Cats are one of the “luckiest” animals in the world. Normally, cats from 6 months are capable of becoming mothers and, on average, a cat can reproduce 3 to 4 litters a year. The time for a cat to become pregnant lasts from 62 to 65 days.
Like many other animals, when pregnant with cats, there are many strange manifestations, just a little observant that you know if your cat is pregnant or not. If not, you can check the signs of a pregnant cat Listed below by achocanh for a comprehensive review of your cat’s condition.
Signs of a pregnant cat in heat
In general, hybrid queens come into estrus earlier than purebred queens, and free range queens will go into heat earlier than indoor queens.
As mentioned above, female cats from 6 months of age have started heat and are capable of nursing. However, you should wait until the cat is 1 year old, by this time the cat has fully developed both in terms of health and psychology, which will help the cat “mature” to take more care of its children.
When female cats come into heat, they often roll on the floor, have loud, prolonged screams, are quite anorexic, or eat little.
Also, by gently placing a hand on the bottom, the cat is raised on the bottom, or the legs are bent and the mouth is continuous, it can be predicted that your cat is preparing to enter the mating period.
It should be noted that during estrus, female cats constantly mark their territory with urine, often have a standing position, hold their tail up and “spray” urine on objects vertically.
Signs of a pregnant cat
The estrus period usually lasts from 10 to 14 days, if after this time the cat suddenly does not cry and becomes quite tame, preferring to lie down, it shows signs of pregnancy.
Two weeks into heat, her nipples are red and pink, and she can even express milk.
Cats start to eat a lot, some cats will show expressions of endearment, preferring to be closer to their owners. However, there are also babies who express anger, have an unstable mood, can scratch their owners, these expressions are quite similar to those of humans, so you should not be too surprised if the cat suddenly becomes like this.
When the cat is 3-4 weeks pregnant, sometimes nausea, even vomiting.
At week 5 of gestation, the mother cat’s belly begins to grow noticeably.
Taking care of a pregnant cat
First of all, if your cat has some of the above symptoms, you can take her to the vet to check if she is pregnant or not.
In general, after 40 days, from the day the baby stops being in heat, it is possible to take the cat to check and find out the exact state of the cat, as well as the number of cats it carries. Knowing the number of cats is extremely necessary, so that in the birthing process the residual trait, plant remains, which can cause a dangerous situation for your boss, is avoided.
Absolutely do not restrain the cat and prevent the cat from doing vigorous activities such as climbing or jumping, which will cause fetal movements and premature labor.
When your cat is pregnant, you should pay attention to a diet rich in nutrients and water. The mother cat needs a lot of protein and protein to care for the kittens in the womb. However, she should not feed him too much, too much protein will cause diarrhea which will affect the pregnancy.
Limit the use of dewormers, flea injections or want to use medications, you should consult your vet. It is best to vaccinate and deworm before breeding, because most medications are not safe when cats are pregnant.
It is advisable to leave the mother cat in a calm and quiet place to avoid causing stress and panic.
If the mother cat has symptoms such as finding a nest, there is obvious abdominal distension, slow and cautious walking, enlarged and flaccid external genitalia, enlarged udder, milky white milk, if the mucus is coming out, the cat is about to enter the period of Birth.
At this time, a nest can be made for the cat to give birth with a cardboard box or a plastic pot lined with soft cloth, so it must be placed in a discreet, clean, quiet place, with few people passing by. .
Let the cat give birth naturally. You should stand outside and only step in when necessary, allowing them to lick and chew on your baby’s belly button. Cats’ maternal instincts are so strong that they will complete all of this work on their own without human help.
Pay attention to the signs of the cat about to give birth, such as scratching the nest, meowing a lot, asking the owner for help (usually the person she trusts the most), if you see such signs, keep the cat in your sight . .for easy tracking and handling.
When pushing is very laborious, warm milk should be prepared, unsweetened milk can be bought and heated for the mother to drink. Because the bidding process is very laborious, like every baby that is born, the mother cat has to lick her hair, so her mouth will always be dry and thirsty.
Cat Postpartum Care
Absolutely do not allow strangers to pass through the giving birth cat because it will irritate the mother cat, they will take the baby elsewhere, do not nurse or bite the baby…
Increase nutritional supplements because after giving birth, the mother cat will lose a lot of strength plus she has to produce milk to feed the kittens. Always have clean water available for the mother to drink.
Normally, the mother cat will automatically nurse if she gives birth on her own, but if the caesarean section is interfered with, many mothers will not be able to recognize it as their baby right away, but you should not worry too much about this. because during the operation, the mother cat was injected with anesthesia, pain caused by the incision, so the mother cat lost her temper, when she calmed down, squirmed and nursed. If the mother cat refuses to nurse, you can feed the kittens formula like KMR, Petlac, or baby dielac in Vietnam.
Taking care of a kitten will be very difficult for mothers who don’t know how to take care of their babies, kittens are very easy to die, if you don’t want to see such a scene, you should take the mother cat to the vet. for sterilization surgery.