question about pregnant cat.

hello. i just have a quick question to see if anyone has any experience with this. i have a 3 year old dsh that bolted outside and came back home with a surprise. my husband and i meant to have her spayed years ago but living overseas, deployments and general army life and all that it entails had stalled the process for us. i took her to the vet about a week and a half ago and they did bloodwork and an ultrasound and said they could see at least one kitten very well, and it had a strong heartbeat. i had brought her in initially because she had some vaginal bleeding. they said she may be aborting them, but to just watch and wait. the bleeding had stopped and she was acting normally. about 2 days ago i noticed there was a little more bleeding, not much, but enough to notice. i brought her in for another ultrasound today and they said there are two kittens, their skeletons have developed, but they couldnt see any movements or heartbeats. the vet told me that it doesn't mean they arent viable, they just dont know. could it be possible for them to miss heartbeats at 7.5(ish) weeks? or should i prepare myself? they said that my cat is doing just fine. shes bright and alert. bloodwork and urinalyasis is good. im just real concerned. any advice would be wonderful. thank you!

usually by then you can feel movement-did you ever?

I just spay/aborted a cat(friends in a bind) and I could clearly feel the kittens moving.

im not her favorite person, and she's not real cuddly as a general rule anyway, so feeling her stomach for any extended period of time is tough. i suppose i could try though. just be wearing long sleeves.

I understand

But when contractions start you will be able to see them as they progress. rippling like affect and can be timed out. Be careful a pregnant cat can be a bit...moodier or sweeter then normal-or both sad to say your best bet may be to go back again and if nothing get her spayed(me I do it either way on most of the cats-did skip one as just couldnt to HER) If they are passed already you may run greater risk of infection and issues delivering. She MAY eat them if already gone just a fyi.

I would at minimum have an er clinic on your phone/written down just in case.

all works out

Hi! Welcome to the Forums!

Tough situation. As those earlier hinted, most here are rescuers, so usually our concern is if it is possible to spay.

But I understand you want to keep the kittens if possible? Otherwise you wouldnt pay for all these thorough investigations.

So. The kittens are either already dead, and will be dead-born. Or are still alive, and maybe will make it...
Right?
Because the vets seems to be quite happy. As long as the mother is happy so they arnt worrying, right?

If the vets are villing to let her go on as it is, and hope - do hope.

But if you arent really eager to have her the kittens - I suppose spaying now is the best. You will spay her anyway sooner or later. And spaying doesnt cost more than all these thorough examinations you are already doing either...

Late spaying is more complicated then early spaying. But I suppose the vets in this animal hospital are also good surgeons.
With late spaying many do have ethical problems. But here the risk is big the kittens ARE already gone. So no real ethical problem here.

It is ONLY if you really wants to give THESE kittens the shadow of chance to be borne alive, as you do have a problem - and in that case - should go on.

I suggest you phone or visit the vet in charge (or even better - the of the vets you do feel confidence with) and talk through the variations.


Last. If your consideration is "any life is important, so you wants to begin here". True. But there are many healthy kittens, and many healthy preg moms, who need a "emergency home" to have a chance. Both semiferal needing also a foster home, and there are also entirely tame - dumped or whose owners got sick, or leaved on their own after a hurricane, or anything.
They do need help they too. Not one can help them all. But most can help at least one of them.


I know my writing isnt any real answer for your questions, but I do hope it makes it anyway a little easier for you to decide.

Good luck!

thanks for all the advice everyone. to answer some of your questions..

-i asked them yesterday if i should schedule a csection with them, i had read somewhere that if they are stillborn, she may have a hard time delivering them, and i'd rather be safe than sorry. especially because i work 8 hrs a day and my husband is deployed in iraq, so shes alone for most of the day. the vet i had spoken to said that because she seems to be doing just fine, that he wants to see if she can do it on her own. which i suppose i understand, but if im at work when she delivers, i may not know shes in trouble until hours later and the closest emergency vet is another hour away. i have already called them and let them know about my situation though, and have their number and directions to their clinic in my car. my other concern is that even though she's 3 years old, she's a fairly small cat. only about 5.5-6 lbs full grown. so i'm concerned that her birth canal may not be big enough.

-i hadn't asked for a spay because she's only got about a week and a half left and i thought that they wouldn't do it when she's that far along. but believe me that if the kittens are alive in there, that when she's done weaning them, she's going to get spayed. i'm even adopting and neutering my neighbors cat when she's finally spayed as i suspect he's the tom, and they can't afford to keep him anymore.

-they told me to try to be optimistic about the kittens still being viable, especially because my cat seems to be acting fairly normally, but i have a hard time believeing that heartbeats and movement would be easy to miss at this stage of her pregnancy. especially with it being only 2 kittens. i will be a little devastated if they're stillborn, being such a cat lover, but my main concern is my queen. even if she's moody.

as i said, thanks for all the responses, and ill try to keep you updated as i learn whats going on. i'll probably take her back into the vet in about week for another sonogram if she doesn't deliver/abort them by then, to see if they are alive or not. if they aren't, i'll see what they can do about spaying her and removing the dead fetuses, as i don't want to put her in unnecessary danger.