pregnant cat in house, with 1 other female, 2 males,

Question
we have a very young pregnant cat, which is very close to birthing, she has been hanging around outside for so long, we finally let her in because she looks ready to pop in a day, and several Toms have been hovering around outside close by her.
My question is we have 2 male cats, 1 older and neutered, and 1 younger than a 1 yr old which has just recently been fixed, and we are not sure he is not the daddy, but not sure.  and also 1 female cat that has been fixed also, but she is very domain minded, and has been sniffing at pregnant cat and hissing, we are not sure if any or the female in particular will harem the mother when she starts to have kittens, are there steps we should be doing, or precautions to take.

Answer
First, thank you for being kind and taking care of this little one. As far as your question my answer is basically better safe than sorry. If your cats are generally docile that is a good sign but you can really never tell how they will react. Animals can be very sensitive to things we don't notice and cats, in particular, are very sensitive to change. I have a wonderful docile fixed female. She always got along perfectly with ourt little pomeranian dog as well. But recently we found a litter of five tiny 2 day old kittens which we hand raised. And much to my shock when I tried to introduce my cat to the tiny kittens she actually hissed at them. I never expected she could ever behave that way, especially with babies. There is no accounting for exactly what she didn't like, but she didn't like something. She has never attacked them seriously but she still hisses at them at will raise a paw at them in warning. In addition, since she the outside cat is a stray you are bringing in, you should segregate her from your cats anyway. She may appear perfectly healthy but if she has been living outside and having to find food, she may have some intestinal or other parasites - even fleas may not always be easy to spot - and your cats can catch these things. So really the issue is twofold - ensuring your cats don't catch anything and protecting the mom and kittens which is the concern you first mentioned. For both reasons you should definitely keep mom-cat away from your other cats. Once she has the kittens you should take her and the kittens to the vet to have them tested and examined for parasites and so on and follow the vets directions if they have anything that needs taking care of. If she does not give birth right away, you might be able to take her to the vet even before she has the kittens. In addition, whether you keep her or the kittens or choose to find them all new adoptive homes, you should definitely have her spayed. There are also some new procedures - I am not sure how successful they are - which allow early spay/neutering of kittens. You may be able to do this before you give them away and thus try to ensure no more homeless kittens. As far as the birthing process, since you mention she is a young cat, she may have some difficulty birthing. Even we humans often need caesarian sections and before modern medicine, many young women died in childbirth. It is no different for animals - she can have difficulty especially if she is young or small. If you are present during the birthing, keep a careful watch. If she is having trouble and any of the kittens seem to get stuck, you may have to assist by trying to turn them a bit. Really, a vet is helpful, with an x-ray. Kittens can even be breach birth (reversed) and this will be a really problematic birth. Most of the time cats can do all this on their own, but I just want you to be prepared for the possibilities. I guess what I am trying to say, is that you should make your vet aware of your situation and ask him/her if he can be available on short notice in the event the mom starts to distress during birthing. You don't mention if you have ever raised kittens before - the mom should take care of things but again if she is young, she is likely inexperienced and may not do things 100%. You may want to help for the sake of the health and future adoptibility of the kittens. In addition, often if there is a runt kitty in the bunch, it may not get enough milk, being pushed out of the way by the other larger kittens, Such a kitten should be bottle fed. Good pet stores sell tiny bottles and a good formula mix for feeding kittens and this is what you will need. Do NOT use milk. It can cause diarrhea which can actually kill tiny kittens. If you need further advice about raising the kittens or anything else that comes up, please feel free to write me again. You can also find good books on hand raising kittens and should ask your vet any questions you have as well. There are certain shots and other things kittens will need for their first six months of life. I'd be happy to hear from you again with anything you need.