So everything went very smoothly for the first two kittens, but then things went downhill from there. After Uno and Dos arrived Mama slept for three hours with no contractions. I started to get worried, as they're really not supposed to go more than two hours, max, between kittens. Right then she started pushing again and a teeny, tiny runt came out breech. I thought, "Oh, that's what was holding things up." I went to class and drove home two hours later to check on her. Not only were there no more kittens, but Mama looked exhausted. She was still having contractions, but couldn't seem to make any headway. I decided to drive her to the vet clinic for an x-ray and potentially a c-section.
There were two kittens left in the womb, one of which was lined up at the opening to the birth canal. We gave an injection of oxytocin and waited 20 minutes, but even though she was pushing hard she couldn't pass the kitten. So we went to surgery for an emergency c-section and spay.
The kitten in the birth canal died. The other one had to be resuscitated several times, but it looks as though he'll make it. Nothing is 100% certain, though. Mama is doing fantastically. She scarfed an entire can of wet food when we got home and then laid down for a much-needed nap.
Ouch, feeding kittens near a major incision doesn't sound like fun! I'm glad mama's doing well. Kudos for knowing when she needed medical intervention. RIP Quatro.
ReplyDeleteThe little freak doesn't even seem to notice she had majorly invasive surgery. She hopped up on the bed with me a couple of times last night. Thankfully Ross has several board-certified surgeons with a ton of experience spaying feral cats, so they're pretty good about sewing them up so that they don't rip out their sutures.
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