I am interested to know on how other breeders deal with placents/umbilical cords.

Do you leave the mother to do everything herself?

Do you let her handle the first one or two and then intervene?

Do you disconnect the placenta with your own finger nails leaving a good length behind on all kits?

Do you disconnect the placenta with sterilized scissors?

I have been taught to intervene after observing the first birth and mother's actions, if she eats it let her, then on the following detach the placenta yourself at at least one inch from kits tummy, either using finger nails to tear or round headed sterilized scissors.

Interested to know also in case there are any obvious errors in the way I am doing things.

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Personally I'd let mother nature take care. If the queen is happy to tear the cord and eat the placenta then so be it! If not and she was having a bad time, or wasn't interested in this then I would deal with the cords and placentas. I think it's a matter of seeing what Mum is like.

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But have you seen Liz's post on how the mum has bit the cord too close to the kits bellies?????? I have seen infection in a belly button before and was very worried. C.x. I have been doing it 'my way' for 7 years now and it has seemed to be ok except on one occasion one kit went wrong

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Also HOW would you deal with it?

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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.

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Ra
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That's quite helpful actually Ra! you do pretty much the same as me, but I havent done the wiping down of later kits for her to dry them off, that is a brill idea and I will try it with my next lot due on the 23rd. It will keep them a lot warmer and ready for suckling, thanks.

I am like you wanting to help and jump in, especially after being up for 48 hours on kittenwatch lol, thing is my next two due a week apart are both first time mums, so keep everything crossed! C.xx.

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sorry i spoke

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Sorry Fluffypurrs - you put it so well actually - much more concisely. You're probably better at it than I am since you seem to be ok about letting the queen deal with it wheras my inclination shows some inexperience or is it insecurity - not sure which.

I think each breeder has something to contribute to this.

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Ra
http://www.bobergsiamese.com/

No offence intended Fluff but just wanted to know how peeps separate the cord basically, how do you do it if necessary?

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hey i'm no experienced breeder! i'm not sure what i would do until the situation arised! plus i never read that thread. i don't feel i can contribute now as i have no experiece much

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