very strange question about female cat

Hi all,
Before I start, I've already put out the whips to hit me with, (just kidding). I know know better, and will do better, but some of this is based on bad vet advise, maybe.

Here it is. I have a female feral gray cat. She is about 3-4 years old. for the last 2-3 years she has been my best friend. She never leaves the area around the house or barn area, and always comes when calls. She loves to be held in my arms on her back and to be kissed and have her belly rubbed. Now...she has bred with males in the past and has never gotten pregnant. According to my vet she is a sterile female and as she very rarely accepts males anymore that she really doesn't need to be spayed. Well, she has been getting heavy, but there has been no milk production, nipple color change, swelling, etc. I haven't seen any kitten movement nor felt any. My problem is this, from the last time I saw that she took a male, (he has been trapped and neutered), has been 58 days. She is no where to be found. I really want to believe she is off having kittens. The only other option is not one I want to think of. She has never been gone 24 hrs before. Is it possible she could have been pregnant without any signs. I mean....no signs...nothing....just the weight gain....

Mary

Hmm...I've never heard of pregnancy without the nipples growing, but the other signs don't always come. Usually if they are pregnant, its ike a bulge in their waist...if they're overweight, its fat all up and down their bodies. Not too much more I can tell you.=(
Good luck...I hope you find her!
I know how you feel..two of my kitties disappeared too...

Never saw a cat produce milk that didn't have kittens within ~24hrs...

My guess is she has a nest full of kittens hiding somewhere, if that is the case she may come back anywhere from 1-3 weeks.

Well, still no sign of Gray Cat. I'm sure she wasn't pregnant. There wasn't any nipple swelling at all. She had a false pregnancy about 2 years ago, so she lost the hair around the nipples and they had turned a little pink then. She has just been getting heavier and heavier. there has been one strange bit of behavior. She always, of late, wanted to go into the feed room and sit on a certain empty bag. Sometimes she would just want us to close the door and leave her in there. As there is no way out we always make her come out before the close up for the night, but still... I think I'm just hoping. I don't know what else would take a cat away.

Mary

Not really sure if she is preggers but... She could have been nesting... And she probably wouldn't have a huge belly if she was only having 1-2 kits. Maybe she just ran off with a tom for a bit? Here are come home vibes!

But definatly get her spayed when she comes home-you won't have to worry like this!

Well, good news. Grey Cat came home. I told Orange Cat to go find her, and she came in right behind him last night.. She is acting really weird. I brought her into the house to keep an eye on her. I saw her pee on the carpet, (she knows to use the litter box from being in the house in the past), and I just picked her up and put her in the litter box. She never stopped peeing or even seemed to know that I moved her. It was really strange. I finally got her to eat some kitten pate this evening and she seems to come to me now. She still isn't acting like normal. It's evident that she wasn't pregnant. The vet said she was sterile and would never be able to. Her breeding this last time was very unusual, and it was only with Orange Cat, who is her best friend. He was neutered almost 6 wks ago. I'm getting the kitten that I rescued spayed hopefully next Fri or the following Tue. It seems the vet that does the feral cats is really booked. All the female cats seem to be pregnant, and they are the first to get in. I'm not letting Smoke the kitten out till she is spayed tho.

Did you take her to the vet? She may have a urinary tract infection, which may be causing her pain, thus the odd behavior and the peeing. Good luck with everything and I'm glad you found her.

I think you may be right. I'll see if I can get her into the vets tomorrow. If not, perhaps because she is a feral that doc will give me something to give her. It won't hurt to ask.

Mary

Yes, the vet may be a good idea.
I'm so glad she came back!
I hope she's alright!

Visit to vet is a good idea. Whatever is it URI or and also something else.

Im thinking, it may be some sort of tumour or cancer.

This could look like a pregnancy.

I wish you and the cats good luck.

Good luck!

=)

Don't want to scare you but there's a possibility of FIP too. URI would be treatable - FIP is not. Hope she is ok. IMO I would spay her anyway as she would be at risk for pyametra or cancer by not being spayed.