pregnant cat

[gizzy74]

is it possible for a cat to mate with several males,then when it is time to give birth she has a kitten and then goes a couple of days before she has the rest

[wildwood]

It is possible to mate with several toms but it is unlikely as she is receptive for only a short time. If she does accept another it has to be within a very short time from as a cat releases her eggs a day or so after she has mated.

If her eggs are fertilised by more than one male the kittens will still be born all at the same time in the normal manner.

[natalie_1982]

Gizzy, she should deliver all kittens all at once. It would be highly unlikely for her to become pregnant twice (I know this is possible in humans but incredibly, incredibly rare). If she had one and you think there are more in there that are showing no sign of appearing then I think you should get her to a vet.

[wiggal]

Actually Wildwood, not always true!
When my cat had a litter last year, she had one, then didnt have the rest for nearly 36 hours.
When I spoke to the vet as I was obviously worried about the other kittens not appearing, they said that aslong as she is not in distress, then not to worry and the other kittens will appear. The cause was that she had 2 lots of kittens by 2 different dads!

[lankeela]

This often happens with rabbits, particularly if the male and female are left in together all the time, or there is more than one male in the hutch or run.

Cah happen with dogs too, although theny tend to be born at the same time as the sperm can live in the bitch for up to a week and she is only receptive to the males for a short time.

[wildwood]

Actually wiggal, if your vet told you that the reason of the kittens being born 36 hours apart is caused by them having different fathers you have been misled.

Just as sometimes one young is a bit small, the odd young may grow a bit faster and is ready earlier. This is no indication that they have been conceived at a different time. Cats have a very short timeframe in which they are able to conceive and will usually reject any advancing tom once they have released their eggs.

[Illyria54]

They can mate with more than 1 tom and have split litters ie. different colours from the different dads but the kittens are usually born at the same time, my cat mated with 2 tom cats (it was planned and I had plenty of homes waiting) one was a black Persian and the other was a gorgeous Tabby, mum was a tortoiseshell, she gave birth to 1 pure black long haired kitten, 1 tortoiseshell, 1 ginger and 2 tabbys, they were all born within 3 hours of each other.

[Illyria54]

I would like to add that when I said it was planned, I didn't actually take my cat to visit the tom cats she did that herself, we planned to let her have just one litter of kittens.