Cat Breeding - Pregnancy and Birth

Your pure breed cat has been mated with a suitable tom and the pregnancy has been confirmed by your vet.
Your role in breeding cats for a living or as a hobby is only in the early stages.
During the pregnancy, you will need to keep a very close eye on your queen to make sure everything is going as planned.
You will need to feed her specialised food to enable the kittens to grow healthily.
And as the pregnancy develops, you will need to increase the amount you feed her.
You will also need to keep her exercised as normal.
You must choose somewhere for the kittens to be born and have the queen get used to it.
It must be kept scrupulously clean.
Be prepared to act as a midwife, especially for the first litter.
And be prepared for this to happen in the middle of the night.
Babies and kittens will come when they are ready, not when you are.
You will need to have sterile surgical gloves, hot water, paper towels and ordinary towels, blunt ended scissors that have been disinfected, hot water and a water based lubricant.
Hopefully none of this will be needed but it is better to be prepared.
If you notice a breech birth (legs first), put on the gloves, smear a little lubricant around the vulva and wait for the next contraction.
As the mother pushes, gently use your index and middle finger to 'scissor' the legs right next to the opening of the vulva.
As the contraction stops, you will need to hold the legs in position until the next one starts.
Repeat with your other hand while still holding the kitten as before.
Once the hips are born the mother can usually finish the job.
Even if there are no birth complications, you will need to be with your cat, even if only to talk to her during the process.
I strongly suggest having your vet on standby as the time of birth approaches.
If there are complications, he is the best one to take charge to make sure the kittens are born safely.
You will need your vet to check the health of the mother and newborn kittens as soon as possible as well.
This will be expensive but is very important if you want to sell these kittens for a considerable price.
Again you will need to feed your cat top quality food, and enough for her to properly feed and care for her kittens.
You will have to keep the bedding changed twice a day to keep the area free of germs and parasites.
By now your vet bills are probably quite high and there are still these kittens to look after and get safely to a stage where they can be sold.
Look for the next article in this series: Cat Breeding - Kitten Care.