I'm so glad i have found this forum as I have learnt some valuable information just through the last few hours reading peoples experiences!

Ok! To cut a long story short my beautiful British Shorthair Jasmine managed to get herself pregnant when one of my sons let her out by accident , she is about 1yr 4 mths now and had her litter of 5 kittens very late Sunday night through to early morning Monday and she seemed to be doing very well. Despite my preparing 3 kittening boxes in lovely secluded areas of the house she decided to have them behind our TV in the front room so it was difficult to see exactly what was going on when she had them.

When we had it confirmed that she was pregnant I tried to do as much research as possible but had read many conflicting reports as to whether you should touch the kittens when born, so airing on the side of caution we had not interrupted Jasmine until this afternoon when three of the kittens tried to escape down the side of the TV . However when we moved them to a new position (which Jasmine seems perfectly happy with and has carried on nursing them there) we noticed that two of the kittens seem are attached. It seems as though Jasmine has not bitten through the umbilical cord on one of the kittens and is now tangled round one of the other kittens legs. It has all dried up and very difficult to see what is what! All of the kittens are feeding from Jasmine and I do not hear any signs of distress coming from them, I have barely left them since they were born . I phoned my vet this afternoon and spoke to the nurse who did not seem overly concerned and has made me an appointment for Thursday.

I however am a bit more worried and would love to hear if anyone has experienced this before? I now realise that not keeping a closer eye was an error of judgement and I should have been weighing them daily (we started doing this today) but this is a whole new experience for us and were concerned about Jasmine neglecting the kittens if they had human interaction.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated,

Kazdudds

Cut the cord!

Worst case scenario here is that the cord is wrapped round the other kitten. I had that this year - first time in 19 years of breeding - the other kitten's foot was swollen to several times its proper size. Recovery was complete but took about a day.

Liz

I thought that might be the case, I am so worried of doing anything to jeopardise the kittens! So what do I use to cut the cord? Will i still need to tie it off as it seems to be quite dry? I am going to try to be brave !

Don't worry, you just need to get this cord off. Don't worry about tying it, as you say it is dry. Just use scissors (small ones are easier than large ones, obviously) and cut it at least an inch from the body of the kitten whose cord it is. You might well need to pick up the other kitten then and cut the cord away from wherever it is wrapped. Keep calm, it isn't at all difficult to do, worst case scenario is you will nick the skin but that isn't likely.

Liz

Thank you so much for the advice and reassurance, managed to get the kittens out and snipped the umbilical cord from the first kitten. The cord then just fell off the other kittens leg so pleased to say they are now both fine!!

Jasmine was very patient and took them both back for a big squeeze after their first 'operation' . She's such a loving mum, I could sit and watch them all day but it has been such also been a traumatic experience its not one i will repeat.

I am pleased to say that all the kittens have homes lined up already, though I'm not sure if I'll still be pleased in 12 weeks time when its time for them to leave , even though we will be keeping one

Glad kitten's are well :-) nice to see someone keeping them for 12weeks

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Made by smudge2009
Gloworm - Run free little man. 23.05.2011-06.09.2011

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Well done.

liz

We got Jasmine when she was 12 weeks and I think it made a huge difference to her nature, I really do think they need that time with their mum!

I have managed to get one picture of Jasmine and the kittens, she gets very protective and tries to cover them up when she sees you with the camera! Its very sweet .

Attached Images

Jaskitts14sep.jpg (119.7 KB, 77 views)

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