More details and a few questions about Josephine's delivery....

[kimlovescats]

Josephine was in labor / delivery for nearly 3 hours, so needless to say she was one pooped out kitty!:eek: Her very first baby, she acted panicked and surprised like she didn't know what the heck to do. She kept moving all about and not tending to it ...luckily I was there to wash it for her and clear its little nose and mouth.

On the second delivery, Josephine didn't deliver all of the sack right away, and the baby was dangling from her by the umbilical cord. :eek: She kept standing up and dragging / dangling the baby all over the bed .... finally I decided to pull the rest of the afterbirth / sack out myself, and that worked fine. *sigh of relief*


For some reason I don't remember this detail from when Emma had her babies ... but several of Josephine's came out feet first!:eek: My question ..... for all you true experts ... is this 'normal' for cats, or was it a delicate matter for the babies? Again, thankfully they came out with several good pushes from Josephine ..... I would gently rub her tummy and she did the rest.;) more....

[kimlovescats]

As I mentioned in one of the other posts also ... Josephine left most of the afterbirth in the bed and even still attached to several of the babies. You can see that in some of the pics I posted. Finally after she had delivered all seven and was obviously ready to settle in ... I had to cut 3 of the umbilical cords from the sacs myself.

I assume that Josephine would have eventually taken care of this herself, but I am thankful that I was there just in case she wouldn't have. This morning she also delivered one more large mass, and left it in her bed. :rolleyes: ;)

QSA ... THANK YOU for suggesting the KMR as a supplement! I really had not thought about the possibility of her not producing quite enough milk for all of them!:eek: ;)

Kim

[Catsnclay]

Ok, I will be the first to admit......I didn't look at the pictures of the birth. I got out of that thread fast! Things like that do bother me (why I am childless myself). Normally I can handle tough situations, but births.....that's where I draw the line. So that's why Im posting here.

Wow, 7 babies! Just thinking about it makes me tired!! Poor Josephine!! Its a good thing you were there for her Kim! I bet the babies are just adorable.

I'm really glad there are people like you!! :D And I'm positive Josephine is very grateful too!

[kimlovescats]

Originally posted by Catsnclay
Ok, I will be the first to admit......I didn't look at the pictures of the birth. I got out of that thread fast! Things like that do bother me (why I am childless myself).

No problem at all! That's why I titled it with a 'warning' ... hope I didn't offend anyone!!!;)

[catcrazylady]

Kim I have only had one recent experience in kitten birth and that was with Pervy. As a kid (before everyone knew to spay) all of our cats took care of everything. With Pervy I had to cut the cords, clean, and then dispose of the after birth. As a matter of fact I also had to pull one afterbirth out and later I had to pull one of the stillborn babies out. Pervy didn't help do anything! I think for her it was youth. The fear and pain confused her and of course later on she got very ill with a high fever and couldn't do anything. In the beginning she just paniced! We came home from work and found a baby on the kitchen floor and thought it was dead. The afterbirth was on top of it and hubby grabbed a paper towel to clean it up, while I was frantically searching for Pervy, and it screamed! Scared him to death! It was my first experience with a momma cat who didn't seem to know what to do. It was also my first experience with hands on birthing of ANYTHING and although hubby gagged and ran I was rather proud of myself for managing the whole thing!http://petoftheday.com/talk/images/our_smilies/biggrin.gif
I'm happy for you that at least now she is taking care of them and I'm sure she will be a great mom. Maybe she knew you would do it for her so she didn't have to clean all that mess up!

Looking at the other thread makes me miss Pervy's babies. None of them survived.http://petoftheday.com/talk/images/our_smilies/frown.gif I am having a GREAT TIME looking at these new babies though! I'm back to the thread to check them out again!!http://petoftheday.com/talk/images/our_smilies/biggrin.gif

[RICHARD]

Originally posted by kimlovescats
hope I didn't offend anyone!!!;)

I didn't want to post it on the other thread but I am a little disappointed in you.....









WHERE ARE THE CIGARS????
;)

[DogLover9501]

Originally posted by RICHARD
I didn't want to post it on the other thread but I am a little disappointed in you.....









WHERE ARE THE CIGARS????
;)

LOL!

[kimlovescats]

RICHARD ... thank you for a near heart attack!!!:eek: :rolleyes:
I guess you did kind of 'owe me' though! I hope we are now EVEN!;) :D

[RICHARD]

Originally posted by kimlovescats
RICHARD ... thank you for a near heart attack!!!:eek: :rolleyes:
I guess you did kind of 'owe me' though! I hope we are now EVEN!;) :D

I was just looking for a freebie........I usually don't smoke cigars.;)

[kimlovescats]

Originally posted by catcrazylady
We came home from work and found a baby on the kitchen floor and thought it was dead. http://petoftheday.com/talk/images/our_smilies/biggrin.gif
[/IMG]

This is exactly why I have my birthing cage!!!:eek: :eek: :D

[Barbara]

Coming back to the original theme:p I have been witness of two cat births with 4 babies each and the mom cut the umbilical cord with her teeth and ate the afterbirth (sorry if that sounds gross). Everything was nice and clean after it. I have heard that some kitties do not really know what to do and then they need a human to help them. Good Josephine had you:)