# Clear fluid from pregnant cats nipples



## rachael

If I squeeze some of Molly's nipples, a very very small amount of a clear fluid will come out...

Is this an indication on how long it will be before she delivers? 

Also she is sleeping non stop.. Should I be worried? I hear that they are supposed to be restless...


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## spid

you are over worrying Rachel - if you are tense she will pick up on it and possibly hold off labour for a day or two - just let it happen - it will happen when it does and no second guessing is going to speed it along.


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## rachael

I'm not that worried... I can see how it comes off that way on the forums, though ... 

The main thing I was wondering about is the clear fluid


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## spid

the clear liquid is probably colostrum (the best bit of the milk that contains antibodies) that comes through before the milk proper. I've never squeezed my girls niples to see what comes out so can't tell you on time scales - but I would imagine in the next few days she will give birth.


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## rachael

Lol thank you... I'm going out of state in 6 days and I'd hate it if she gave birth while I'm gone


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## Clare Ferris

hi
the clear fluid tends to come before the milk but not sure exactly how long before? only just saw this thread so dont know how long see has been pregnant for but is normally 65 days, temp can drop but not always a good indicator. My cats temp droped a few days before the birth. She was not restless and carried on as normal until she jumped off my bed on the morning of the birth letting out a loud mieow and releasing a plug of material and water all over my bed. She then went on to have kittens within the hour. If temp has dropped then should be within a few days but you really need to know how long she has been pregant for to get a proper idea.
Clare


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## rachael

I have no idea how long she has been pregnant because she was a stray and I'm fostering her for the local shelter...

A friend of mine who works there told me she spoke to the vet tech, who spoke with the vet, who said the cat should drop in anywhere from 1 day to 7 days..

What does "drop" mean? Have her babies? Or her belly will drop?

How long after her belly drops will she have her babies? How do I know if her belly has dropped?


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## sootisox

"drop" could either be giving birth or changing shape. When my girl pregnant, her belly changed shape quite noticably. When viewed from above, she seemed slimmer, had seemed to have lost that classic round shape. Viewed from the side however, her belly was much lower to the ground. She went on to give birth to 3 healthy babies 2 days later. Good luck with the impending birth!


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## rachael

Hm.. Well to me all of the sudden she looks a lot rounder


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## Milly22

rachael said:


> Hm.. Well to me all of the sudden she looks a lot rounder


Is it *dropped* round though 

It's a nightmare isn't it? The waiting.........


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## Saikou

rachael said:


> Hm.. Well to me all of the sudden she looks a lot rounder


If she suddenly looks very round, feel her sides, does she feel rock hard ?


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## rachael

One the sides she's hard and sometimes she's soft.. Mostly hard.. underneath, her belly is very hard..


I can clearly feel and see the babies.. 

On a different note, If I try to pick her up she meows and yelps so I don't try because I'm afraid to hurt her.

On Monday I could hardly see her belly, but by Wednesday she looked like she swallowed an inflated beach ball..

Early this morning (7 am), her temp was 98.9. Four hours later it was 99.5, now 40 minutes later it's 98.9 again.... But she was under 100 for a whole day two days ago, and then went back up to 100 for a day..




The waiting is tearing me apart because everyday is a day closer to me leaving for 5 days.. and then I feel like I wont get to witness her birth...

All of these photos are from yesterday except the second to last one is from a few days ago and the last one is from Monday..


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## Saikou

I would just leave her alone, I wouldn't keep taking her temp, its only a guide, and as every cat and pregnancy is different there's no definitive rule that says if the temp drops to x expect the kittens in y time.

She will have them when its time and not before, could be any minute, could be days away.


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## rachael

You're right. I will just stick to taking it once in the morning.. Because if I take it at the same time, that's when I'm most likely to see a change anyways.

I just hope she either has her babies in the next few days, or she manages to wait 10-11 days until I'm back in town



... What does the hard belly thing mean?


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## Clare Ferris

rachael said:


> I have no idea how long she has been pregnant because she was a stray and I'm fostering her for the local shelter...
> 
> A friend of mine who works there told me she spoke to the vet tech, who spoke with the vet, who said the cat should drop in anywhere from 1 day to 7 days..
> 
> What does "drop" mean? Have her babies? Or her belly will drop?
> 
> How long after her belly drops will she have her babies? How do I know if her belly has dropped?


I would imagine they mean give birth. judging by her pictures she is very close! The abdomen will look obviously bigger in the last three weeks but nipples can pink up after 3 weeks or so. She is definately in the later stages but no one can tell you exactly when it will happen. Even if you knew the mating date you still may not get kittens being born exactly on 65 days. Just make her comfortable with a nesting box and heat mats and stay calm, like someone else said it will happen when she is ready. If she feels her environment is not right then she may hold of the birth so make her feel secure and relaxed and dont allow stangers to visit too much as this may stress her. She will probably have them over night when you least expect it. Cats generally are fine with the birth but be aware of what to watch out for incase she does have trouble. Especially if its her first litter, but you may not know this if she is a stray...Good luck


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## rachael

I'm reasonably sure that this is her first litter because the vet guessed that she's at most 10 months old...

I did a lot of researching online about what to look for in case something does go wrong, and I have the vets number saved as a contact on my phone.. So just two or three clicks away.


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