Questions about "pinking up"

I have two wonderful cats, Angel Cake and Ginger Snap. They were strays we took in about a year ago. It took a lot of time getting the little 8 week old kittens healthy. They were flea ridden, and starved. On Thanksgiving day while my sister was letting her dog out a random cat came running into the house. I decided to check local lost pet ads before putting the cat back outside, ( I'm assuming "He" was in the house maybe twenty minutes and maybe out of our sight for 10). Over the last week I've noticed both of my cat's gaining some weight. I assumed it was from switching their food to regular cat food. They both have a vet's appointment next week to be spayed. BUT, I will not terminate any kittens. I have the means to get them proper vet care, so if I cannot find them suitable homes I have no problem keeping them. So please don't lecture me . I read a little about pinking up while trying to determine if my cats are in fact pregnant. Ginger seems to have gained more weight, but they both have maybe 2-3 nipples that are turning slightly pink. Is it normal for each nipple to "pink-up" at different times? Any info would be great! Thank you! 

If spayed early they really aren't kittens, they both could have been done a day or two after being mated.  Mating takes seconds, but it can usually be heard as it's a loud event so if he were in the house, though out of sight you'd have heard matings. 

Pinking up happens at 18-21 days, all the nipples turn a bright lipstick pink. They don't stay pink though so if you miss that sign you've got to wait longer for visual signs such as the nipples enlarging - they are easily felt when running your hand under the stomach, or a rounded belly when further along. 

Nipples can also slightly blush when they're coming into call

If they are pregnant, be sure to get them and all the kittens spayed/neutered at 10-12 weeks.

missymotus said:

If spayed early they really aren't kittens,

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To explain - a cat is an induced ovulator.  The process leading to ovulation starts when they are mated, so the eggs are released 2-3 days later and the fertilised eggs arrive in the uterus 4-5 days after mating.  Fertilsation happens in the fallopian tubes.  The day or two after mating there are no eggs so no kittens so no moral objection I can see to spaying.

I would agree if that were the case in my situation, and wouldn't have a problem with spaying. However, at this point they would be 36 days pregnant.Or, 5 weeks pregnant, which is beyond the "egg" stage and absolutely kittens. Both of my cats are terrified of the outdoors and I've had no problem keeping them indoors even through calling ( I live in a busy subdivision anyways!). So I'm positive that the only possible day mating could have happened was on Nov. 22nd when the "stray" literally bolted through my slider door. At this point I'm almost positive that Ginger my tabby is indeed pregnant a small pregnancy belly is starting to show. However, Angel doesn't appear to have a belly and only three of her nipples are a very light pink (Harder to see any belly because she's a long hair flame/orange-point Siamese. I'm not asking for spaying or moral advice, I just want to know if it's possible that individual nipples will pink at different times, or do they all pink at the same time. So with what you've already said, at week 5 would the nipples have gone back to the original skin color? Totally confused...thanks for the help!

if the male cat had gotten even 1 of your girls , you would have heard them , if you were in th house, as this is a very loud meeting normally, pinking up, yes in about 3 weeks if they are pregnant, But they may just be coming into season, and there are levels to being in season before they will even except th male, I wouldn't' worry for now, if you Are okay with them having babies, if they are indeed pregnan but please have the babies altered.I hope you can find a low-cost spay/neuter in your area, and most have age limit to how early they will alter. some as early as 12 weeks , some won' t do until 16 weeks. good luck,

Regardless of what happens now, hopefully once any kittens have arrived and been weaned you will get both cats spayed.  Who knows, the cat might stage a raid again, but more to the point it will prevent them getting pyometra (infection in the uterus) and reduce their risk of breast cancer.

A definite diagnosis could be made with ultrasound - do NOT let a vet X-ray a pregnant cat.

If you are correct that one or both is pregnant, then Nov 22nd mating would give pinking up on or about the 22nd Dec and a due date of Jan 26th.

My vet suggested I sit it out and wait a few weeks. In a few weeks I'll know for sure, if no kittens they are getting spayed Feb. 1st. My vet was able to offer me a great deal on package spay/neuter for both my cats and kittens! Any kittens will be vet checked, with shots and altered before going to new homes! We talked about doing an ultrasound, but I opted not too. Seems like it would be more stress then what it's worth, time will tell. Thank you everyone for your advice and support! I'll keep you updated. 

They can be palpataed from 28 days.

Were they in heat? And did you actually hear matings?
While cats don't need to be in heat to get pregnant it will be a noisier affair as they're not as receptive to the males advances when not calling

I was really busy cooking Thanksgiving dinner. Im not sure if they were in heat or not. All three were out in my garage (didnt want them to get stomped on while setting up extra tables for dinner) I checked on them often. My two seemed scared and wanted nothing to do with the intruder. In fact Ange hissed at him and seemed to stay clear of him. Which is why I'm so shocked that both are showing signs of pregnancy. Guess mine are the quiet type?

Ok this is making more sense, they weren't even in the house. You would have known before that morning if they were calling, would be unlikely to have 2 silent callers (which is fairly uncommon in itself anyway)

The penis causes pain as it's withdrawn, silent mating - especially x 2 would again be very unusual. 

 so hopefully they're just gaining weight from the food change.

They were all in the house together for the first 5 minutes. But with a huge guest list, and Thanksgiving madness I put the cats in the garage so they wouldn't get trampled by my guests. Plus, my sisters new puppy was giving them a hard time. My garage is attached to the house through the kitchen. Which is where I was cooking thanksgiving dinner. But I didn't hear anything I suppose anything is possible in twenty minutes? (I was just trying to be a good smarten and hopefully return a lost cat on Thanksgiving, not giving a second thought to the gender!!!) At this point I'm almost positive Ginger is pregnant and Angel is not. Angel is a food lover! She often likes to sneak out to the garage to find her food. I've caught her half way in the food bag before. So that would explain Angel's weight gain. 

biggest sign i saw in Tinker when she got pregnant wasn't her belly seeming bigger, it never did, but it got much wider. On her back I couldn't tell, but she did get a lot wider