stray cat- pregnant or not?

I'm visiting a friend this weekend and while playing outside with her kids I noticed a cat hanging around... she was incredibly sweet and affectionate, and I asked my friend about her. Apparently she's been hanging around for about a month, and as they're on a military base that means her owners were restationed and put her out before they left and they're not going to be coming back for her any time soon. While I was petting her later on, I realized that her nipples were hugely swollen, and her belly rounded. My first thought, of course, is that she's pregnant, and my friend's husband said he thought the same as they'd noticed her nipples before. My friend, however, said she thinks the cat has such a big belly because several people have been feeding her. So, then, how can we tell? I have already called my husband to tell him about her, and we're prepared for me to take her home tomorrow because if she is pregnant I couldn't bear the thought of her getting hit by a car (I couldn't bear the thought, period, but throw the possibility of kittens into it...) but I live a couple hours away and don't have access to a vet to find out one way or the other. Is there anything else I can check or look for that might indicate she's not just overfed?

Thanks y'all =)

I'm betting that she's pregnant. Cats' nipples don't get big from being overfed. Depending on how far along she is, you might be able to feel individual kitten balls along her sides. Can you get pictures?

Yeah, that was what I was pretty sure of. I took pics with my phone; give me a few minutes and I'll have them up. =)

edit: here we go

Awwww, what a doll, she is beautiful, she def looks like she's expecting to me, thankyou for taking her in.xx

It seems you both were lucky in finding each other.


Tx and good luck!

i can take her home, but we can't keep her... we had a hard enough time finding a place to rent that would let us in with the three cats we already had... asking to be allowed to have a fourth miiiiiight be pushing it lol

but we have a very spacious second bathroom we can keep her in and keep the other cats out of, with a big tub we can make a bed of towels in and make her comfy in until we can find either a rescue or a new family to take her. my friend's neighbor said she was gonna take the cat to a shelter later this week, but i'm not cool with that. two or three more nights outside is two or three nights too many as far as i'm concerned. ^_^

thank you all for your input ^_^

A military family can get in BIG trouble for leaving their pets behind. . .if you know their name you could turn them in.

Yes, I agree she looks very pregnant! It's hard to tell how far along she might be, but that's not just fatness. It's good she found someone to care about her and her babies!

sadly, this is not the only kitty roaming around this base, from what i've seen. my friend i'm visiting says that this kitty and two or three others have been sleeping in her bushes in her front yard for a while now. i've seen a couple other kitties running around. i wish i could help them all, but i can't, so if i can only save one, i'll take the one who's gonna have kittens!!! it gets FRICKIN' COLD here in the winter, and no way they'd survive past a few weeks, if they made it past the first two nights!

and i, not living here, don't have a prayer of finding out who any of these owners were. all i can do, then, is pray for these poor furry orphans v.v;

Originally Posted by SiddyMeowmy

and i, not living here, don't have a prayer of finding out who any of these owners were.

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Oh, I thought maybe your friends knew who left her. It's always good for the bad guys to be penalized when possible. The military doesn't play around with this kind of thing---they expect their people to be responsible. Doesn't mean it isn't common. . .most don't get caught. But there are penalties if they are caught.

Are you going to keep her long enough for her to raise the babies in your home, or will you try to find a foster home/rescue to do that?

i'm going to see if any of the rescues around us have room for her... i know of several no-kill places and fostering programs, i just hope that people booting their animals as a result of the economy hasn't overwhelmed them. i don't want to just hand her over to an individual who says they'll take care of her and the pregnancy and the kittens- i don't trust people farther than i can throw them- so if i can't find a rescue, we'll do what we can to care for her and then find homes for her and the kittens, or, again, a rescue that can take them. my research today would indicate that, assuming she's as healthy as she appears, we'd only need to worry about an initial vet visit for a pre-natal check, buy her kitten food towards the end of the pregnancy, and then take them all in afterwards for shots and such. it'll be tight, but i think we could afford that. or at least my conscience tells me i could >.>

we already have three cats, and we're renting, so there's no way we could keep them, not even long enough to raise them beyond the time they need to stay with her. that should, however, give us plenty of time to find someone or somewhere.

I've got her in a carrier in my car with food, water, and a towel... now we just need your prayers for safety on our three hour trip home!

Prayers are send on way!!!

we're home safe and sound and devouring a can of trader joe's kitty tuna XD a nice quiet night in our new private suite, then to find a vet who won't charge us a first-born kitten to check up on our health

Aaaaaand we have kittens! My husband came home from work last night to find a little squirming pile of warm fuzz in the downstairs bathroom lol it looks like we have three callies, a dark one, and a tuxedo who sadly didn't make it =( i'll send pictures of the babies and momma as soon as he finally sends them to me ^_^ ironically, i'm out of town, visiting the same friend whose house i found her at lol

Oh my gosh, look at those sweeties! Sounds like Dad was an orange tom!

Awwww! baby kitties Can't wait for more pictures.

Originally Posted by kluchetta

Oh my gosh, look at those sweeties! Sounds like Dad was an orange tom!

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Actually the red (orange) gene is passed on by the mom, so dad could have been any color and you can still get red in some or all of the kittens.

Originally Posted by GoldyCat

Actually the red (orange) gene is passed on by the mom, so dad could have been any color and you can still get red in some or all of the kittens.

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Wait...it's passed on the x gene, right? Dad passes those to girls, just not to boys?

my husband said there were callies, but i haven't seen any red in any of the photos or videos he's sent... oh, i wish i could upload video! they're all squirmy and mewling and adorable!!!!! i'm so sad i wasn't there v.v neither of us were home, and i can't help but feel there'd be five kittens now if we had been... v.v;