Real pregnancy, false pregnancy or something else?

Hi there

I have a cat who is about 11 months old, Toby. whom I fully intended to have spayed at the end of the month when the local low cost place did their spring spay and nueter program. Well I never noticed her in heat (no rolling,no calling ect), at all and since she's already an indoor/outdoor cat I never thought much about letting her out like  usual.

I noticed about 3 weeks or so ago that she was developing a nice little round tummy, which I dismissed as to her eating like a horse like she has since she was a kitten. But it's only her belly, not the rest of her body, and recently she's developed a "sway" when she walks. 

her nipples aren't what you'd call "pink" but they do seem larger than they should be.

I also have two 4 month old(ish) kittens that my cat found (yes they literally followed her home from somewhere) last fall around october some time.

Well my cat has been letting them suckle on her lately as well, and the problem is I don't feel any "babies" nor see any movement, what just feels like belly. but over the last couple days she's gone off the food but is otherwise active, she plays (but has become very guarded of her belly) and uses the litterbox normally, and still likes to go in and out when the weather is nice.

I was wondering if she could be experiencing some sort of false pregnancy or if this sounds like the real deal?

thanks!

-Wild

Well, if she's over 4 months old, unspayed, and has been outdoors, she's certainly pregnant this time of year, unless she's sterile (which is rare). Cats are incredibly fertile. Too bad there will be more added to the flood of unwanted kittens. If she isn't too far along you could still have her spayed; most outdoor cats in temperate climates get pregnant about the beginning/middle of January, so it could still be an option if you're comfortable with it. If you live somewhere warmer, or if she's inside enough for the lighting/heat to influence her cycles, she could be farther along.

If either of the kittens is female, she's probably pregnant too.

If she got tagged by a male quickly enough, you wouldn't have noticed she was in heat. They can smell them before you see symptoms.

no, both kittens are males.

I've never had a cat have kittens before so I'm not sure what you mean by "unwanted" I think watching a litter grow up would be pretty fun, I have the funds to care for them properly I just don't like going through vets and spending all that money on spaying or nuetering when it can be done just as effectively at a low cost place.

I'm not sure what you mean by "unwanted"

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There are hundreds if not thousands of unwanted cats and kittens at shelters all over the country.  Because they can't get homes quickly enough they get put to sleep - killed.  Harsh, horrible, but true.  A few shelters are no-kill with the result they rarely have places for new admissions.

If I had to choose between aborting unborn kittens and killing living ones, I'd choose the former.

The homes you hope your kittens will get could have gone to some of the kittens effectively on death row.

Well I never noticed her in heat (no rolling,no calling ect)

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Some queens don't do much of that, and also she could go out and get satisfaction.

However it sounds like she is probably too far on - she is probably in the last couple of weeks of her pregnancy, which lasts 65 days - just over 9 weeks.  "3 weeks or so ago" could well be 4-5 weeks, and people often don't notice their cat filling out until 4 weeks or so, even if the cat is a pedigree that's been to stud.

I think watching a litter grow up would be pretty fun

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It is - if it all goes well.  One litter I fostered died one by one during their first 10 days.  Another had some sort of flu virus and got will with the stress of going to their new homes.  Several of them died to everyone's distress.

You can have the fun, as I did, by fostering rather than letting your own cat get pregnant.

I just don't like going through vets and spending all that money on spaying or nuetering

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I fostered a pregnant queen for a friend in Augus 2011 who had five healhy and delightful kittens.  It cost me just over £20 in cat litter (I brought 4 massive bags on the Internet that just about got me through), and an average of £3 per day for food - lactating cats and newly weaned kittens eat a huge amount.  Total - about £250, plus the cost of a bottle of Panacur to worm them all - £12 I think.  It also took a lot of time and effort once they started toddling, and there was no way I could go away while I had her.

I have no idea what your vet charges for spaying but mine charge about £50.  If she had needede a c-section that would have been a minimum of £300, with no reduction in the care costs unless some or all of the kittens died.  My vets are exceptionally good value, a friend's vet charges at least half as much again for a C-Section.

I also have two 4 month old(ish) kittens that my cat found (yes they literally followed her home from somewhere) last fall around october some time.

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They could get pregnant any time from 4 months onwards.  Please keep them in until you get them spayed, and don't delay.

I sorry you think we are rude for explaining the truth.  It's not at all nice that cats and kittens get pts every day for not having a home, but that's the reality of it and that's why it's a shame you didn't get your girl neutered some time ago.

No-one has said you are an awful pet owner, but one who didn't know a lot of the facts about the unwanted cats and kittens, the costs of raising a litter, and how quickly and easily female cats get pregnant.

But now you know.  It's what you do with the knowledge, now you have it, that determines if you really are awful.

No one is an awful pet owner who wants to do the best they can for their pet. And you obviously do. But we do get upset sometimes seeing the huge number of kittens and cats who have to be put to sleep every day because catsgot accidentally pregnant. Sadly, the world is full of 'unwanted' kittens in shelters or running round the streets. Yes,it is wonderful watching kittens being being born and learning about the world, but even if you as a responsible person manage to find good homes for your kittens, every one in its turn deprives another kitten of a loving family. So that is why we say please spay and neuter, and if you want to enjoy having young kittens in your home, then foster or adopt an already pregnant cat - the shelters are fiull of them. The thing is that one cat and its kittens mean a lot to you, but we see it from a world-wide perspective and many of us are involved in kitten rescue and looking after strays and ferals that have no chance of a home. So see it our way, we do not mean to be rude, and I apologise if you took it that way.

As for helping you with any advice for your cat if she is indeed pregnant, then of course we will offer it. And I shall move this thread to the Pregnant Cats and Kittens Forum where you will be likely to receive answers to any practical questions you may have.

Sometimes people don't know important things, and they don't even know that there are important things to learn. This is just one of those situations. A person doesn't really learn about cat overpopulation or feline reproduction unless they specifically go out to research them, or at least come across information while researching cats in general. If a person wasn't the type to do that--if they just fed the cat and took it to the vet to get shots, and figured that was all there is to it--then they might not know.

The reaction to someone not knowing can be very emotional because people at TCS are often animal rescue workers or volunteers. We've worried about a sick feral, watched kittens die, visited a shelter to adopt knowing that half the cats we left behind would be put to sleep because there simply weren't enough humans to go around. We've visited overcrowded no-kill shelters, so full that there are waiting lists to go in, with ten cats to a closet-sized room. We've seen the problem firsthand and often times it's so obvious to us that we don't remember that some people really honestly don't know it even exists.

Once you know, you can act on the information. Spaying a cat will save you money and prevent there from being kittens adding to the overpopulation problem, so it's good for you and for your cat.

OP, I hope you understand where we're coming from, and that this honestly isn't meant to insult you. It's just a little hard to remember that other people are only human and can't act on what they don't know, when we have fresh in our mind the knowledge of how much cats are suffering because there are too many of them. It's a matter of perspective... what's obvious to an experienced shelter volunteer is often something that the average person hasn't even thought of. Nobody can know everything.

Here's my advice, then, for the near future: You have three cats to get fixed and the low-cost spay/neuter clinic is still a ways away. So what you should do is probably to just keep them inside until then, and keep male and female cats separated. You don't know if she's pregnant--maybe, maybe not--but either way, you will want her inside; besides, it's the dead of winter and she probably wouldn't mind being kept in very much, what with how cold it is out there.

A vet can tell whether she's pregnant and can tell you whether spaying her would be safe. If it's not, then unfortunately you'll have the expense of kittens on your hands, but what's done is done and you can't beat yourself up over it. If she is pregnant, she can be spayed after the kittens come, by which time hopefully your male cats will have been neutered long enough not to get her pregnant again before she can be spayed. Then there'll be the issue of the kittens--see if a vet in your area will do a pediatric spay/neuter on the kittens; the only tricky bit is really the anesthesia, which requires the kittens to weigh two pounds at least before they get done. But cross that bridge when you come to it; probably best to just ask about it when they go in for their first set of kitten shots.

Hope things work out for you, and that you're not flooded with cats!

Vet has confirmed is is a false pregnancy, took her in yesterday he felt her and couldn't feel anything, then did an ultrasound, no kittens.

He said there was nothing to do and it would desolve on it's own in a couple weeks, he said there's a chance she *did* mate but didn't get pregnant but her body tricked herself, or something *shrugs*

I'm kinda dispointed actually, my 4 year old niece was looking forward to seeing the babies.

Well at least you know! I understand how it can be - something you think is going to happen suddenly doesn't, and even if there is a downside to it you can feel let down. And I especially sympathise with your niece. I assume the vet found that she was not spayed - I do hope that you can get her fixed soon. But now that you have thought about the idea of having kittens, why not apply to the local shelter to foster a pregnant cat - if they haven't got one now, they certainly will in a few weeks, when kitten season starts in earnest. You would really be doing a good thing all round. And the little girl can help look after them.

That's great news! I can see that it would be disappointing, but it's still a lucky thing for your cat and your budget. Spaying her will probably prevent further false pregnancies (as well as real ones).

Ditto on the fostering idea. If your cat is the maternal sort, she may well help the foster momcat take care of the new kittens when they arrive; some cats do that. Being spayed doesn't seem to affect a female cat's "mother instincts", and quite a few spayed females (and a few males) have taken on orphaned kittens and kept them warm while a human fed them. And you would have help finding homes for the kittens, too, because you would be working with a shelter or rescue.

Excellent news she's not pregnant.  Did the vet say when she can be spayed? 

Wildside said:

I also have two 4 month old(ish) kittens that my cat found (yes they literally followed her home from somewhere) last fall around october some time.

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Until you can get your girl spayed I would also take extra precautions and keep her separate from the kittens. At 4 months they are old enough to reach sexual maturity. Keeping her indoors won't matter if she gets pregnant by one of them!

I'm sorry that your family was looking forward to kittens and that it was a false pregnancy. I do however agree with everyone else that you sound well suited for the world of fostering. You have already shown an interest in rescue work by bringing in the two stray kittens. Fostering is wonderful because you get all the enjoyment of having kittens while still helping an amazing cause. There are not nearly enough kitten fosters in the world- you can save an untold number of lives by socializing them and increasing their chances of adoption! 

Just something to think about when you are ready. 

She is still in schedule to be spayed at the end of the month, the two kittens are going in as well to be done before I re-home them.

I don't think I have to worry about them being interested in mating before then, their bits are still small.

I actually did work at the local shelter for some 4 years when my aunt ran it before the changing of the management and the whole system went to crap, being rural though we never saw a lot of cats come in, tons of dogs though but that's because people would drop their dogs off right outside or hunters would constantly lose their hounds. but in four years of working at the shelter we got maybe 2 dozen cats, over half of them were feral barn cats from the farms around here.