# First pregnant cat in labor



## dmid1976 (Feb 8, 2012)

I'm a foster for my local SPCA and I've worked with dozens of kittens and mom's and kittens but this is my first pregnant mom. I was worried because I wasn't sure I felt anything. She's a wiggle worm but one time I thought I felt a kitten move but I'm not sure it wasn't her moving.

I then got real worried that she was either just fat or something was wrong because two nights ago she started calling like she was in heat. It wasn't obsessive though. She called for maybe a minute and that was it. Then again in the morning the same thing. I've been keeping her in a dog crate when I can't watch her so I reached in and started petting her and she stuck her butt in the air and started walking in place with her tail to the side like cats in heat do. I also noticed a slight clear/milky discharge from her vagina. She wasn't licking herself, wasn't nesting, or doing any other signs I was told would precede labor.

Last night she started nesting. Then I saw contractions. Well, they were more like twitches at first. Then she started licking herself. Then she went to sleep. About an hour later she was at it again and I got a video of it. She had one real big contraction at about 2:05 in the video and I thought this is it...

Well that was about 10:30p, and I finally fell asleep at 1:30a or so and when I woke up at 7a there were no kittens. She was still nesting and licking herself on occasion. It seemed more deliberate though, last night it was casual, today it was like she was compelled. It also seems difficult for her to find a comfortable position to lay in. She will get up and down, toss and turn then fall asleep for a little only to be woken up by more contractions and licking. The contractions are more of the twitching type. She's not really panting or breathing hard and other than not being able to find a comfortable position to lay in she doesn't seem in distress. A couple times during the contractions she did cry a little but you could barely hear it.

The vet at the SPCA is young and not very experienced with cat pregnancies (or dogs for that matter). I spoke to the resident "cat midwife" and she said it was odd but probably ok and to give it another 24hrs before I panic. She also was the one that told me that the heat symptoms I was worried about was probably the very first indication of labor and she said she expected labor would start in 24-48hrs and she was right. She's had 32 pregnant cats and for our little SPCA that makes her the expert...

I guess I'm just being a nervous foster dad. After being a dog person all my life and getting started with kittens this summer I've gotten pretty good. I've nursed some really sick ones back to life and socialized some really nasty ones into adorable little love bugs. Now I just have to get a handle on pregnant cats...

Thanks,
David

Has Layla kitty started labor? - YouTube


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