Pregnant?? or.....?

I haven't been here in a long time, but I have a question that I need answered. We recently moved out to the country. We literally live in the middle of no where. We only have 3 neighbors, within a mile or so. A couple days ago this tiny cat appeared on our front porch. At first I thought it was a boy.

"He" is the friendliest little thing. Purrs up a storm whenever you pet "him", comes when you call "kitty, kitty!" Doesn't give a second glance to my chickens, and is only mildly annoyed by our dogs (hissed and puffed up the first day, but the next "he" gave the dogs head butts and rubbed against them).

Last night "he" layed on "his" side and I noticed that "he" had darker patches of fur around "his" nipples. This cat is white with grey spots (some may have seen pictures on my facebook page). The patches around the nipples are stained a light brown. Today "he" was letting me pet "his" belly, and the nipples are enlarged. I took a closer look and realized "he" is really a she!

I have NO clue how old this cat is, but from the look of it, a lot of cats around here are small. Our neighbor's cat, a male, is itty bitty also. I don't know if this cat has a litter right now, somewhere around here, or if she had a litter at one time and is pregnant right now. Her belly is swollen, and has increased in size in just the few days since she arrived here. I tried feeling for movement, but she wouldn't hold still long enough for me to notice anything. I tried expressing some milk from one of her nipples and nothing came out (yes, she is that friendly...she just purred away).

She is SOOOOOOO skinny, other than her swollen belly. It makes me think she is pregnant, b/c she looks like a cow does when they are pregnant, if that makes sense. I don't know if she belongs to anyone around here, but since she is so thin I have been feeding her anyway. I figured a little extra food wouldn't hurt. (If I shouldn't, please let me know.) I have since seen her every day. She loves the attention, and my son loves her. We always make sure we wash our hands as soon as we come inside, just in case. She keeps wanting to come inside.

Is there really any way for me to tell if she is currently pregnant or if she is just nursing?

Here are a couple pics of her:

A beautiful little kitty.

Feeding her can't hurt. Any possibility of bringing her indoors? I would give good odds somebody dumped her when she went into heat; that is enough to drive many cat owners crazy. Or, she got out from someone's house at that time. Happens all the time. That's why we see so many 6-month old cats at the shelter.

Its hard to say without taking her into a vet. Could be worms :[

Originally Posted by kara_leigh

I don't know if she belongs to anyone around here, but since she is so thin I have been feeding her anyway. I figured a little extra food wouldn't hurt. (If I shouldn't, please let me know.)

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The trick in such cases is, to give the help you can and are willing to, and simultaneously hang upp messages in the neigbourhood as "Found".
Dont write her up too exactly, let her owner describe her, if she has an owner You dont want somebody who wants for free and friendly "coach" for their pit bull.
an
My guess is like the others, she was dumped, and now does her outmost to please herself in, both to you and even the dogs....

Do what you can, but if it is possible and ok for you, would be nice if you either adopted her, or found her adoption home.

As for kittens - preg or nursing? Only a vet knows for sure.
You know it is medicially speaking entirely possible to spay and abort?
Ethically it is to discuss, and some vets may refuse. But medically and technically it is as yet not too difficult.

Tx for helping this little sis of our!

Good luck!

If she is roaming around the countryside, the chances that she's pregnant is pretty high.
Please don't feed her unless you plan on adopting her and eventually spaying her. If you feed her, she will eventually have kittens and then she will bring her kittens to eat. Then the kittens will grow and they will have kittens and in about 3 years you should have over 50 cats to feed.
I know it's hard not too, but you will regret it later. I live in the country and have found two stray dogs and many cats. Most cats are feral but the ones that were friendly, I have taken in and found homes for. (after exhausting searches for original owners)
If you leave feed outside...you are feeding any stray cat and they will stay where the food is.
She sounds like such a nice girl...I hope you can keep her!

She looks REALLY REALLY skinny.....

Does she always keep her head tilted?

She is so pretty, I don't have any advice but I hope this kitty gets the help she needs

I am fostering a pregnant cat that was brought in from an outdoor ferral colony. When I got her, I gave her a bath and I treated her with Revolution for worms and fleas, just to be sure. She is also very skinny (except for her belly) and her stomach has tripled in size the last three weeks. She is young as well, about 5-6 months old and she is also very friendly and let's me check her belly each day. I can feel the kittens moving around inside her now and I'm trying desperately to keep her in the house. Once the kittens are weaned, she will be spayed and they will be re-homed. I would think the best thing to do would be to try to bring her inside. Most vets will sell you a single dose of Revolution and it is safe for pregnant cats. Good luck!!!

Yes, she always keeps her head tilted. I figure it is a left over side effect of some sort of vestibular problem. It is gradually getting less and less tilted.

I don't think she is pregnant anymore. I think she was just SOOOO starving that she was gorging herself. Now that she is getting fed regularly, she doesn't get bloated like that. She is starting to put on some weight. I'm pretty sure she has kittens somewhere around here, though. I've given her scraps of raw chicken a couple times, and both times she carried it off and down the road.

We've adopted her. Well...she pretty much adopted us. We'll be getting her spayed, but not until I'm certain she is no longer nursing kittens. I don't want to bring her inside until I can get her into the vet to be tested for FIV/FL b/c of our other cats. She stays on our front porch almost all day now, except I think to go feed her babies. She tries all the time to get inside, though.

Thanks!

If she does have kittens, she'll start bringing them around to your house to eat when they're about 5-6 weeks old.