Georgie Girl is Bloated...Is She Preggers?

My cat Georgie Girl has been getting a bit round. It's taken her about 2 weeks to get to the size she is at the moment. She's still eating a cup of food a day and drinking normally, and going to the bathroom is not a problem. She is also getting very cuddly, and always wants to sit on my tummy (I'm 34 weeks pregnant so my lap is unavailable at the moment). I'm worried that she might be pregnant, and that scares me because she never had a mother figure (she was from a litter who's mother was eaten by a coyote, and was hand fed by my brother). The question is, is she pregnant or am I over feeding her?

I also forgot to add that her nipples are starting to protrude, and show a bit...
(just noticed again cuz she came up for a cuddle)

If she's over 4 months old, unspayed, and has been anywhere near an intact male (or has been outside unattended), then it's practically guaranteed she is pregnant. Cats are extremely fertile. I'd recommend taking her to the vet so she can get all the proper prenatal care and you can discuss options.

Well she's a strictly indoor cat, and the only time she's been out of my sight is when she went to my mums for a weekend. Mum has two outdoor cats, one is her brother and one a stray, but they seemed to ignore her (except at feeding time they would hiss at her mum said). Glad someone else agrees that she's pregnant though...my hubby was freaking out cuz he thought she had worms (but her tummy is fluffy not hard) Thanks for the advice!

If her brother and the other cat at your mother's are not neutered then it is very possible one ot both of them impregnated her. Cats don't recognise 'family ties' like we do. I agree you need to go to the vet with her and get advice.

Sounds like pregnancy but you'll have to see a vet to be sure.

She is indeed pregnant! Her due date and mine are actually real close together we figure so we will have to get a room for her set up at my mums. Thanks for the support and advice everyone!

Originally Posted by leogal

She is indeed pregnant! Her due date and mine are actually real close together we figure so we will have to get a room for her set up at my mums. Thanks for the support and advice everyone!

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Congratulations to the both of you
Will you be getting her spayed afterwards?

How did you verify that she's pregnant? There are other things that can make the stomach big.

If she's pregnant and will have the kittens you don't have to worry about her mothering skills because she didn't have a mother. Cats don't learn kitten care from observation. It's all instinct and they all do it well.

This situation is a good example of why it's important to spay and neuter indoor cats too. If females are spayed before their first heat cycle their chance for breast cancer goes down to zero and the risk of other cancers and lethal infections like pyometra are also reduced. The same goes for male cats. Not to mention that fixed cats have less behavioral problems, less risk of running away, and won't bring more kittens into the world where so many die because there aren't enough homes. Even if you find homes for all your kittens that means that some kittens sitting at a shelter won't get that home. It's not good.
If your cat is now a show cat and you're not a professional breeder there is no reason not to have your cat fixed. It's the caring and responsible thing to do.

Her Dr said she is and all her kittens will have a home. I am against 100 percent, "fixing" my cats due to the fact this act has KILLED several of MY cats. Now it may just have been the vets in my city, but I figure I would rather have her pregnant than dead. I understand how you feel but all her kittens will have homes that WONT take away from the kittens in the shelters. Thank you for your input.

Originally Posted by leogal

Her Dr said she is and all her kittens will have a home. I am against 100 percent, "fixing" my cats due to the fact this act has KILLED several of MY cats. Now it may just have been the vets in my city, but I figure I would rather have her pregnant than dead. I understand how you feel but all her kittens will have homes that WONT take away from the kittens in the shelters. Thank you for your input.

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Cats (and their kittens) can die during birth too. Just sayin'...

I'm very sorry you're kitty is pregnant & that you've had such bad luck with getting cats spayed/neutered. I've had countless dozens of cats spayed/neutered over the past 7 years (foster kitties & my own), in fact I just had a kitten neutered on Wed. I have never ever lost a kitty or had any serious health issues. A few even had a uterine infection & would have died if not spayed.

Just a reminder of the TCS rules:

2. Please make sure to spay and neuter your cats. Unless you are a professional breeder and your cat is part of a professional breeding program, please educate yourself to the importance of spaying and neutering by the time your cat is 4-6 months old. If you take care of a feral colony, please make sure to do so responsibly by practicing TNR (Trap, Neuter, Release) protocols within the colony. By spaying and neutering, you enhance a cat's quality of life and improve their longterm health. You are also proving your love for cats because in acting as a responsible pet owner/caregiver you are minimizing the problem of cat overpopulation.

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Make sure whoever gets your kittens gets them fixed. That is quite unusual for any cat/kitten to die or have problems after being S/N. In fact, there are more health problems attributed to unaltered cats than altered ones. I won't pass along my congratulations. I only hope you make sure the kittens all get fixed. If you don't want to spay your female cat, then do not ever let her out of your house to roam or go to your mother's as she will just become pregnant again and you will be responsible for many lives.

Wow, that's too bad. . .the vets in your city must be horrible. I wonder where they went to vet school. You may want to file a complaint with the vet board---even a first-year vet student should be able to do a decent spay. There is a small risk of losing a cat to the anesthesia, but it's less than one in 400, even for sick cats. A healthy cat probably has less than a one in a thousand chance of dying during a routine spay/neuter.

I have probably had a hundred cats (my cats, ferals, friends' cats, etc.) fixed, and not one has ever had any trouble with it. After knowing someone who lost a cat in birthing (and someone whose dog gets mammary tumors constantly), I definitely think that pregnancy, birthing, and being unspayed long-term are far riskier than spaying and neutering. I hope it all works out for Georgie and the kittens!

Gunna have to agree with everyone else. Hundreds of thousands of cats are fixed every year and 99% of them never have any complications. However, cats who are not fixed always have the urge to run away putting them at risk of being hit by a car, can catch a multitude of STD's as well as FIV and FelV, cause each other injuries when fighting over a mate, and wear their bodies out by getting pregnant so much.
Benefits of spaying definitely outweigh the risks.

I urge you, if you decide to not spay your female kitty, to read about Pyometra in unspayed female cats. It is a very nasty infection, a medical emergency, that requires prompt attention and is very painful for a cat.

I also urge you to read about common cancers in unspayed female cats.

The more heat cycle your female goes into, the higher her chance of developing these very serious health issues.

It is also very important for you to understand the risks involved with your kitty going in and out of heat cycles, as well as, having many litters of kittens in a years time.

So you are taking your pregnant cat back to your mother's house to have the kittens. The house where she got pregnant? You do know cats can get pregnant again very quickly after giving birth, right?

I am one of the others that will not say congratulations. I've heard people say "Oh, they will all get homes, it won't be a problem" only to come to me a few months later wondering why thet can't find homes for the kittens. Or they say my Aunt, Uncle, third cousin twice removed says they'll take two but when it's time to actually take the kitten, suddenly, they are going on vacation, don't return calls or determine " it's just not the right time".

Getting your animal spayed is the right thing to do. And I don't buy that you have lost too many during the spay process. Having a pregnant cat is not a joyful stroke of good luck, it's contributing to the over-population problem we have and what leads to cats dying of disease, starvation, being run over and any other terrible deaths these kitties go through.

Please have your cat spayed after she has the kittens. It is the right thing to do.