Question about Cat pregnancy.

Now we have our little baby (my avatar) puzzle. She's about 8-9 months old.

We got two cats at the same time, the other (male) Storm is the same age. Storm is MUCH larger but that's not the point.

They were in heat about 3 weeks ago, and now Puzzle is acting a little off. This morning when I woke up (she normally sleeps on me) she was EXTREMELY affectionate, constantly nuzzling me and kissing me. More affectionate then she has ever been. Neither of the cats have been acting like they were in heat, and Puzzle is being much more loving. We think she's pregnant and her nipples have gotten slightly bigger and a tiny bit more pink. 

Our main worry is the fact she is so small and if the kitten birthing would hurt her, although as a kitten they were both EXTREMELY small. (Brother and sister, she mated with him)

There's Storm, he has huge paws.

and Puzzle.

Boys don't have heat cycles, they will mate anytime.

Best to get him in for neutering asap, and her as well. If she's not too far along she can be spayed. She is very young to be having kittens, and there are risks with inbreeding.

Anytime you've got unaltered cats, older than 4 months you can bet they'll mate at some point.

missymotus said:

Boys don't have heat cycles, they will mate anytime.

Best to get him in for neutering asap, and her as well. If she's not too far along she can be spayed. She is very young to be having kittens, and there are risks with inbreeding.

Anytime you've got unaltered cats, older than 4 months you can bet they'll mate at some point.

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We want her to have one litter of kittens though.

We want one kitten and after the first we are getting the male neutered.

Why would you want to purposely inbreed? With a cat who is too small and too young? There's plenty of kittens available at the shelter, or you could foster if you want to enjoy a litter of kittens.

Take a look around this site, read the forums- read how many people on here have had kittens die from complications, have had their MOMMA CAT die from complications from being to small, not being able to push them out, too much bleeding. Do you have tons of money saved up in case she needs an emergency c-section? They usually cost around $1000 if not more. Read about the people who walk into the euthanasia shed to pick one or two to save while they look around at all of the hundreds of sad faces whos lives will be taken from them because nobody wants them.

8-9 months is EXTREMELY young for a cat to have babies, which can increase her complications even more. Since she is not spayed, does she have all of her vaccinations? Does the male have all of his vaccinations? They are from the same litter- that's an even higher chance of complications and deformities during pregnancy. I recently had to deal with a kitten who was born with a deformity, it suffered and died within an hour. One of the worst experiences of my life.

I strongly suggest you think about this, and look into your local shelters for a new friend if you'd like one. It's kitten season, and the shelters are FILLED with little fluffballs looking for new furever homes. I know a lot of people claim they want 'just one litter' to get a kitten that is similar to their cat, but cat's are so unique and so different it's very unlikely you would get a kitten that is a miniature of your cat.

A small cat that young is a high-risk pregnancy, add to it that the sire is her brother and this is extremely risky.  Please, it would be in her best interest to have her spayed now.  If you want the experience of birth, there are tons of already pregnant strays you could foster from a shelter that would pay food and vet bills.  But note that it is quite a bit of work. 

I will say for myself and on behalf of other fosters (if I may) that we do not intend to be offensive or rude, but many of us spend much time, effort, emotion, and money to save the lives of strays and we get a tad frustrated when we hear of such situations.  In the US, for every cat that has a home, there is a cat that does not.  That is really an extreme amount of homeless cats needing homes. Please  consider this. 

It is hard for us to determine your cats condition unless you include a close up pic of her nipples.   

Please for the sake of that poor little kitten get her spayed ASAP. She is still growing herself and a pregnancy and the lactating that will follow will rob her of valuable nutrients that she needs to be a healthy adult cat as she is still growing herself. Let alone the fact that at that young of an age she may not be able to nurse them properly when they come. Or as young mother it wouldn't surprise me if she abandons them completely, leaving you to care for them yourself. Having such an inbred kitten it will probably have many health issues and possibly deformities that will effect it for the rest of it's life if it even lives past those critical first few weeks.

With her being small the odds of her needing a c-section are higher. I have experience with this, my first pregnant cat had been struggling to have her kittens so we rushed to the vet, turns out a kitten that was too big for her was stuck in the birth canal. It was $1000 for just the operation to be done. I got them home that night and because she had not had the kittens naturally the mothers milk did not drop, so I had to bottle fed the kittens. That requires feeding every 2 hours round the clock (even at night) and when you have an entire litter and neither you nor them are used to the bottle it can make for a very long first few days. I was asleep for no more than 15 min before I had a pile of screaming kittens who were hungry. I was a zombie for a week or so until my body adjusted to not sleeping, and then I was just always tired from being sleep deprived.

Do you plan to spay and neuter all the kittens she has, if not they can go on to breed and cause even more unwanted kittens. Do you have good homes for all the kittens. Sometimes even if you find a good home the kitten could end up in a shelter or on the street when it is no longer a cute little kitten. Just a little thought to think about.

Nutrition could be a problem for her. If you want to read about the struggles and heart break I have had with my malnourished kittens I have 2 recent threads. Sky and her 2 little kittens. Both kittens ended up sadly dying. Or kittens not growing. 2 have passed away and 2 are needing lots of care still.

If you want a litter of kittens around foster one from the shelter, you will get to have kittens around and save a few lives at the same time. You probably don't realize how bad pet over population is, I didn't until I got into rescuing and now I am faced with it every day, so the "I just want her to have one litter before I spay her" actually makes me very sad, because that one litter you allow to be created means death for another that is unwanted in the shelter. I agree with happykitty none of this is being said to be offensive or rude, we just see the other side of what just one litter means.

CatNamedPanda said:

 Do you have good homes for all the kittens.

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And will they still want them if they have health issues of any form from the close mating?

I have to agree with the others. Your kitten becoming a mother is equivalent to a 10 year old girl having a baby. The risks to her and the kittens is enormous. And from an inbreeding it is even worse. Please, if you love your girl get her spayed. Is there any special reason why you want her to have a litter? Soe people want to 'reproduce' their cat but this rarely happens, and almost never with non-pedigree cats. The cat herself does not want kittens - she has no knowledge of what that might be and she will be happier and healthier if she is spayed now. Do not put her through this.