Mama Mia's story

Every year brings dozens of pregnant cats, both owned and unowned, through the shelter's doors.  This feature will track the progress of one pregnant cat and her babies from Mama's arrival at the shelter through her babies' birth and development in a foster home.   If she delivered her kittens in the shelter setting, with the stress of the other animals and the constant exposure to new illnesses, Mama would face many additional challenges, and her kittens, if they survived, would probably grow more slowly and be available much later due to the challenges they too would face.  However, Mama is one of the "lucky" cats--she arrived and her pregnancy was identified at a time when an open foster home was available to take her in.  Of course, even in optimal conditions, cat pregnancies don't always have positive outcomes--illness, delivery complications, even birth defects in the kittens can arise in any case, and sometimes these issues come up without warning.  Therefore, while we hope the stories of Mama and her kittens will have happy endings, we will report whatever happens, good or bad.

1/31/2008:

An adult torbie cat, approximately 5 years old, is surrendered to the shelter by her owners because she is not getting along with their other cats.  Her owners call her by two names--Mama, and Autumn.  However, because we already have another cat named Autumn in the shelter, we will use the Mama name to prevent confusion when referring to her.  In the surrender profile that owners complete, we ask if the cat is known to be or might be pregnant, but in this case, the owners do not indicate that she is pregnant.  Mama is placed in our quarantine, where she will remain for several weeks until she is ready to move into the cat room.  Like most cats, Mama soon breaks out into an upper respiratory infection, so the infection will need to be cleared up before she can be spayed.  At this point, there is no evidence of pregnancy.

Early March 2008

Because our population changes so rapidly and cats are moved from one area to another, as well as to and from the satellite adoption centers at PetSmart, sometimes we set aside several hours to a day for extensive photo sessions, and today we are focusing on the quarantine cats.  Mama is still in the quarantine, just past upper respiratory symptoms, and when it's her turn for photos I pick her up and put her on the counter.  Though she is a stocky cat, her belly is just a little too large, and it doesn't feel like subcutaneous fat, so the possibility of pregnancy has to be considered.  The name, too, leads to additional suspicion, as it is an indicator that she has had access to males and has had litters in the past.  She is tense and active enough that attempts to feel for kittens inside her are unsuccessful.  At this point there is not much to do other than to note her possible pregnancy and monitor her.  She will not be put on the schedule for spay/neuter at this point due to the suspicion of pregnancy, and decisions regarding any other medical care (vaccinations, medications) will take into account the possibility.

A week later

Mama is growing and it is looking more like she is pregnant, but we still can't be certain at this point--after all, life in a cage means little to no exercise, and with plenty of food available, she might simply be gaining weight due to current circumstances.

Mid March 2008

It is clear now--Mama is pregnant.  Assuming she could have gotten pregnant any time up to the day before she was surrendered, as she has had no access to male cats since her arrival, we calculate, based on average cat pregnancy length, the latest date she should have her babies.  If she passes this date (April 3rd)  with no signs of babies, she will need to go in for an ultrasound, but otherwise, additional testing is not necessary at this point.  We pull her from our quarantine population and transfer her into a foster home.  Her foster people quickly find her to be a sweet, friendly cat  who loves attention, and now they will simply continue to monitor her and wait for the arrival of the kittens.  She has been switched to kitten food, which has more calories and nutrients, and she is also getting canned food to ensure she is well-nourished to support the kittens she is carrying.

Late March 2008

An unexpected complication has occurred, and it will affect Mama even though it is not related to her.  A live-trapped mom has arrived with her 3 week old kittens.  Mom can be handled, but she requires an experienced foster who is able to deal with her extreme lack of socialization, and Mama's foster people, who have experience with semi-feral cats, will be best for the newcomer.  We arrange with another foster home to take on Mama so that we can place the new stray in the right foster home.  Mama's fosters are disappointed--they have gotten attached to her in the time they have had her--but they want to give the other mom and babies a chance, so they bring her in for transfer and will stop out at her new foster home and visit her sometime in the future.

April 2nd, 2008

Still no kittens and no sign of labor!  If Mama hasn't delivered by tomorrow, we will call the vet to schedule the ultrasound for early next week.

April 3rd, 2008

Well, it looks like no ultrasound will be needed!   Mama's foster reports that she has delivered 4 kittens overnight.  By the time the foster comes into the room to check on Mom, the babies are clean, dry, and nursing!  Since today is Thursday, we will start the kitten tracking the next day, as Fridays will work  best for weekly photos and video.  Mama's foster people have decided that her name is now Mama Mia.

Click below to go to the next update and see her newborn kittens...

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