shots

Question
my Siamese kitten (moww moww is her name)is about 10 months old. i haven't been able to afford her shots for her and she has gotten pregnant.  will moww moww and her kittens  be ok.  

Answer
First and foremost - don't let mama outside.  This will dramatically reduce the risk of disease.

There are many illnesses that can hurt the developing fetuses.  One is the distemper virus.  If she's not up on her vaccines, she is at high risk for this.  Somewhere are 70% of adult cats die if they become infected with this virus.  But if you keep her inside, the risk of her getting it is reduced.  Unfortunately, you cannot vaccinate her now, because she's pregnant.  If she contracted the actual disease or if she was vaccinated while pregnant, the kittens may be born with Cerebellar Hypoplasia (CH).  It causes the kittens to shake and wobble.  Some are so severely effected that they can't even eat or stand and must be put to sleep.  Some are effected so mildly that they just have a little bit of a shake to them, but it does not effect their quality of life at all.  I have a cat with mild CH, and he does everything a normal cat does.

There are two disease that often cause miscarriage that a cat can get outdoors.  One is feline leukemia, and another is feline AIDS.  If the disease does not cause a miscarriage, kittens born to mothers with leukemia will almost always be positive and will generally die within months.  But kittens who are born to a mother with AIDS have a much better chance.  The virus isn't passed as easily as leukemia is.  A positive test on a kitten usually means the mother is positive, but not necessarily the kittens.