perhaps a bit bigger than a large grain of rice.  It was red and yellowish in color, and like I said, it turned white upon hitting the water from the toilet bowl.  So, definitely wasn't feces and I can only describe it as "tissue".  There hasn't been much more of it since then, which was about 2 weeks ago.  I still see something similar at her vaginal opening but I don't try to pull on it, just wipe gently with a warm moist cloth.  I've also trimmed her long fur away from the opening as much as she will let me, which is how I know there was something sticky which got on her fur there.  I doubt it's a mucus plug as it just doesn't look anything like mucus whatsoever.  Okay, that's it for me!  She's sleeping again on her little rug and I will sleep with one eye open tonight.  

Thank you again!
ANSWER: Hi Christina, thanks for the extra emails. Yes, it certainly does sound like tissue. That would have just been blood on the outside that washed off when it hit the water. It is not normal. I am just hesitant to rush her into surgery when she is ready to pop any minute! Do keep an eye on her. If she is eating ok and behaving rather normally ie purring and active as can be expected then I would leave her. If she stops eating then I would be more concerned. or if she gets very lethargic... (tired) Obviously some would be normal with a pregnancy but really anything more than that be concerned. Does she have normal stool??
If she is passing these little pieces of tissue, is she also discharging any water ? clear blood? yellow/white mucous? anything dark green or slimey? or just this tissue stuff??
And it is quite normal for the other cats to be sniffing around her. that usually happens about 24 hours before kittens.
Teresa

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

QUESTION: About stooling, I watched her in the cat box about 4 hours ago and she had did have a notable sized bowel movement, but I think thta's to be expected.  She seems to ask me for turkey, roast beef, or ham every time I go to the kitchen.  Today, though, she doesn't seem quite as interested.  I think she's getting tired of cold cuts, so she's gone back to the regular food (canned and dry).  I don't want to rush her to surgery either.  I am monitoring her for any signs of distress, though, and I won't hesitate if I feel something is happening that she and I can't handle together.  She was lethargic a couple of weeks ago when I first noticed the stains on the sweater and the tissue, but was only that way for a day or so, then she seemingly went back to her normal self.  And my feeling about her trying to pass these small amounts of tissue is that it also coincides with whatever is on her fur that feels stiff, as if perhaps she is leaking something there.  It's hard to tell the color of whatever fluid might be leaking, because she's basically a calico and the fur around the opening isn't exactly white in color normally, it's a bit tan there anyway, so if the liquid was blood-tinged, I might not notice the discoloration on her fur as if her fur was completely white.  I guess I can consider myself lucky that her fur is not black.  Then I'd never know!    However, I haven't seen any type of mucous, nothing dark green or slimy, and if it wasn't unacceptable to do this, I would just send you a picture of her rear end and you could see what I'm talking about.  Meanwhile, though, I'll go back to my cat-watching post.  

I won't be able to say this enough, but thank you for being here (or there!) for me and for little "Sister".  We both appreciate this very much.

Answer
oh hi christina, I have already mailed you another email but I need to respond to this one so that it gets "filed" Yes, keep an eye on that discharge. clear is ok. mucky is ok. bloody could mean a problem with a kitten, green or blackish could mean a problem with a kitten. So, as you expect you may have lost a kitten... but mom should be ok as long as she is active and eating ! Do you know how to take a temperature on a cat? do you have a little baby rectal thermometer? would you feel comfortable doing that? It should be 101.5 C.