New adoption...and scratching my head..

Yesterday I adopted a lovely adult orange tabby who had wandered into someone's yard and never left. Repeated attempts to discover the owner of this wonderful animal was unsuccessful and thus was given up for adoption. I adore this little creature already, but I have a dilemma!

I have always had my previous cats spayed/neutered, so have never experienced a pregnant cat. I was TOLD this was a male cat who happened to be quite fat. The cat is very large and heavy, no doubt about it. However, I do not see any testicles and I am now suspicious this is not only a female, but that she might be very heavily pregnant. Is there any sure way to tell? I will be taking the cat to the vet, but not until after Christmas, and frankly, if the cat is pregnant, it could deliver the kittens before then! The cat's nipples are very pink and visible through the belly fur, which is very plush and lush. This cat has been declawed in front and has a gorgeous coat, so was obviously someone's pet at some point. Either he/she was overfed, or she is pregnant and was abandoned for that reason.

She/he is very affectionate and sweet, follows me everywhere and trills for petting and attention adorably. She often puts her tail up and goes through the motion of spraying with nothing coming out. I am not sure what that is about either.

Advice anyone? Thanks!

Welcome to the site! What a strange predicament you find yourself in! Is the kitty really fluffy? I know with my boy, who is very fluffy, they actually had to blow on his rear end area to be able to see the testicles. Based on what you have said, though, it sure does sound to me like you have a pregnant mama on your hands, but I'm going off of what I have read on this site. Will she let you feel her tummy? If she is that far along, you would probably be able to feel the kittens moving. Obviously, since she is new to you, you don't want to push her beyond what she is comfortable with. I'm sure you know, the best way to be sure, either way, is to take kitty to the vet. If she has kittens before Christmas, though, I guess you will know for sure!!

I'm going to move this to the Health and Nutrition forum, so the right people who would know the answer for you will be sure to see it.

Hi and welcome to the board!

I am going to be moving this to health and nutrition for you. If it is a neutered male, you will not see any testicles, but you feel two lumps, sort of tucked up underneath. Because a vet will cut the testicles off a male when neutering. You don't say how old he is, but my first thought is you should take him to the vet and have him tested for all the standard diseases, checked for worms, etc. His fatness could be attributed to parasites. Plus the vet will be able to tell you the gender.

I would take an educated guess from your post, that you have a male. The spraying motion is indicative of a male cat, spraying his mark on trees and leaves, etc..warning others away! Females will also spray, but it is not that common.

At any rate, I would take this kitty in for at least one vet check if it were me.

Thank you for taking this cat in. You did a great thing!

I really hope this is a male! lol...

Is it normal for a male cat to pseudo-spray?
The male I had many years ago was neutered, but his testicles (which he was quite proud of, I must say!) were still pretty visible. This cat (still unnamed) is very good natured. It got very stressed in the carrier when I moved it from the house it had "adopted" to my home, pooping in the carrier and peeing in it...but did fine once inside. I fed it a little Iams, and it let me dampen a papertowel and get a little soap on it to clean it up a bit. Major invasive, touching the kitty's belly and bottom, genital area, etc, and it just ate contentedly and let me do what had to be done. He/she does not seem to like me touching the belly area, but will simply dig its head under my hand and trill insistently, as if patiently teaching me the right place to scratch. So...i have not felt any baby movement and it is a pretty squishy tummy...I am hopeful that it is an overweight male...but I don't want to limit food intake to assist in weight loss if there is a chance this cat is pregnant. I will see if a vet can see him/her tomorrow I think...

Good idea, about the vet. And yes, if a cat is neutered late, then it is common for them the pseudo-spray. Plus, because he had to undergo the torment of declawing. See link below, he may not act like a normal cat and have some behavior issues as well. He will probably want to get as much comfort from you as you can give him. (that has been my experience with declawed kitties anyway) Again, you did a GREAT thing taking him in!


Declawing links-not for the squeamish

I would take this cat to vet immediatly. Before christmas. Hopefully it is male that is overweight, but if the belly is squishy like you describe that could mean FIP. fIP is deadly and should be handled right away. If it is not FIP it could be an awful case of worms or paprasites. For you and the cat it is best to get it checked right away.
Denise Russell

I have no help but reading this made me need to ask a delicate question. Hissy, you said there will be tucked up lumps instead of testicles because the vet cuts them off? Is that standard practice? I'm asking because I've only had one male kitty in my life, and he was neutered very young. They most definately did NOT cut his little testicles off. He went in with them and came back with them. They made a tiny incision that did not require stitches, and after about a week or two his testicles just disappeared. Is this a different method? Would it result in not having the lumps you spoke of? Spidey doesn't seem to have any lumps.

Gentylwind congrats on the new kitty, hope he is a he, and not an expecting she! One thing, didn't the shelter have him or her fixed? I mean, you'd think their vet would have noticed if she was pregnant!

Thanks for the advice everyone. I sure hope the poor baby is not sick. Its the most affectionate and sweet cat I have ever seen. I didn't get him/her from a shelter...he/she wandered onto the porch of a woman who raises mastiff dogs and just decided that was going to be home from now on and refused to leave! She could not keep him/her, so put out an ad, which I responded to and wound up adopting.

Gently, I would still take your cat in to see a vet. That is always a good thing to do when you adopt.

Ali- if you have ever seen a fully intact male, their sacs hang down. On a neuter, the vet will basically cut the majority of the sacs off- pull the cords and tie them off. I believe it depends on the age that the cat gets neutered. Where is Sandie when we really need her! LOL

Again, I am not a vet, but with my feral males. I can definitely tell the difference between my neutered males and the Toms who come into the yard.

Ali I had the same question. Trent was neutered at 6 months, and the vet just made the tiny incisions that you spoke of. No stitches or anything. His do not "hang down" like an intact male, they are very close to his body, but you can definitely see that there are testicles there. That's what confused me about her post, when she said she can't see any testicles there, and why I thought it may be a female. Gently, if you look at the back end of kitty, if there is an "opening" below the anus, it is a female. If not, it is a male. Regardless, yes, it is always a very good idea to take any newly adopted kitty to the vet and make sure s/he has a clean bill of health.

See Spidey definately has nothing there. He had cute little fuzzy ones, then they disappeared. He was very young so there's no sack, no lumps, just nothing.

Weird! And I would have never thought they'd just shrink after awhile. I wonder if Spike's will do that. I had Spike neutered at 7 months, and from what I understand, the vet made two tiny incisions and removed the testicles from inside, and then used some sort of glue to keep the incision closed once they were through. He didn't have stitches or anything, and today, if you look there, you can see two small lumps, but they're empty. I wouldn't know what an intact male looks like at 2.5 years old, so I can't say if they're closer to his body or not.

And gentylwind, congratulations! It is very sweet of you to take in this kitty!

OMG! What is FIP???

Carrie-

FIP stands for Feline infectious peritonitis, it is rare but often fatal disease caused by a Coronavirus FCoV Feline Infectious Peritonitis progresses in a freshly infected cat, as with many other infectious diseases depends on the dose of virus and the immune defense status of the cat. The virus is generally spread by the oral route from an infected cat or from the motion of other cats or inanimate objects such as food bowls, and is seen mainly in cats less than 2 years of age. It is probable that most cats exposed to Feline Infectious Peritonitis virus will recover with a strong immunity unless their immune system is compromised. The virus produces two forms of the disease "Wet" and "Dry". Both forms of the disease initially produce a dull looking cat with a raised temperature. In the wet form their may be a fluid build-up in the abdomen and sometimes difficulty with breathing. The symptoms in the dry form are variable including:- persistent high temperature, weight loss, depression, lack of coordination, nervous signs and eye disease. Some cats remain carriers after infection and may serve as the reservoir for transmission to other cats.

*The above information copied off VetCentral*

OMMGG!!! Could this be what happened at the Humane Society with the death? I posted about this a few eays ago.....I am FREAKED!

Carrie,

First off, don't freak out. It serves no purpose and only makes you imagine the worst. Wait until you have more information about what happened in the shelter, and then contact your vet and talk with him about what to do- if there are preventative measures to take etc..It could of been any disease that brought down that cat. So until you know, just keep breathing and try not to get distressed. Your cat can pick up stress from you very quickly.

Look for signs that you cat is off in behavior. Missing the litter pan, lethargic, drinking a lot of water, not eating, panting, or pacing back and forth and mewing. If kitty is just being normal, chances are kitty is fine.

Well, she isn't sleeping hardly at all and you can tell she can hardly keep her eyes open. My mom also thinks she is breathing hard, but I can't tell if it is like a normal breathing or an excitment thing or what....I don't think either one of us can be objective when looking at this because of Angel.