A quick note before you watch: this episode shows a cat giving birth, including some blood, so please take care if that isn’t for you.
A surprise mother-to-be
This girl is Lucky. Her original owner hadn’t realized she was pregnant and told us they couldn’t keep her, so we took her in. When I met her, her belly was already big. She was in the late stage of pregnancy, so we decided to let her have her kittens. I named her only the day before — and the very next morning, after I brought her home, she went into labor.
Lucky is only 10 months old, and this was her first birth. On a veterinarian’s advice I set up a dark, narrow spot for her, but she kept changing places and clearly wanted to give birth near people. Even though she had just arrived, she wasn’t afraid of us at all — if anything, she seemed to want our help. The two of us watching were first-timers too, and very nervous.
A breech first kitten
After more than an hour of hard labor, the first kitten came — breech, and in bad shape. Under a veterinarian’s guidance, I helped by gently pulling. Lucky had trouble biting through the umbilical cord, but she managed in the end. The first kitten was a little smaller and weaker than the rest, and we watched anxiously: Is it breathing? Its tummy was moving, it was turning pink, and its fur slowly dried and fluffed up. It was alive. I couldn’t see clearly through my tears.
The second kitten was soon drinking milk, and then a third arrived — one that looks nothing like its mom. We’re left wondering what color the father was! Lucky took a rest after the third, leaving kittens in several different spots as she went.
Five healthy kittens
Her belly had been so big that we expected quite a few, and we kept watch all day. Lucky started at 7 a.m. and, with rests in between, finished at 3 p.m. with the fifth — and probably last — kitten. They all look healthy, and I’m so glad her milk came in properly.
Meet Lucky
Lucky came to us at just 10 months old, already late in a pregnancy nobody had noticed. Calm and trusting with people from her very first day, she got through eight long hours and a difficult breech birth to bring five kittens into the world.
Good job, Lucky! Thank you for watching Chicken Paradise Hawaii — see you in the next episode.