Birth & Neonatal Care

If you can manage it, go watch a birth alongside a mentor breeder before your own queen delivers. There is genuinely no substitute for having seen the process once already, calmly, with someone experienced next to you, before you're the one managing it alone at 4 a.m.

Whelping kit

• A generous supply of clean towels and paper towels
• A hemostat or clamp, and clean, sharp scissors sterilised with rubbing alcohol
• A bulb syringe for clearing airways
• Oral calcium supplement, for the queen
• Your vet's after-hours number and the nearest 24-hour emergency clinic's number, written down where you can find it at 3 a.m.

What to watch for during labour

Write down the moment true, hard labour starts — visible contractions, vocalising, restlessness. If two hours of strong, active labour pass with nothing delivered and no progress on a visible bubble, that's an emergency, not a "let's give it another hour" situation. Call your vet right away; it usually means a c-section is coming. Never try to break the birth sac yourself — let the queen do it, or let it happen on its own. And never pull on the umbilical cord. A torn cord can leave placental tissue behind inside the queen, and that's a serious infection risk you don't want to cause by rushing.

For each kitten as it arrives

• Confirm it's breathing; gently wipe the face and clear the airway with a bulb syringe if needed.
• Once breathing is confirmed, let the queen lick and bond before intervening further.
• Check for a cleft palate by gently examining the roof of the mouth, and check the belly around the umbilical area is fully closed.
• Count placentas against kittens born to confirm none have been retained.

Eclampsia (milk fever)

Eclampsia is a potentially life-threatening calcium deficiency that can show up during labour or nursing — poor coordination, rapid breathing, fever in the queen. Many breeders give an oral calcium supplement as labour starts and again after each kitten as a preventive step. Get the right product and dosing sorted out with your vet ahead of time. This is not something to figure out mid-emergency.