Have you ever been present when...

[Randi]

... a cat had kittens? Or have your other cats been present?

If so, I'd like to hear how it went and if you have any advice of how to handle this the best way. You may have read that Willow Oak has a pregnant cat living with him at the moment. She shares a room with two males and they seem to get along quite well.

An old girlfriend of mine was there when one of her cat had her babies, she helped cut the cord and all turned out fine. I have never experienced it myself. Have you?

[pomtzu]

... a cat had kittens? Or have your other cats been present?

If so, I'd like to hear how it went and if you have any advice of how to handle this the best way. You may have read that Willow Oak has a pregnant cat living with him at the moment. She shares a room with two males and they seem to get along quite well.

An old girlfriend of mine were there when one of her cat had her babies, she helped cut the cord and all turned out fine. I have never experienced it myself. Have you?

I've been present at numerous cat and dog births, and you really need do nothing. Momma should take care of everything, and it's best not to intervein unless absolutely necessary. When my Lhasa had her last litter, one of the pups was stillborn and I tried to revive it, but to no avail.

Make sure Momma cat has a nice birthing box or area, and definitely do not let the other cats stay with her while she is giving birth, or even after for that matter. Not only could it stress her, but could be dangerous for the babies. I don't know how much truth there is to this, but I have heard that a male cat will try to kill the babies - all except for a Siamese male. When my Siamese Momma had her kittens, my male Siamese would get in the box with the babies and babysit, so Momma could take a break.. but I still did not allow him near her while she was delivering, and for about a week after.

[dehlers43]

I adopted a preggers kitty who presented me with four babies the day after she moved in. Chelsea (mom cat) was so young that she was sort of clueless...a baby having babies in a way. Lucky for me she went right into the box I had prepared. The first two kittens were born within about a minute of each other and Chelsea was so exhausted she just laid there. I toweled off each baby, got each of them to mewl and stuck them to a nipple. Babies were good. Chelsea finally roused herself enough to start licking and cleaning herself. I kid you not - she "accidently" licked a baby and it was like the light went on in her head and she was all momma cat after that. She birthed two more kittens all by herself and all was well.
I had done some research online about birthing kittens so I was ready...lots of info out there. That's how I learned that two kittens being born really close together could be an issue. Just be on hand with lots of soft towels but don't be surprised if your momma cat does just fine all by herself.

[Taz_Zoee]

Growing up in the country I saw lots of births. Dog and cats. They all went well and we had to do nothing. Once my sisters dog was having her puppies and one wouldn't come out so she had to take her to the vet for help.
And another time my friends Rottie has puppies and one was stuck. With her mom on the phone helping we were able to get the puppy out. Only one of those 4 or 5 pups lived though. We blame it on the fact that the momma dog had gotten into rat poison when she was pregnant. Momma dog was fixed shortly after this and lived to a good old age of 13 years.

[catmandu]

No , although I just missed Pouncette having Gary and Ivon by a few days.
I have seen videos and its fascinating watching those tiny faces emerging and being welcomed by theur Mommas.

[moosmom]

Oh yeah! One of my rescues, Matrushka Grace, (Russian for Gentle Mother, I think). Her nickname was Mattie Grace. She gave birth to 4 beautiful kittens. ALL got adopted to wonderful homes

CAUTION: Get the males out of the room and give her a room of her own complete with everything she needs, including a box lined with newspaper and old towels. A male will kill the babies just so he can mate with the female again. She needs to be stress free. The males will only stress her out.

The birth itself from beginning to end takes 10 hours. It was wonderful to watch how she cared for her new babies, yet trust me to be right there with her. I had plenty of towels, a box which she refused to go into. She wanted to have them on the carpeted floor. So be it!!

She was a wonderful Mom. I wanted to keep her but knew what my limits were, not having a job.

It IS a beautiful experience, but not one I'd recommend. In other words, SPAY/NEUTER!!!

[krazyaboutkatz]

Yes, I got to watch our family cat give birth to her first litter of kittens when I was 8 years old and this was in early June. I remember telling my mom that I wish that she would have her kittens soon and then she started howling and a kitten was starting to come out so we got her box and put a blanket in it. She had 6 orange kittens and she cleaned them and ate the sacs that they came in. It didn't seem to take long at all. Later she let our dog also take care of them so they had 2 mothers.

We wanted to get her spayed but found out she was pregnant again so she ended up having another litter and my dad found her having some of them in our garage in Oct. I think she had 5 this time. She was finally spayed after the kittens were weaned.

[Medusa]

I've been present at numerous cat and dog births, and you really need do nothing. Momma should take care of everything, and it's best not to intervein unless absolutely necessary. When my Lhasa had her last litter, one of the pups was stillborn and I tried to revive it, but to no avail.

Make sure Momma cat has a nice birthing box or area, and definitely do not let the other cats stay with her while she is giving birth, or even after for that matter. Not only could it stress her, but could be dangerous for the babies. I don't know how much truth there is to this, but I have heard that a male cat will try to kill the babies - all except for a Siamese male. When my Siamese Momma had her kittens, my male Siamese would get in the box with the babies and babysit, so Momma could take a break.. but I still did not allow him near her while she was delivering, and for about a week after.

Yes, I concur w/what Ellie said. (I can't comment on the part about Siamese, though, b/c I really don't know.) My vet told me not to keep looking in on a cat or dog while they're giving birth b/c it stresses them, just to let nature take its course and Mom will do fine unless you can tell that something just isn't going right. My dog Charmin gave birth to only 2 puppies but she ended up having them Caesarean so I was glad that I checked on her but my cats have had kittens w/no problems.

[Barbara]

My first cat Grisette had a litter two times. They look for a safe place and you can even notice the time has come when she starts to search. Grisette first time found that place in a closet. When we opened the door in the morning, there she was with her 4 purrfect babies on a stack of old clothes that was on the bottom and she had it all cleaned up nicely and was very proud. So you see that when all goes fine there is really nothing you have to do.
The second time (which was unplanned- at that time back in 1977 we thought she should have kittens one time but she became pregnant after the first birth in no time. I didn't have the heart to have them aborted and found good homes for all of them- including a litter I found abandoned in the woods at the same time) she accepted the nice box with towels we had made for her behind a paravent and I could watch it all. It was one of the most touching experiences of my life and it all went well. She licked herself while the little kits hatched enclosed in their coat of slime and licked it all away until they looked like wet little mice and then more until they showed they were furry
I will never again have a cat getting pregnant but I wish I could be part of that experience again