Cat Birth

Having passed approximately 20 minutes of contractions, the first kitten is born the others (almost always four) come out either in a rapid succession or after long intervals, during which the contractions stop.

It is not rare, overall with numerous whelps that the first delivery should take up to 24 hours. When this happens, the cat is so exhausted that she needs to feed before delivering the rest, so offer her small portions of any of its favorite food.

The just born normally come out by the head covered with a lubricated bag that the mother licks to clean it, to retire the mucus material and to provoke the first breath from the whelp, then, the little kitten meows and curls its body, sign that everything is okay.

When the mother finishes licking and cleaning the whelp well, she bites the umbilical cord and eats it alone with the placenta and the rest of the bag. At this moment, the whelp drags itself towards its mothers body looking for a nipple to suck on, action that stimulates the motherly behavior of the cat.

Cat Complications during Birth
Most of the deliveries are simple and without complications, and follow the pattern described before, but it is useful to know what to do when it is not. In general, people only have to get involved only when it’s evident that there are difficulties or if the cat is too nervous.

All the actions that take place during and after the delivery are the key for establishing an affective bond between the mother and the whelps and it constitutes the best contact between them and the world.

Sometimes, when the cat licks her vagina to stimulate the birth, she breaks without knowing it the amniotic sack. This by itself is of no great problem as long as the whelps come out by their heads. If the whelps come out by their buttocks (tail first), sometimes it’s only necessary for the mother to have a pair of contractions more and to lean its hind legs against the wall of the box, or for you to help the just born out.

But if one of the whelp’s legs gets stuck in the delivery channel and the cat can’t expulse the whelp, she will get exhausted and will loose all her energy in the process. If this happens, call without a doubt for the veterinary or take the cat as soon as you can to its consult.
 

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