PREGNANT QUEENS

Duration of pregnancy is 63 days +/- 2 days.

Prior to the birth of kittens your cat may show the following signs: –

• A drop   in  the   normal   temperature   which for   a   cat   is   101^o F. Thermometers may be obtained from the surgery.
• Your cat may seek isolation
• Your cat may go off her food

The first kitten is usually born within one hour of labour starting. The length of time between delivery of kittens varies from between 10 and 60 minutes. The entire  labour is usually complete in 2-6 hours but may last for up to 10 hours. It is also not uncommon to encounter split births, with some kittens being born on one day and the remainder being born 24-48 hours later.

Normally a cat’s labour passes uneventfully and it will not require any human intervention. It is important not to intervene or distract the queen unless absolutely necessary. The average litter size ranges from 1 to 8 kittens.

You should contact the surgery immediately if the following occurs: –

• The birth is overdue by more than 2 days
• The queen is pushing for more than 2 hours
• A kitten that appears to be stuck
• Delay of more than 2-3 hours after delivery of a kitten

The following flea and worm treatments are safe to use on pregnant queens: –

• Panacur liquid 2.5{c30ddf26c8e8213cb48863ffab783535ab04d34a51b7feafd4298625679b40f0} – single treatment
• Panacur paste – 2 syringe graduation/kg
• Advantage
• Frontline

Kitten vaccinations are done routinely at nine weeks and twelve weeks of age respectively. Vaccinations are available to protect your kitten against flu, enteritis  and leukaemia (FeLV). Microchipping can be done at a reduced cost when the kitten is neutered. Frontline spray is safe to use in kitttens from 2 days of age and is effective against fleas, ticks and lice.