Is she really pregnant?

As some of you may know, I foster pregnant cats and kittens for my local shelter. Anyways, just over 3 weeks ago when I was volunteering at the shelter, they said that they just got in a cat that they were quite sure was pregnant, and asked if I could take her. I said yes, and 2 weeks later (a week ago from now)I took her in. She's definatly got a good sized bump...not huge, but she's a tiny cat and I'm guessing she'll have a small litter. Because she's very protective of her stomach, she won't let anyone touch it and doesn't tend to lie down much around people. The thing that's worrying me is that I haven't seen her nipples showing at all. In most pregnant cats I've had they are very visible. The few times I've gotten close to her when she's lying down I haven't seen anything on her belly, but it's difficult to tell without feeling her belly. I still haven't seen the babies move or anything, but once again, it's a bit difficult without feeling her belly myself. Other than that, she's eating and drinking a ton, and she's been nesting in the carrier we set up for her.

Judging by the timeline, she should be due anytime in the next couple weeks if they could visibly see 3 weeks ago that she was pregnant. I can get some pictures of her to show you guys soon as well.

Anyways, my question is...do you think that she is for certain pregnant? The only other things that come to mind for her to have such a swollen belly is worms, but she seems perfectly healthy, and her stools are normal.

Anyways, any bits of advice are greatly appreciated!

Thanks!



Amy

I once took in a stray I was SURE was pregnant. I brought her home (she looked like she was gonna pop any second!), waited a month or so, no progress so I took her to the vet. He wasn't sure, so I waited another month before having her spayed. Never any kittens, and even after de-worming she still had quite the belly. Even now she's a round little thing. So I guess some kitties are just pudgy :lol3:.

Thanks for the response Willowy!

Still no kittens I'm completly torn between beleiving she's pregnant or not...she just seems like such a tiny cat to have a belly like that. I still can't see any nipples on her and even had a quick feel of her belly this morning, but she really hates it. Assuming she was at least 4 weeks along when the shelter got her, that would make her at least 8 weeks now. Anyways, she's really been nesting and everything, and I've got some pictures to show you guys.

Miss Marley



Eating



This is her nest:





You can see her bump here:











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I'd have the vet take a look at her. If it is worms you will want to get that taken care of and if it's kittens, you want to make sure they are OK.

Here are some belly pics:

Usually when a cat is far enough along to be showing, the fur has already fallen out around the nipples and they're big and pink. I don't see anything on her. If it's been a month and nothing has changed, it's probably not a pregnancy. Time to have the vet take a look, I think.

Willowy said:

Usually when a cat is far enough along to be showing, the fur has already fallen out around the nipples and they're big and pink. I don't see anything on her. If it's been a month and nothing has changed, it's probably not a pregnancy. Time to have the vet take a look, I think.

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Alright, well I have an update!  Last week I checked her belly and there are definatly nipples... not as big as some mother cats I've seen, but they are definatly bigger than a normal cat. Over the past week she's started to love rolling around on her back and I can now see them sometimes where the fur has fallen out. That being said I still am a little confused. It's been a month since she arrived at the shelter, not giant, but big enough for them to notice she was pregnant. I'll talk to the shelter some time this week and ask them what they think we should do. Other than that she seems like a perfectly healthy pregnant cat...she eats her food, plays with her toys, and lies in her nest.