My Cat Is Pregnant

Do NOT use an over-the-counter wormer. Others here can tell you some other aspects, but you should probably see the vet and have him treat her.

You can have her seen by the vet and he can spay her right away so that she doesn't have her kittens. They can also take care of the worm problem too. There is really no need to let her have kittens when she can be safely spayed. She isn't too far along.

Congrats! I'll bet you're excited! Make sure you keep her in one room while she's in labor, or when she gets close. We had one cat that gave birth outside, and we didn't know she had already had one kitten. The other two were fine, but we found out about the first one a little too late. Keep us posted!

Just by looking at her, I can bet the kittens will be real beauties!

Please be sure to get her spayed after this (not sure at what point it's safe to spay a pregnant cat - others here would know).

We want to see baby pictures too.

Just curious, is Pandora the one with long hair? She's really beautiful and looks identical to my sister's cat Checkers that had for seven years before our neighbor dropped her off while we were on vacation.

As for spaying, a person shouldn't be made to feel like they have to. As long as you take good care of the kittens and find them all good homes, you can have as many litters as you want!

Problem with that line of thought? There are thousands of cats and kittens in shelters because people did not spay and neuter. I love cats as much as the next person, but that does not mean I should let my cat continue to add to an already severe overpopulation issue.

Finding good homes is easier said than done.
Anita

Just a reminder about the forum rules which every one agrees to when becoming a member:

I just wondered how you can afford to own another cat when you can't afford to get the one you already have spayed? What if something goes wrong when your cat gives birth and you need a vet or what if the kittens get sick? I now have three cats and they aren't cheap to keep and the kittens I foster end up at the vets a lot and cost the charity I work for quite a bit of money.

That your cat and kittens are healthy...

Even so, they are taking homes that cats or kittens in a shelter could have had, had your cat been spayed!just my opinion!!and as for not being able to afford it there are several programs for low income pet owners to have thier pets spayed or neutered.If you are unable to afford to have your cat fixed how will you pay for an emergency?what if she is unable to birth the kittens naturally?Good luck and I treally hope she comes through just fine as well as the kittens.

Are you aware that there are low cost and in some places even free spay/neuter clinics? From what I've seen they cost $30-$50.

It will cost far more than that to feed your pregnant/lactating girl twice as much food as she normally eats, feed the kittens until they are 12 weeks, vet check, microchip, vaccinate, worm, spay/neuter all the kittens before they go to new homes.

Not to mention if she needs a c-section, $700+

Call the shelter and ask them for a low-cost vet to spay her. The shelter may even do it for low cost if you ask. The important thing is to get her SPAYED. And I do agree - how are you gonna afford another kitten that you are keeping when you cannot afford to spay her? And you will have to neuter/spay the kitten too.

Get a 2nd job part time to cover the costs, but get it done - that is being responsible!

Nothing to worry about? what will you do if she needs a c-section to the tune of $700 +. Since you cannot afford to spay her, then it is safe to assume you cannot afford a vet bill of that size or more.

Many people have already suggested this, but call around. There are clinics that will do the spay for very low cost. There is no real excuse not to do something so vital to the health and well being of your cat.

I wish her and you luck with the kittens.

I do understand where you are comming from about not being able to afford the spay etc. I was in your same situation and my cat got out and got preg. (she was an indoor only kitty but snuck out). well I was one of the unfortunate ones that needed to have a c-section because her ONE, yes she only had ONE, baby was big and sideways. I had them spay her then BUT it cost me $1000!!!! for the c-section and spay! she had one baby boy and we were going to find a home for him and had one lined up but we fell in love and kept him. well he is going in soon be be neutered. yes it is expensive and I really don't have the money and no he won't end up preg (and the rest of my cats are all fixed) but don't want the health problems etc. I went through the MSPCA and got a SNAP certificate for 50% off the neuter. now around here they are expensive!!!!! most were $100-$400 with out the certificate I went with the one that was cheapest so at least it is only $50 with the certificate....... not saying you are wrong but if I spent that $300 that I "didn't have" earlier then it would have saved me about $750 for her c-section and now her kittens neuter....... so just something to think about.


but congrats and GL on your kittens.

Has she had her kittens yet? Any idea how many she has in there?

Don't worry about a thing, you're doing great! As long as all of your cat's kittens don't end up in animal shelters and you find them all good homes, there's no reason why people here should make you feel bad. You love your kitty, and her babies are sure lucky to have someone like you who cares about them! Keep it up! Its better than pets being dumped off

I do agree she is doing great and if a cat that is indoor happens to get out it is great that you are doing the right thing and caring for mom as you should and finding homes for the kittens. But by not fixing a cat and allowing her out when not spayed you are just asking for trouble. with having lots of litters you are shortening her life span, she can get pyrometria (sp????) and yes it can happen before when I was "stupid" and didn't know that a cat could get sick from not being fixed my cat almost died from it and had emergency surgery to be spayed. yes she was about 4 or 5 at the time so it wans't when she was young. then having to come up with $1000 to have a c-section or take the chance of loosing mom and kitten was definately hard.

I am not saying she is wrong just saying from experience it is cheaper to have her fixed than pay for all the cat food, extra litter the care of the kittens time and time again by NOT having her fixed and also chancing a c-section and end up paying at least 3x the amt it would have cost to have her fixed.


As you can see I am NOT perfect and all my cats haven't been fixed right away. I do have a family and at times money is hard to come by but I did learn the hard way that by "waiting till I really had the money" I spent THREE TIMES as much as what it would have been to fix her!

Its much much cheaper to spay/neuter then it is to care for a litter of kittens for 10-12 weeks with extra food expense, getting 1-2 shots for the kittens before they leave your home, extra litter/boxes, etc.

Ideally the kittens should be spayed/neutered too before you rehome them - but not too many of us really have that extra money at the time. Why do you think breeders charge so much? Its cause of all the expenses you need for the first 3-4 months of that kitten's life. Breeders are lucky if they can break even on expenses on a litter.

Have you ever been in a shelter!? You can't be serious, as many litters as any one wants! Do the math on all those kittens that the mom has (in 2+ litters at 4-6 in each) Then those kittens having owners thinking the same way and each of those kittens having 6 or so more kittens in each litter..... I'm not good at math but I think you can see how quick that adds up!
No one wants any one to feel bad about an accidental litter, but to say as long as you find them homes have as many litters as you want is mind blowing to me.






How Can any one guarantee that a kitten of theirs won't end up in a shelter? Kittens are easy to find homes for, it's when they get older, and get pregnant or not so cute, ect. that they end up in shelters. How do you know that one of the people taking a kitten doesn't end up moving, ect. and can't keep it any more. Who's to say they will find it a home, they may take it to the shelter months or years down the road.
I have had a couple of litters and out of those I have only ended up (so far) with one owner not being able to keep the cat. I make every one that got kittens from me sign contracts that they MUST return the cat to me if they could no longer keep it at any time for any reason. (they also had to get them spayed/neutered, if I didn't do it already, most were already altered prior to be adopted) So they called me to get her, and I even took the other cat they got after getting mine and I still have them both untill I find new homes for them. And I would take any others back, if needed, will you?