Taking Care of The Pregnant Cat
Feline Pregnancy Care
By: Jennifer Prince, DVM
Pregnancy is normally about 60-63 days long. In cases of large litters, length
is usually lessened. In cases of a small litter number, length may increase.
Determining if a queen is pregnant
For the first 2-3 weeks of pregnancy you may not notice any changes. One of
the first things noticeable is the lack of repeated
heat cycles.
Several methods are available to determine pregnancy. Ultrasound may be
used to check for fetuses as early as day 14-15. A pregnancy may be detected
by your veterinarian around 17-18 days of age by abdominal palpation.
Heartbeats are seen via ultrasound after day 24. Fetal skeletons may be
recognized on radiographs after day 43-45. The later the x-rays are taken in
the pregnancy the more accurate they are. Around the fifth week of pregnancy,
the abdominal enlargement begins and becomes more noticeable as the pregnancy
progresses. Those queens with a small litter will take longer to 'show' than
those with a larger litter.
Care of the pregnant cat
The pregnant cat should continue to have exercise to help maintain her
muscle tone and keep from gaining too much weight. If a vitamin plus mineral
supplement was not started before breeding, it should be started now. Do not
over supplement as that may be harmful to the developing kittens. If you are
adding multiple supplements to the diet, get a list of all the ingredients and
nutritional labels and take everything to your veterinarian to make
sure it is still balanced.
Poor diets may cause problems with the developing fetuses and with the queen.
She should have been on a premium adult food prior to pregnancy and for the
first few weeks of pregnancy. Starting the fourth week of pregnancy, begin
adding a premium kitten food to her diet. Each week increase the amount of the
kitten food, so when she is in her final week of pregnancy, she is on all
kitten food. Increase the frequency of the daily meals to three by
mid-pregnancy or free feed her. She may need to eat small meals every 3-4
hours during the last week of the pregnancy as the kittens continue to take up
more room. Remember that most fetal growth occurs in the last two weeks of
gestation.
During the last week of pregnancy and the first 3-4 weeks of lactating, she
may eat 1 1/2-2 times the amount she ate before pregnancy. As long as she is
gaining a healthy amount and not becoming obese, she should receive the food.
If she has external parasites such as fleas or ear mites or internal
parasites such as roundworms, discuss treatment options with your
veterinarian. It would be preferable to treat her before she passes the
parasites to the offspring.
With a few exceptions, (Drugs to Avoid in Pregnant and Nursing Cats) one
should avoid using all medications in pregnant and lactating (nursing) cats.
There may be instances in which a medication not recommended for use during
pregnancy may need to be used to save the life of the queen, even though it
may potentially harm the fetuses. Always consult with your veterinarian before
administering any drug or supplement to a pregnant or nursing cat.
At least two weeks before she is due to have the kittens, a nesting box
should be set up so she can become accustomed to it. A laundry basket with
clean towels often works very well. If you wait too long, she may have the
kittens in the closet, on your bed, or in the basement. Do not allow her
outside as her due date arrives, or she may have the kittens outside.
Dear Alfred,
"Could you please tell me what a really good food to feed my kitty
would be?"
Alfred Says:
Thanks for asking a most important question. What you feed your kitty will
be the one single most important decision you will ever make about their
health.
There are so many, many foods out there and indeed a person does get
confused with so many choices.
We have a very good report that you can have, that will tell you some of
the things that pet food manufacturers are allowed to put in foods, and also
tell you what ingredients can be harmful for your pet, and what ingredients a
really good cat food should have.
To find out this information, Go here: http://petcaretips.net/petfood_ingredients.html
To find out more about an Excellent Quality food, and the same food that we eat
and Absolutely Thrive on, Go Over Here:
http://petcaretips.net/premium_cat_food.html
See Also:
Back to All Cat Care & Kitty Fun Stuff
Search Our Site
