Pet Punter

Posts Tagged ‘birth’

Sometimes a kitten will be born apparently lifeless. This may not be the case; it may not be breathing and be in a state of shock. If the queen does not immediately rasp away at the kitten’s face, it is your job to do it. To clear any excess fluid from the nose and lungs, hold the kitten in your hand with index finger going over and kitten downwards two or three times and then wipe and stimulate the face around the nose and nostrils. At the same time, rub its little-body vigorously. In most cases this will get it going but you may have to resort to mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. It may be that the kitten has suffered some form of foetal distress during the birth process and has, in fact died. The cause may be more serious and a dead kitten should be laid aside carefully for a post-mortem examination to establish the cause.

Abnormalities:

Defects are rare. They include:

1. Cleft palate or hare-lip
2. Lack of eyes
3. Heart defects including hole in the heart
4. Umbilical hernia
5. Intestines on the outside.

Always remember to take sensible precautions yourself when handling a sick bird, because there is a slight possibility that the infection could in turn spread to you. Clean out the sick bird’s quarters thoroughly, particularly if it is being housed with a group of birds, to stop the infection spreading. Wash and disinfectant food and water containers as a priority, as well as changing the floor covering in the shelter and scrubbing off the perches. If there is a bad outbreak of disease try to find the source. New birds should always be isolated for the first two weeks to ensure that they are healthy as, otherwise, they could introduce an infection into the aviary. Attend to the needs of sick birds after those of healthy stock, and do not wash their food containers in the same water.

 You also need to be vigilant to the possibility of rodents entering the aviary and soiling the food. Rodents can introduce unpleasant bacteria, such as Salmonella and Yersinia, both of which are hard to treat successfully, and will cause widespread mortality. Some ailments can be treated topically, as in the case of minor eye infections. If you are using an ointment, hold the bird for a few minutes afterwards to allow the medication to start dissolving into the eyes, because otherwise the bird may simply wipe the treatment straight off on to the perch. Drops may be easier to apply but, if the bird blinks, they may not reach their target. Recovery from eye ailments is usually very quick but you must maintain the treatment to the end of the course to prevent the symptoms recurring.

It is normal for some kittens to be born backwards, with hind feet being presented first. If the rump and tail, rather than the stretched-out hind feet, are presented first, this is a breech birth and can be a problem. It is so easy to become impatient and want to get your hands in the nest to help out, but the real need to do this should be very carefully weighed up. If the queen in contracting strongly, it is likely that she will be able to birth the kitten quite normally. This way round is just a little more difficult, as the head is not widening the birth passage so that the rest of the body can slide through.

However if the waters have burst, and the kitten is taking a very long time to be born, there is a risk of brain damage or still-birth and the kitten should be helped out as quickly as possible. If the legs are coming first, quickly slip on the surgical gloves and smear a little to the lubrication around the vulva. Never pull on any part of the kitten – it is an extremely delicate organism capable of being very easily damaged. As the queen’s contractions push the legs further out of the vulva, use index and middle fingers to “scissor” the legs right next to the opening of the vulva.

As the contractions cease, the neutral effect is for the legs to be drawn back into the vulva. The breeder’s fingers will hold the legs in position until the next set of contractions. Then as most of the legs appear, use the index and middle fingers of the other hand to repeat the process. Generally, once the hips have emerged, the queen can do the rest by herself. In the case of a rump or tail breech birth, you may need to gently insert a lubricated finger beside the kitten and hold it as a hook. But it must be emphasized that, in most cases, the queen knows what is best and can manage by herself.