So your barrel-shaped cat has been lounging around your home now for the past week or two, eating enough food to fuel an army and generally looking extremely pregnant. You’ve distinctly been able to see and feel her kittens moving about in her belly for some time now and you’ve calculated their date of birth as accuractely as you are able.
Then, without warning, your beautiful cat heaves herself up from her favorite resting place and starts to move around, appearing to be nervous or excitable.
She’ll start calling to you and, although your first reaction will probably be that she asking for more food, you’ll find that she has no interest in the tasty morsels that you put down for her. Don’t be puzzled by her apparently unusual behavior. Bide your time and wait for just a short while longer until you see her seek out her chosen birthing place – her nesting box.
Naturally, you will already have provided a good nesting box, won’t you? Any well-prepared owner will want to have guided their pregnant cat towards choosing a place that they can easily manage for her – not leave it to her, as she may well choose your bed as her birthing place…… A large, strong cardboard box will do the job well.
Cut away the top and one side, leaving a lip at the bottom to prevent any small kittens from escaping. Use lots of old newspapers to line it with – maybe shredding some – and use an old towel to cover the top for warmth and privacy.
But wherever your cat has chosen to have her kittens, she will make a bee-line for it and begin to ‘tread’ on her bedding. Once you witness this behavior, you can be 100% certain that her kittens are on their way.
You will have no difficulty in recognising this treading action as it is a cross between digging in her litter box and kneading with her paws when she is sitting relaxed and happy on your lap. Even cat experts don’t really know why cats tread their bedding immediately prior to the onset of their labor. It is probably no more than a desire to arrange their immediate environment to their liking.
After all, giving birth is hard work and your cat will probably want to make herself as comfortable as she can! But no matter what the reason, treading on her bedding is a sure sign that your cat’s labor is underway. She’s ready – are you?
