stunted cat safety

rawrmonster

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The tabby it's tiny, she's being held by our other girl jaws who is 8/9 months. She's about 6 months old or so and starting to go into hear. We rescued her 5 months ago and she's starting to go into heat. We wanted to have a litter, but we're worried her stunted growth may cause problems. Do you guys know anything about this?
 
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ritz

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Welcome aboard, and what adorable kitties!

Do you know why her growth was stunted?  Malnutrition/abuse before you got her, genetics, medical problem?

Why do you want her to have a litter?  There is no medical reason for her to have a litter.  And lots of reasons -- medical and ethical -- for her not to have kittens. What does your vet say?
 
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rawrmonster

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She was starving and on the verge of death when we rescued her. So we think it was just because of malnutrition. We haven't been able to afford to take her to the vet, but we have gotten the vet approved dewormer for her. But she doesn't seem to be too too small for her age.
 

vball91

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Have you thought about the fact that she may have complications during pregnancy? What if she needs an emergency c-section? If you can't afford to take her to the vet now, how are you going to deal with pregnancy care and any issues that might come up with the kittens? If you read through the pregnancy threads, you can see that problems are not uncommon. Just wondering if you've thought through the possible consequences of trying to have a litter from her.
 

ritz

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I agree with vball91.  Routine care is expensive enough, but complications from pregnancy can get really expensive.  Spaying is much cheaper; there are low-cost/sliding scale spay and neuter clinics in most counties.

And the more cycles in heat she experiences, the more prone she is to developing certain types of cancers.

If your cat is underweight or malnourished/deficient in nutrients (through no fault of your own), then pregnancy will be much harder on your cat and the fetuses she is carrying; in human terms, think of a new born baby who weighs just one pound.  The mother cat and/or newborn babies could die.
 
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rawrmonster

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I have thought about complications. That's why I was worried. We're just waiting for her to go out of heat.
 

Willowy

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Considering you help ferals, I'd think you'd be painfully aware of the horrible cat overpopulation problem :/. Why add more to the crushing number of cats and kittens needing homes? Let a cat whose life is in danger find a home instead. Besides the fact that you don't know her genetic background or how her health has been impacted by her early problems. And if you can't afford a vet visit now, could you afford an emergency c-section or other medical intervention? l hope you have her spayed ASAP.

She doesn't look terribly small to me. How much does she weigh?
 
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rawrmonster

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Considering you help ferals, I'd think you'd be painfully aware of the horrible cat overpopulation problem :/. Why add more to the crushing number of cats and kittens needing homes? Let a cat whose life is in danger find a home instead. Besides the fact that you don't know her genetic background or how her health has been impacted by her early problems. And if you can't afford a vet visit now, could you afford an emergency c-section or other medical intervention? l hope you have her spayed ASAP.

She doesn't look terribly small to me. How much does she weigh?
With Her little Buddha belly she's about 8 lbs. Give or take. My bf weighed them last week.
 
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rawrmonster

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(I don't really trust my bfs job at weighing them. So she's probably a few pounds lighter.) She's just shorter than our other cat her age. They're both ferals too.
 
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