Outside cat is NO LONGER pregnant

[dacjohns]

I have a cat that appears to be pregnant, didn't make it to the vet.

She is an outside cat and we don't have a barn. My fuzzy memory tells me that inside cats tend to find a pile of dirty laundry to have their kittens in. I would guess that a barn cat would find a pile of straw.

Does anyone have experience with outside cats. Do they typically just find a sheltered spot and make a "nest"?

I have not intentions of bringing her inside, she isn't house trained. When she sneaks in the claws come out on the carpet, etc.

 

[big bertha]

We have several "barn" cats / outdoor cats. Ours have always found a spot that is fairly well protected to have their litters. Sometimes so well protected that we don't find them for quite some time later. They are pretty self-sufficient. I wouldn't worry too much.
I guess you could always "offer" her a sturdy box with some straw/old rags, and see if she chooses that.

 

[inchworm]

Just leave her be and she'll do what is best. The one time I interfered, the momma cat moved the babes during a snowstorm and they died. Now I interfere earlier and get them to the vet before they're pregnant

Inchy

 

[Henrietta23]

We had a neighborhood cat crawl under our garden shed to have her kittens one spring. Another cat had hers under a large boulder in the neighbors' yard. They seem to be able to find a sheltered spot fairly well.

 

[patandchickens]

The barn cats I've known have tended to exercise their own judgement, *usually* good, about where (and when!) to have their kittens. If there is anywhere you definitely don't want her doin' it, like waaaaay behind the pump and pressure tank or inside a hollow wall, I'd suggest blocking them off well.

The ones I've known (being pretty tame and people-oriented) have dealt pretty well with being relocated to a more convenient spot once the kittens were born. It can be useful to make a little pen of haybales, with old rags or etc in it that you throw out every few days as they get disgusting. I would not try moving the litter of a wilder or more skittish cat, though, since you do not want her getting weirded out and eating them or moving them herself to somewhere really inappropriate.

Good luck,

Pat

 

[dacjohns]

Kitty is getting bigger everyday. She can hardly jump up on the picnic table bench.

We put her in the old "well house" I have a makeshift brooder in it that I'm keeping a bale of straw in. She seems to like the straw. She does escape occasionally.

 

[patandchickens]

Be careful with that, though... I think you're increasing your chances of her giving birth (or subsequently moving the litter) off somewhere else -- like, potentially *very* else, if it makes her extra intent on not being found. If this is a cat not used to being confined you also may be increasing the chances of something bad happening like her eating the litter. Whereas if you just leave her loose to find her own spot, if she is a reasonably human-friendly and confident cat, she will probably pick somewhere that you can find and allow you around.

Not saying don't do it, necessarily; just making sure you're aware of how the *cat* may process her sudden imprisonment.

Good luck, hi to the cat,

Pat

 

[mrs.puff]

I agree with Pat-- don't try to MAKE her stay anywhere. If you give her free access to chow and water in the well house, she might decide that's a good place to hang out.

 

[love blrw]

We took a cat that was in a horse barn about to deliver and put her in my daughter's room with water, food, and a litter box and she stayed under the bed to deliver her kittens. She let us all near her, no problems there. She would just put them further under the bed when we brought them out.
I think you are doing ok by putting her into a shelter, but I would put a box with sides in there, so that her kittens will be confined. She will choose a place out of the rain and cold. I would put water in there also, as she will probably be very thirsty and most likely to stay if there is water nearby.

 

[dacjohns]

The old well house is a place the cats like to hang out in, especially in the straw bale box. She has food and water and any mice she catches. She has her friends, the chickens on the other side of the wire, for company. She gets let out when she wants and we put her back in at night. So far no problems.