The gestation period in a cat is a vital and delicate period. The duration of pregnancy is 9 weeks, but the cat shows signs of pregnancy only after 3-4 weeks. As her behavior is normal, it is difficult to recognize the pregnancy in the first few days. She rests and hunts as she does when she is normal. But after a few weeks, she minimizes her activity level with increase in her abdomen size due to the release of the pregnancy hormone – progesterone.

The first symptom you may notice after three months of gestation is that the nipples become soft and pink. It puts on some extra weight especially around its belly. There is an increase in appetite and sleep, few days before it delivers usually. In some cases, the cat shows more love and affection that it does normally. The activity of nesting begins and morning sickness, restlessness and discharge of milk from nipples are some more symptoms of pregnancy in a cat. There are also cases of false pregnancy where the cat shows these symptoms but it is not actually pregnant.

Generally, a pregnant cat will have a normal delivery. However, in some cases, it needs to be given veterinary care. The instances where the cat needs to be given help are

- A gap of more than three hours between the births of two kittens.

- Absence of placenta in birth of each kitten.

- A kitten remains in the birth canal and cannot be easily removed.

- The animal experiences abdominal contractions but no signs of the kitten for more than an hour.

- The cat appearing sick or weak.

- Bright red bleeding or greenish discharge with a foul smell.

The kittens have a serious risk during the development in the first three weeks in the womb. Infections might cause problems to the normal development of the kittens. For example, the kittens that are born will have a threatening brain damage when the mother is infected with Panleukopenia or Feline Infectious Enteritis. Even vaccination to the pregnant cat or to the others cats living in the same household is harmful. This should well be taken care of in advance i.e., before the cat is pregnant as it is a very good measure for protection.

The cat and the kittens should be left on their own for atleast three days after the birth. The kittens should be handled only after a week time. The kittens have to be kept in a dark place till they open their eyes i.e., 14 days. The cat takes care of the kittens till they are 4-8 weeks old. The kittens have soft and moist food for the first 4-5 weeks then they start having solid food when they are about 7-8 weeks old. Kittens can be adopted when they are about 8 weeks old.

When the cat is prepared for breeding it is necessary that it should be physically mature. Before breeding it should be verified whether both the male and female cats are healthy and doesn’t have any viral infections like FIV or FELV.

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