Kitten Watch!

Daisy is a beautiful heavily pregnant 3-year-old cat, in this blog we are going to follow Daisy and her kittens journey from birth to finding their forever homes.

Daisy contented and relaxed whilst waiting to give birth

Daisy was admitted into our care because her owners moved away and left her behind.  A kind family fed her for a month before contacting Cats Protection for help as they weren’t in a position to offer her a permanent home.   Daisy is a very friendly and affectionate cat with the loudest purr ever, she is very contented and relaxed as she waits for the birth of her kittens. 

Daisy had her first vet check on the 20th February and was blood tested for the FIV (cat aids virus) and FeLV (cat leukaemia virus) and is thankfully negative for both.  Both these diseases are sexually transmitted and female cats can get infected during mating. We are always relieved to get this test out of the way!  Our vet gave Daisy a clean bill of health and has estimated she has around a week to go before giving birth, she is huge though so we are all taking guesses as to how many kittens she will have, 5 seems to be the favourite number!  We are planning to name the kittens with spring names so get your thinking hats on as we will be asking you for name suggestions! 

Pregnancy lasts for 63 – 65 days in cats (around 9 weeks), we have made sure she has a nice quiet and warm pen to give birth in and giving her plenty of warm and cosy bedding to keep her comfortable.  She is currently being fed kitten food as it’s high in nutrients, she is also eating 25% more food than usual.  She has access to plenty of clean drinking water and lots of toys to keep her entertained whilst she is waiting for the birth of her kittens.  We check Daisy regularly through the day and monitor her closely for signs that she is distressed or going into labour and needless to say, she is getting lots of TLC from the team.

Daisy is one of the lucky cats who has found her way into our care, sadly every year many cats give birth out doors with no proper shelter and care.  Although we all love seeing mums with kittens at the centre, we would always advocate getting cats neutered as this is the only effective way to reduce unwanted cats in the UK.  A fact which surprises everyone is that one female cat can be responsible for a staggering 20,000 descendants in just five years!  
For help with neutering your cat, please click here

Daisy is one of hundreds of unwanted cats and kittens arriving at Bridgend Adoption Centre every year.  Becoming a Cat Protection Sponsor is one of the best ways you can help to provide them with shelter, warmth, food, medical care and the love they need.  You can become a sponsor right now from as little as 19p a day!  To get started just visit https://www.cats.org.uk/bac 

Alternatively you can make a one off donation to our kitten appeal at http://bit.ly/2GDxM7P or by texting BRKW48 followed by £1, £2, £3, £4, £5 or £10 to 70070. 

Watch this space for our next kitten watch blog!