# breech births



## thumbs (Mar 4, 2009)

have been watching a load of cat births on youtube, just to familiarise myself with it all and happened across a few breech births. to say the cats were in distress is an understatement. they were screaming their heads off in pain!

whats the best way to deal with this, should i be faced with this problem? do i leave her be? screaming in pain? or do i help pull baby out gently? or will that only hurt missy more?

i have given missy a nice big box with one of my old dressing gowns in. she is now happily sucking it and clawing it, purring like a kitten herself, bless her


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## kozykatz (May 18, 2008)

what you might call a breech birth, i.e. kitten presenting backwards but with a foot or tail coming down first, is not a true breech and is almost as common as head first presentation. True breech - bottom first and legs tucked up - is rarer and may well present problems just as with humans. but even so most queens shoudl be able to birth such a kitten normally, it may just take longer than usual and a little help may be required 
now a tongue first presentation is the one that always looks really weird until you know what you're looking at 



thumbs said:


> have been watching a load of cat births on youtube, just to familiarise myself with it all and happened across a few breech births. to say the cats were in distress is an understatement. they were screaming their heads off in pain!
> 
> whats the best way to deal with this, should i be faced with this problem? do i leave her be? screaming in pain? or do i help pull baby out gently? or will that only hurt missy more?
> 
> i have given missy a nice big box with one of my old dressing gowns in. she is now happily sucking it and clawing it, purring like a kitten herself, bless her


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## Elmstar (Apr 7, 2008)

We had one Queen who had a couple feet first. We helped her with the first one as he was quite big but she managed the second one on her own.

I guess the advice would be to see how things are going and maybe try to give a little gentle help if needed but of course if she's in too much distress call in the vet.


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## Taylorbaby (Jan 10, 2009)

SAme here I watched you tube to!!

My girl had the 4th one feet first & she was screaming looking into my eyes , Oh my god I never felt more useless  

I said in a calm quiet voice 'you are doing so well, well done come on you can do it im here' 

I had to help her a little as it just wouldnt come out and it was scary but instinct does take over, the little one wasnt breathing and I took the gunk out of his mouth and rubed him saying 'come on baby!!' mum sat down as she was tired and he cried! :001_tt1:

She had another one feet first but it came out very quick without help.

You may want to keep the kits warm until she finishes as some cats dont like the kits suckling while they give birth, she didnt she wanted to get it over with first  

Good luck


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## thumbs (Mar 4, 2009)

thanks for the advice. as i was watching them on youtube, screaming in pain, the owners doing nothing, i was shouting at them "DO SOMETHING, YOU USELESS IDIOTS!!!" what they were meant to do is beyond me, but to see an animal in pain is almost more than i can bear! cats are very quiet animals when something hurts them (well, mine are anyways) and to hear them screaming must mean that the level of pain must be terrific.

i found, whilst on youtube, a series of short vids under the title of 'kittening' by 'sacredcats' the woman goes into some details about the breeding prossess, genetics etc, mating, pregnancy, birth, before, during and after care. it was really interesting, and maybe worth a watch for the newbie breeders, or just those that are expecting their first litters. she goes into some detail about what to have ready for the birth and i was riveted. her pregnant queen was a siamese. if anyone wants a link to these vids, just let me know


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## kozykatz (May 18, 2008)

I'd be interested in the link - not because I'm a newbie (been breeding 19 years!) but i want to know if the genetics info is correct 

As to what you can do to help a queen giving birth - if the kitten is far enough out to get a good hold of, you can pull firmly but gently - and ONLY while she is contracting. Using a cloth, get hold of the kitten round the hips or shoulders - never pull on a leg or tail. I've heard of tails being broken off by breeders being a bit too keen to help!



thumbs said:


> thanks for the advice. as i was watching them on youtube, screaming in pain, the owners doing nothing, i was shouting at them "DO SOMETHING, YOU USELESS IDIOTS!!!" what they were meant to do is beyond me, but to see an animal in pain is almost more than i can bear! cats are very quiet animals when something hurts them (well, mine are anyways) and to hear them screaming must mean that the level of pain must be terrific.
> 
> i found, whilst on youtube, a series of short vids under the title of 'kittening' by 'sacredcats' the woman goes into some details about the breeding prossess, genetics etc, mating, pregnancy, birth, before, during and after care. it was really interesting, and maybe worth a watch for the newbie breeders, or just those that are expecting their first litters. she goes into some detail about what to have ready for the birth and i was riveted. her pregnant queen was a siamese. if anyone wants a link to these vids, just let me know


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## thumbs (Mar 4, 2009)

thank you kozykatz for that. the link is....

YouTube - Kittening - Part 1 of 5

there are 5 parts to this, enjoy, i did


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## kozykatz (May 18, 2008)

thanks, i will check those out tomorrow 



thumbs said:


> thank you kozykatz for that. the link is....
> 
> YouTube - Kittening - Part 1 of 5
> 
> there are 5 parts to this, enjoy, i did


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