Originally Posted by Rraa

Hi Christine - interesting thread. Like you, I tend to let the dam take care of the first one and observe how she deals with it. If she does well, leaving sufficient cord before the kitten's tummy, I let her do another and so on. The trick is holding back and allowing the queen to do what she would do naturally.

If/when she gets tired, I take on the task of separating kitten from placenta, using my sterile round ended scissors and if these are not immediately to hand, then my fingernails come in useful (having first squeezed the cord to ensure it is closed before separating it).

If, whilst I am observing the queen dealing with the kitten, there is any danger that the dam may bite too close to the kitten, I intervene and make the separation at a place to leave about 2.5 cm or one inch from the kitten's tummy.

My queens usually eat the first two placentas but they don't bother with any others, contenting themselves with nibbling the cord to seperate the baby off the placenta. I sometimes have to take babies aside and rub them dry as the last couple arrive but the queen is usually good and licks each kit down to stimulate it, clear its nostrils and massage its little body into movement.

Any placentas not eaten (all are counted with each kitten birth, as you would expect) are taken away and once all kittens are born, snuggling with mummy etc and clean bedding has been provided, all rubbish and placentas etc are binned.

My particular weakness is to try to 'help' and start doing things. I am learning to leave things be a lot more now that my queen has shown me she can do it. One does learn with each birth what to expect and when to assist if necessary but having said this, each kitten birth is slightly different.