Malaysia Veterinary Forum (Archive)

fhinz · Joined: 25 Aug 2006 Posts: 295 Location: KL or Miri

Hi,
My cat, Kakak is quite heavily pregnant. Seems like anytime she will pop out kittens!
Anyway, last time I took her to the vet, on September 29th, the vet told me she probably pregnant (meaning she was in early stage of pregnancy).
Now, she carries her heavy belly as if that big middle section is just extra fat for her. She even can jump to high place with that heavy belly!

My mom and I start to get worried about her coz it looks like she overdue and really, really long pregnancy compare to her past pregnancy. But my father said past pregnancies probably not enough time period as her kittens always died young. So, he said probably this time will be much better (and this is the first pregnancy after her first vaccination).

So, tell me, is this need to be worried about or is it normal for a cat to be pregnant about 2 months?!!

Dr csh · Joined: 21 Jan 2006 Posts: 427

The average gestation length for a cat is 65 days. They very seldom have problems with "overdue" pregnancies. If you don't monitor breeding dates and estrus behavior it is quite difficult for you to know how far pregnant she is. Just based on outward appearance is not an accurate way of diagnosing gestational age. If you want to know roughly how far pregnant she is, you could do radiographs and see the degree of fetal bone mineralization or do an ultrasound to evaluate fetal organ maturity. Quite frankly, I think it will not change anything.

Should you be worried? Dystocia in cats are rare but do happen. Other medical problem can increase the chance of dystocia, some breeds are also more likely to have problems such as persians and himalyans. I have not seen the cat so I cannot say with any degree of certainly she will be okay but I wouldn't do anything drastic just based on what you told me. If she has problems having the kittens then bring her to a vet. Good luck.

fhinz · Joined: 25 Aug 2006 Posts: 295 Location: KL or Miri

Thanks, Dr Csh and your info about the 65 days is calming me somehow.

Anyway, great news - Kakak has gave birth to 4 kittens! This is quite a surprise as previous litter always three or less (and all died, sob3x). Hmm, probably because we gave her her first vaccination before she mated and gave kitten food to her (if I'm not mistaken, pregnant cats can get better nutrition from kitten food?).

From a quick observation, those kittens can move silently around in the box (I did this this morning when I gave Kakak and her younger brother (different litter) breakfast). I hope that means OK and we haven't heard horrifying, high-pitched meow, the kind meow that kittens always give when they are starving.

Do you think the mosquitoes probably will give trouble to the kittens as next to our house, there's an unkempt piece of land, lots of wild plant and lately there are lots of mosquitoes (it's weird as before this we barely can see those blood-sucking vampires).