# My baby is pregnant



## Fendi (Nov 14, 2020)

I'm so excited and nervous. My beautiful British girl is pregnant. My mentor/breeder had her stud boy do his magic on her. You may recall from previous posts of mine that the first go didn't take (my fault bc I think I miscalculated the timing of her heat cycle).

i didn't think the second go took bc she really wasn't showing the OBVIOUS signs. She's due first week in June. I do have a few questions which I thought I'd ask you lovely ladies so I van give my wonderful mentor a break from me

1. I'm worried about her diet. She is strictly feed raw human food but doesn't like supplements. I've tried raw meow but the moment I mix it into her raw food she won't touch it. I've tried every trick (added less than the recommended dose). *So my question or concern is how do I know that she's getting the right minerals and vitamins???? * I feed her a mixture which consists of chicken, lamb, beef and some salmon as well as a small amount of liver and heart. She loves it but I'm just concerned I'm not feeding her right.should I add calcium to her diet? I'm really stressed about this.

2. she keeps scratching the door that leads to outside. Why is she doing this? Does she want to go out?? She's never been outside. There's no changes in my house so it's not like she's trying to run away from danger. She has her very own bedroom in our house which is very quiet and tranquil. Does anyone have any experience with this?


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## spotty cats (Jul 24, 2012)

Have you joined the RMM fb group? Lots of tips there for introducing it.
Or see if you can source balanced raw locally. Too much calcium can cause problems.


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## gskinner123 (Mar 10, 2010)

You must address her diet urgently. Please don't think I'm being critical as we all know that a cat who has become fussy with food is a real challenge.

Her diet is severely lacking in a number of ways but mainly in the absence of calcium. Simply put, her current diet isn't going to support a pregnancy in its later stages or the birthing process or lactation. In addition, calcium isn't something that you can simply 'up' during pregnancy as it suppresses a particular hormone which actually leads to low calcium levels and eclampsia.

If she absolutely will not eat anything but raw food I would read Lisa Pierson's web page about raw feeding and how best to make it nutritionally complete. Or try other commercial brands that claim to be complete such as Purrform

https://catinfo.org/


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## Lunarags (Jan 16, 2021)

I dont know anything about feeding raw diets but congratulations!!!


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## QOTN (Jan 3, 2014)

You must supplement a diet of muscle meat. It is crucial to any cat let alone a pregnant girl. One of my friends let a girl go to a breeder who fed meat and biscuits assuming the biscuits suppled the nutrients the meat was lacking. I was amazed about that weird reasoning when I heard about it but the girl only ate the meat. For reasons I won't go into she did not settle in her new home and when she came back, she had a seizure caused by lack of calcium. If my friend had not been used to coming home in her lunch hour and managed to rush her to a vet who fortunately recognised the problem she would have died.

Another friend had to have three caesareans in a row before her vet said some lines need more calcium for their pregnancies to end successfully and those girls were having a 'normal' amount of calcium. I don't know what supplement your girl will not eat but last year I had to change mine because the one I had used for about twenty years became unavailable. I am now using Kiezebrink and my cats never took any notice when I changed them over.


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## Maurey (Nov 18, 2019)

QOTN said:


> You must supplement a diet of muscle meat. It is crucial to any cat let alone a pregnant girl. One of my friends let a girl go to a breeder who fed meat and biscuits assuming the biscuits suppled the nutrients the meat was lacking.


A raw feeding breeder in the local community let a kitten go to the mother of a person who owns 2 or 3 of her cats. Poor tot died at the vets because she was fed a diet of premium marbled wagyu beef :Banghead Her daughter raw feeds ffs. How lacking was communication that something like that could happen?


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## lillytheunicorn (Nov 17, 2012)

Please either put your girl onto a commercial diet for mother and kitten or find a supplement to complete the raw she will eat. Now is the kittens rapid growth phase where they will use all mums nutrients to develop.

The seizures from lack of calcium is frequently called Milk Fever in farming. Sometimes the grass grows to quickly and lacks the calcium the pregnant animal requires. Having lost a sheep to milk fever. We check the sheep 4 hourly but one year had 3 or 4 ewes down from milk fever. If they were just unable to get up we could save them by injecting them with a special solution containing calcium however if they were fitting when we found them it was unlikely they would recover. They get tetany which I can imagine is extremely painful.

However do not over supplement calcium during pregnancy as that can cause problems too.
https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/eclampsia-in-cats


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## Fendi (Nov 14, 2020)

Thanks for your replies. I should have also mentioned that she does get daily raw chicken bones and additionally crushed egg shells. My vet tells me that these contain calcium. However from feedback here I’m trying to now get her on to mother kitten commercialised cat food.


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## OrientalSlave (Jan 26, 2012)

Fendi said:


> Thanks for your replies. I should have also mentioned that she does get daily raw chicken bones and additionally crushed egg shells. My vet tells me that these contain calcium. However from feedback here I'm trying to now get her on to mother kitten commercialised cat food.


That makes a massive difference. Have you checked you are feeding the right amount of bone for the amount of meat?


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## Tigermoon (Apr 2, 2013)

So, I have been feeding raw to my breeding cats for a number of years now. All I can say is that it is absolutely imperative that you make sure the raw they are eating is complete i.e. has added vitamins and minerals if commercially prepared or made to a proper recipe if home prepared. Having had trouble with my last two litters because the raw brand I fed was not complete (despite claiming to be so) I have switched to a different one now who adds the required vitamins and minerals and I also give a quality pouched food too.


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## Fendi (Nov 14, 2020)

OrientalSlave said:


> That makes a massive difference. Have you checked you are feeding the right amount of bone for the amount of meat?


I think breeders here know more than my vet  I told my vet I give her about 1-2 chicken necks (depends on their size) and sprinkle of egg shells on her food and his reply was it 'sounds good'. Seriously? I'd like him to be a bit more precise and informed, He was rather vague and didn't inspire much confidence. My mentor/breeder just feeds her queens commercial cat food.

My cat used to eat Royal canin but once she become pregnant she simply refused to touch it  I tried other reputable brands but she would not budge on her food habits. I'm really concerned bc I just want to do the right thing for her. I don't care about raw OR commercial food I JUST want her to be healthy and provide her with the right nutrients.


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## Maurey (Nov 18, 2019)

Are you feeding her any organ or somehow supplementing what she’s missing without it? Muscle meat and bone/calcium isn’t a complete diet. Would you consider getting something like Felini Complete and adding it to plain raw (or lightly cooked) meat instead, without any bone or eggshell calcium?


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## Fendi (Nov 14, 2020)

What’s Felini Complete? I tried Raw meow but she hated it. Shes feed chicken which is mixed with lamb, beef, as well as heart. She also gets a small amount of salmon (or other oily type fish) as well as chicken BONE every day and egg shells sprinkled on her raw food. I prepare all her food - (my husband says she gets feed better than he does). I explained all this to my vet and asked him what I should do as she’s refusing to eat commercial cat food and he said it was fine. I’m beginning to lose faith in my vet.


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## Maurey (Nov 18, 2019)

Felini is a meal completer that has all the necessary vitamins and minerals to make raw or cooked meat nutritionally complete. Felini doesn’t contain omega, however, so you may want to continue providing small amounts of oily fish or using fish oil as a supplement.

Are the proteins all just muscle meat? If so, her diet is not currently nutritionally complete, as heart is a muscle meat, not secreting organ.


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## Fendi (Nov 14, 2020)

Maurey said:


> Felini is a meal completer that has all the necessary vitamins and minerals to make raw or cooked meat nutritionally complete. Felini doesn't contain omega, however, so you may want to continue providing small amounts of oily fish or using fish oil as a supplement.
> 
> Are the proteins all just muscle meat? If so, her diet is not currently nutritionally complete, as heart is a muscle meat, not secreting organ.


yes chicken liver but less than 5%. Howvere since i started this post and read everyone's comments I'm trying desperately to transition her to Royal canin unfortunately she's won't accept it. I'm researching ways to try to entice her.


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## Maurey (Nov 18, 2019)

Since she’s eating raw meat well, you could look into something like altrunin or other meal completer, or look into premade/commercial raw like Purrform. Raw and homemade are very healthy for cats, as long as they’re done in a responsible way. Cats need around 10% organ, with around 5% liver. Hommemade is just something to be very cautious and careful with, so that you animal gets everything it needs :>


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## QOTN (Jan 3, 2014)

Fendi said:


> yes chicken liver but less than 5%. Howvere since i started this post and read everyone's comments I'm trying desperately to transition her to Royal canin unfortunately she's won't accept it. I'm researching ways to try to entice her.


Surely nobody posting in this thread recommended RC especially as an alternative to her present raw diet. If you feed a pregnant girl manufactured food, you really need to choose a high protein brand. They need so much when they are making babies and the quantity of food will have to increase enormously. Compare the nutrients in manufactured food with meat per 100gms and you will see the different amounts that have to be fed. I don't know anything about RC but perhaps she would prefer a different texture. I expect somebody else will be able to recommend a good food to try.


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## lillytheunicorn (Nov 17, 2012)

Can you get Ziwi Peak relatively inexpensive where you are? 

That smells as close to raw as I have found.


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## Tigermoon (Apr 2, 2013)

Fendi said:


> Howvere since i started this post and read everyone's comments I'm trying desperately to transition her to Royal canin unfortunately she's won't accept if.


I agree with QOTN I wouldn't switch her from raw, especially not to RC! If you are making raw at home find a recipe (I believe there is one on the health and nutrition tab on this forum) and make it to that or switch her to a good commercially made brand such as Purrform or the Kiezlebrink complete minced sausage, where the vitamins and minerals are already included.


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## lillytheunicorn (Nov 17, 2012)

If I am right @Fendi is in Australia.

Not sure if she can get purrform or Felini complete there


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## Maurey (Nov 18, 2019)

Aus has a number of small businesses that produce raw cat food, though it’s one of those things that’s hard to recommend, as they service relatively small areas. 
There are loads of more commercial options, though, like Raw & Fresh, Somerford Raw (add 1% spinach to their recipes, but otherwise good), and Raw Meow. Raw Meow also sells meal completers for people who live outside Perth. Two of my Aussie friends that live around Adelaide say that premade raw cat food is pretty common to find in the frozen section of their Pet Barn, as well.


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## spotty cats (Jul 24, 2012)

Fendi is in New Zealand.


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## Maurey (Nov 18, 2019)

In NZ, I found Carnivoro. They only have 2 recipes for cats, but looks to be balanced. There are many more options, but a lot lack the necessary organ meat, imo.


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## Fendi (Nov 14, 2020)

Hi all 
I'm in New Zealand,

I'm not going to change her diet, I tried to sneak in mother kitten royal canin into her raw food and she ate around the RC  She's a very clever girl *heart*

I've made an appointment to see my vet just to discuss her diet but it's not until Tuesday. Do you think i should see another vet? Get a second opinion? Like go to another vet practice? I had previously told my vet what she eats and he was okay with it but I really got the feeling he was blasé. I feel like breeders seem to have more knowledge than your average suburban vets particularly when it comes to breeding (no offence to vets).

i spoke to my breeder/mentor and went through a detailed description of what I feed my girl and she was okay with it. I want to make this clear that my mentor is lovely, has been breeding for (I think) more than 15 years and has been quite involved in judging and cat shows BUT she told me that she feeds her cats mother kitten royal canin. I'm *not* judging - I was just really surprised by that bc I was under the impression that serious breeders either supplied their own food and/or sourced it from independent food organisations.

I'm still really anxious as I don't feel 100% confident that I've got her diet right. Is there anyone on this board that has had experience raw feeding a pregnant queen?

Anyway *THANK YOU* to all that have replied and offered advice - I really appreciate it. ❤ This is my first queen birth so I'm very conscious to make this work well for my fur baby. I jumped thru hops and was scrutinised by veteran breeders to pass the test ie to make sure I wasn't some dodgy BYB (and rightly so bc there are so many unscrupulous people out there) and I intend to do the right thing for my baby and her future kittens.


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## gskinner123 (Mar 10, 2010)

I can only comment on the situation in the UK. In my experience, a few vets are very clued up on feline nutrition; some have a reasonable knowledge; too many are clueless. It's a result of the very low level of training they receive in that subject and that it's sometimes sponsored by the larger food manufacturers and thereby heavily slanted toward their own brand.

Inevitably, the best advice seems to come from breeders with long experience who have used different feeding methods over the years. I know 'long experience' doesn't necessarily equate with sound advice but overall...

I'm a big proponent of raw feeding but even I would say that any well known, reasonable quality commercial brand (dry or wet, preferably the latter) is far safer, especially in regard to pregnancy/birth/lactation than a raw diet about which one has doubts.

Perhaps I'm over cautious but raw feeding (when you move away from a guaranteed nutritionally complete brand of raw) is more complex than many people believe.


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## OrientalSlave (Jan 26, 2012)

I was going to say the same as @gskinner123 which is most vets don't have a clue about raw feeding, and that it's complicated once you start making your own.

I wouldn't advise moving away from raw, but I think you need to find some good recipes and follow them. Pregnant cats don't in my view need anything special that as much as they want of a good quality balanced diet doesn't give them.


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