Is She Pregnant?

Hello all,

I'm sure you get this question ALL of the time..or one very much like it. About a month ago I started feeding a little stray that was coming around my front porch. It took well over two weeks of sitting very still to even be able to touch her. She now trusts my family enough to allow us to pet her and I'm wondering if she's pregnant. Her belly is a bit firm and rounded out..especially on the sides and her nipples poke out a little..but only a little. I've really only had male cats most of my life and don't have experience with pregnant females. I don't know if she's pregnant or just putting on weight . She was so skinny when I first started to feed her and I find it hard to imagine that she's put on this much weight in under a month. Or perhaps she has worms? Getting her to a vet would be nearly impossible at this point. I'd like to eventually bring her inside....but it will take lots of work because we already have three dogs, a male cat and a ferret and I am trying to be VERY cautious and patient with getting her inside. I don't want to scare her to death with my dogs. But if she's pregnant I worry about her having the kittens outside. I'm worried about her..she's such a sweet kitty..but very shy.

Maybe someone could actually direct me to some pictures of cats in various stages of pregnancy? That may help a bit.

Thank you for your time and please forgive such basic questions!

BTW..I've been feeding her a quality kitten food just in case she actually is pregnant.

Do you have a spare room, laundry room, finished basement, even a large walk in closet that she could have for her own if you were to bring her in? You couldn't let her mingle with your animals until she sees a vet anyways so if you can do that first step of getting ehr in, that would be a great thing. If you can't handle her, then use a humane trap, borrow it from a shelter or pound. Just remember, if you CAN pet her, have a carrier handy or something to put her in, even a pillowcase. Then SCRUFF her, it will not hurt her and grab her and stick her in it.

About her being prego, it is hard to say. If she isn't far along you could just have her spayed really quick so she doesn't have to go through a pregnancy. Poor girl. It would be easier to take a guess if you could just snap a picture of her and post it up here. We like to see pictures anyways!

I can get pictures of her..no problem. I'll do that tomorrow. I've already taken pictures of her, but she's lying down in them so it doesn't show her belly.

I didn't think of the pillow case idea. I actually live in a rather small home and every room..and I mean EVERY room has an animal in it. I could probably do some "shuffling around" and see if I can make room..or I could get off of my duff and clean out my walk in closet...hmmm. My other pets are gonna think I'm nuts brining in another.

IF room is a problem, could you contact rescues in your area? If she is unspayed it is vital that she is at least taken in long enough to be spayed and recover, or you are going to have a lot more cats about the place. She might have worms instead or as well as pregnancy, so being brought in and a vet check is vital at the moment. Good luck, and thanks for caring.

if you can not bring her inside on your own to take her to a vet , like booktigger said , get in touch with a rescue they might be able to loan you a trap , once she is traped , they will either pick her up or you can bring her to them , they will then be able to give her a full health check etc.. if you did want to keep her im sure they will allow you to bring her back home with you once she has been spayed and treated for worms etc. if shes very late in the pregnancy they may not spay her , it depends on how the rescue works.
but still might be an idea to at least talk to them about it.

hello and welcome, well things sounds busy at your place ! the above posters have already given some great advise.

I would also like to suggest, as you don't want you existing animals to catch anything that this stray may have, maybe you could set up some sort of den outside, you know like a large crate with old carpets over to protect from the weather, some old blankets, towels or whatever inside to make is warm & comfy

You can easily keep your eye on things and it will not be too stressful for everyone !

Good luck with things and keep us posted !

Here are a couple of pictures of the stray I posted about. Like I said she's pretty small and after looking at these pictures I'm even more confused. Poor girl needs a good bath and grooming. If there's any trouble with these links let me know. I may have gone a little overboard..but I tried to get her from different angles...I don't know if this will help. Who knows..perhaps someone actually had her spayed. When I found her she had on an old, cruted up flea collar that I was FINALLY able to remove. There are so many strays in my area..it's horrible and if she's not spayed it's only a matter of time before she ends up pregnant anyway. Uhhgg...poor kitties.

PICTURE 1
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...in1215/TN3.jpg

Picture 2

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...in1215/TN2.jpg

PICTURE 3

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...in1215/TN1.jpg

PICTURE 4

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...in1215/TN7.jpg

PICTURE 5

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...in1215/TN8.jpg

PICTURE 6

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...in1215/TN6.jpg

she sure is a pretty girl. if she is pregnant then she is only about 4/5 weeks she dosnt seem to be showing very much , it could be worms. again unless you take her to a vet there is no way of knowning at this point.