MAGGIE , a Siamese has been awarded the Fromus Vet Group’s

April '07 PET OF THE MONTH AWARD

Maggie is an eleven month old Siamese cross cat, with pretty tabby markings & a very sweet personality. When Maggie became pregnant at 9 months old, her owners were very excited about the prospect of the patter of tiny paws!

Her owners knew that cats are pregnant for an average of 67 days, so it was no surprise to them that at lunchtime on a Friday, Maggie gave birth to a very tiny black kitten. They also knew that it was very unusual for cats to have just one kitten, so they put her and the kitten in her pre-prepared bed and awaited the arrival of the rest of the litter.

Normally, no more than an hour passes between the birth of kittens, so when no more kittens had been born by 5 pm her owners knew that something was amiss. They phoned and made an appointment, and brought Maggie down for the vet to check her. The vet took an X-ray, which showed there were at least 2 more kittens in Maggie’s uterus (womb). As there was no sign of a problem with the kittens, and there was no obvious blockage or obstruction to prevent the kittens being born naturally, the vet gave Maggie an injection of oxytocin, a hormone which stimulates labour.

After a further 2 hours, Maggie was showing obvious signs of labour such as straining and restlessness but no more kittens had been born. It was becoming obvious that these kittens were not going to be delivered naturally, so Maggie was brought back to the practice for a caesarean section.
Maggie was given a general anaesthetic, as well as painkillers and antibiotics to prepare her for the operation ahead. Her abdomen (tummy) was shaved and cleaned to remove any bacteria. An incision (opening) was made into her abdomen, and the uterus (womb) was found. The uterus in the cat is V-shaped, consisting of two “horns” running down to the cervix. There was one large kitten in each horn.

Very carefully, an opening was made into the first horn and the kitten removed. As soon as the uterus was opened, the vet could see that this kitten was a tabby, and that her umbilical cord was wrapped tightly around her neck. Had she been born naturally, she would have suffocated and almost certainly been dead (stillborn). But the vet was able to untangle her, then clamp and cut the umbilical cord to prevent bleeding. She was then passed to a veterinary nurse for resuscitation.

To begin with the kitten did not seem to be breathing, but she was still alive and had a strong heartbeat. The nurse carefully cleaned her airways to remove any fluid, gave her oxygen via a facemask, and began to rub her chest to stimulate her to breath. Within 30 seconds she had taken her first breath, and within a minute she was breathing on her own. The nurse then placed her with her older sister in a heated box to stay warm, but continued to monitor her closely.

While this was happening, the vet carefully checked the first horn of the uterus for further kittens, and removed the placenta (afterbirth). She then closed the opening she had made with very tiny dissolvable stitches.

The process was then repeated on the second horn of the uterus. A second tabby kitten was removed and passed to the nurse for resuscitation, and she was also alive and well. The vet then closed the abdominal muscles, the fat layer, and the skin, layer by layer, with tiny dissolvable stitches.

When a cat is recovering from an anaesthetic they are often confused and disorientated, and can lash out at their kittens without realising what they are doing. We all knew that Maggie was a very gentle cat, but it was very important not to return her kittens to her until she was fully awake, and then to watch her closely for signs of aggressive behaviour. Maggie had a well supervised and smooth recovery from the operation, and was feeding her kittens within an hour of waking up!

Sadly, just a few days after being born, the tiny black kitten who had been born naturally became unwell and died very suddenly. It may be that she had an abnormal heart or another birth defect, as she was very much smaller than her two tabby sisters. Around 5% of kittens are stillborn, and of those born alive around one in ten will not survive to adulthood. The reasons behind this are not fully understood.

However, the two tabby kittens are now nearly four weeks old, and both mum and kittens are doing very well!

Facts about cats and kittens

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