Two Cats one is pregnant! How to help!?

Question

Hi

I have two one year old female calico cats. Their names are Persephone and Calliope. We had Perseph first, and then got Callie. They had little spats at first but became very very close eventually. Close to the point where Perseph was very mothering to Callie. Even dry nursing her.

Now Perspeh is pregnant (our choice, not an accident) and she's due to have her litter in about 3 weeks.

We are wondering if someone - cat breeder, perhaps, can offer advice on how to handle the relationship between the two older cats. Perseph is still the more serious 'mothering' type toward Callie, and Callie is very silly and playful. Will Callie be jealous? Should we keep them separate, although we worry they will miss each other? Should we keep Callie away from Perseph's kittens?

Thanks!

Answer 1

You will need to enforce a degree of separation between the two cats- as a former breeder here's what I did-

I used a large rabbit cage that provided space for mom, babies, litter, and food and water. Mom was confined with babies to prevent her from moving them from one area to another and possibly accidently harming them, as well as to provide the mom with a secure private area to birth. The cage was placed in my bedroom, because it is the quietest room in the home- and mom was permitted fifteen minute breaks every hour or two for the first two weeks, and then after that she could take half hour breaks away from the kittens. It worked well for me. The kittens will open thier eyes at 7 to 10 days old and when the kittens are three weeks old they will begin to eat. Feed them rice pablum mixed with boiled water- when the water is still slightly warm mix it up with the pablum and serve it- you can add a little canned food to the pablum or a bit of beef from a jar of baby food.
At eight weeks they will require thier first vaccination, thier second vaccination at twelve weeks old, and thier third vaccine at sixteen weeks old. The breeder is ussually responsible for getting the first two vaccines and a vet check.

Your kittens must be sold with a contract, and every purchaser must agree to the terms. This is more to protect the kittens than the breeder.
this is a copy of my contract-feel free to use it.

http://tjpurrs.tripod.com/contract.htm

Keep your other cat away from the kittens for health reasons, although she's perfectly healthy should could be a silent carrier of alot of things and it's your responsibility to be certain that these kittens are perfectly healthy and social little babies.

If you have any further questions or need someone to help you get you and your cat through the birth feel free to contact me- [e-mail]

**edit**
Provide your cat with plenty of layers of newspaper while she is birthing' when one layer gets messy, it can be removed and a fresh clean layer is ready for the next baby.

Answer 2

if Perseph doesn't want Callie involved with her litter, she will let her know!

I don't think you'd have to separate them, since they have a close relationship. Just keep an eye on them to see how they react?

take care.

Answer 3

I'm not a breeder. But I have had a chance to watch how a wild momma cat handles older kittens when she has new ones.

Callie might be a little jealous. But more likely she might help take care of the new babies. Give Persephone a place to have her kittens in privacy, but don't worry about it otherwise, except maybe to watch.

Good luck!

Answer 4

you should keep callie seperated from the kittens for awhile, she might want to play and hurt them not meaning to. as far as their relationship goes thats something they have to feel out on their own, callie will probably be jealous for awhile but things will get back in sync when the kittens get a little older.