First and foremost, do you have a basic persian cat book,
if not you need to get one that covers pregnancy and kittening.
It can be extremely complex. Usually the success
of raising a healthy litter depends on whether or not the queen
is a good mother. Some queens can be rather stupid when
it comes to mothering. I usually help the queen only when
she needs it. I find it is best to let nature take it
course.
If the queen refuses to break the sack or is slow
to clean up the baby, you'll need to take those steps
for her, to ensure the baby's health. Sometimes
I will rinse the newborn kitten off under very warm water
(body temperature about 102 degrees), then I'll blow the baby
dry with the low setting, and return it to the queen.
I will help the newborn attach to the queens nipple,
only if it continues to cry, and is searching around for
several minutes without success.
Whether or not to use the heating pad depends on the temperatue
of the birthing room. It is better to turn the temperature up to
78 or 80 degrees in the room than to use a heating pad as most queens
don't like it. They will lay away from their babies, rather than
stay on the heating pad.
As for the queen's diet after giving birth, I usually offer
liquids the first 24 hours, then I spoil them rotten during
the first few days, giving them treats of, hamburger, cooked
chicken, cottage cheese, evaporated milk (diluted with water),
and chicken noodle soup. Keep fresh water and dry food available
at all times.
Watch out for the baby that crys continuously, as this usually
indicates something is wrong. Is the baby getting enough
nutrition from the mom? If not, you may have to supplement feed
with a kitten milk replacer. Is the baby's belly swollen?
If so, the queen may not be stimulating the baby often enough.
You may need to stimulate the kitten to elimimate by wiping
it with a wet-warm cotton ball.
Some things to keep in mind. Heathly-content babies are warm to
the touch, they seldom cry, unless they are scrambling for a
nipple or mom is cleaning them up. Healthy babies seem to
grow everyday. Hope these tips are helpful to you.
These observations are from my experience of breeding for about
30 years.
