- If the queen is tame and gets on well with people, then the owner should supervise the birth. Often, queens are able to give birth without any problems, but the kittens still need to be checked for cleft palate, severe deformities and if the umbilical chord is still attached. Usually queens will instinctively eat the afterbirth, but some queens may not. This afterbirth needs to be removed and the soiled bedding quickly changed for new bedding. Otherwise, the bacteria will invite disease.
- A vet visit should be made as soon as possible after the queen appears comfortable with the presence of people around the litter. With feral queens, this may never happen, so one may need to use a live trap or humane trap to capture the queen--only if there seems to be something definitely wrong with the kittens. According to "Cat Owner's Home Veterinary Handbook," healthy newborn kittens hardly cry, have round bellies and do a lot of sleeping. In contrast, sick kittens or kittens not able to get enough milk will cry a lot, move around a lot and have narrow bellies.
- Handle the newborn kittens as little as possible during the first two weeks, when they need to rest and eat. But if your vet advises to weigh the kittens every day on a scale to be sure they are properly gaining weight, do this task as quickly and quietly as possible, preferably with the queen able to watch. This is also the time the mother will be the most protective of them. Some normally tame, affectionate queens have been known to turn on their owners at one cry from the kitten. After two weeks, their eyes and ears will be opening and they will begin to wander away from the queen's den. When they begin to walk is when they can have more human contact.
