Welcoming a new member in the family is always exciting, isn’t it? It is also surely exciting for you, the cats’ owners to welcome the kittens from a mommy cat.
However, cats’ labor needs some attention, including the signs of cats want to labor and everything you need to prepare for this process. As an owner you must know about these things.
A cat’s pregnancy mostly ends in the week of 9 weeks or 64 to 67 days. If you want to know whether your cat is pregnant, you can check the signs of 1 week pregnant cat.
If you are not really sure about how long your cat has been pregnant, then you can check these signs to get yourself prepared for its laboring process. Check them out!
Nesting implies the process of staying in a particular place quietly. Your cat will do nesting in order for her to get a safe place to deliver and keep her babies.
You can simply provide a comfortable and safe space for her, or she will choose the place to hide, such as under a bed or behind a closet. If you wish to provide a place for her, make sure that the place is very quiet and free of foot traffic as it might be dangerous for her kittens.
Besides, you can also prepare a nesting box with large bed. Make sure the bed is enough for her and her litter. Do you know that a cat might have around 1 to 8 kittens per liter. Moreover, keep food, water and littering box nearby so she will get easy access to it.
Your cat will start showing some changing behaviors such as more frequent panting and grooming, especially around her genital area. Some cats may also be clingier to their owners.
Make sure you provide much love and attention for your cats by petting and stroking them. Changing behavior may indicate the anxiety of the laboring process.
Cats can also change their behavior while their owners are not at home. Check how cats behaviors without their owners at home. They might be surprising!
Besides behavior changes, your cat’s physical appearance might also change. The color of the nipples, body temperature and other signs may appear. The nipples of your cat will appear bigger and pinker as it indicates the beginning of milk discharge. Moreover, body temperature might also be low.
When the process of laboring is going to start, then the process will be uneasy and tiring as active labor is the response of your cat to pains. Contractions, which is the uterine movement that brings the kitten to the birth canal, will be in this active labor stage. Fluids and blood are discharged through this process.
The intention for eating for a cat that wants to labor might increase. She will keep being hungry as she needs to feed herself and her babies inside her tummy.
Besides, she will need more energy for laboring. Laboring process will take so much energy for her. Make sure you provide her food that is rich in nutrition.
You can check the nutrients needed for cats in the best nutrition facts that should be contained in cat food.
What to Prepare Before Your Cat is Laboring
Just like mentioned before, before laboring, your cat might do nesting, hiding in a comfortable place. The place either can be chosen by herself or you can provide a safe and comfortable place for her. There are some stuffs you need to prepare around her nesting area. Here is the list.
- Clean towels – It is needed to clean the area and stimulate the kittens.
- Heating pad – This heating pad will be useful for keeping the kittens warm and preventing them from getting chilled. You can put the heating pad under the blanket or towels. Make sure not to put the heating pad directly in contact with the kittens as they might get burned.
- Dental floss and scissors – You might be wondering what it is for. Dental floss can be useful to cut off the umbilical cord, in case your cat doesn’t do it by herself.
- Refuse bin – After finish helping your cat laboring her kittens, you will need a bin to discard some soiled towels. Make sure you have some plastic bags, laundry basket or a box.
Helping your cat with the laboring process might be very challenging and triggering. In case you face any difficulty or not sure about the way to handle it, you can surely contact your vet.
If you wish to have the laboring process at home, make sure all the items you need to prepare are available. The good preparation will determine the success of the birth. Good luck on becoming a new paw parent!
You can read some references about cat’s birth process on this after birth treatment for your cat and 3 ways to help your cat while giving birth when you are alone at home.