Possible pregnant cat. Any ideas?

snipersmommy90

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Hello everyone. I currently live on post (husband is Army) and we have a ton of cats running around. Some are pets who got out and I'm pretty sure others were left behind. Anyways I set up 2 traps and caught 2 cats. Both female. Posted them on our spouses page and one cat was claimed. They had missing posters for her everywhere. The other cat was not. I took her to the vet to have her tested for FIV and FELV, to recieve vaccinations and to set up her appt to be spayed. That was 4 weeks ago. Today while I was holding her, I noticed that she has put on quite a bit of weight, possibly because give her plenty of wet and dry food and fresh water. However she isn't gaining weight all over. Just in her midsection. Her nipples have gotten larger and are slightly pink. From the top, her belly sticks out a but on either side. Her tummy also swoops down a little bit. She has not had a heat since being with us. I know for sure she has not had access to my male cat (he is a TICA reg F5 Savannah stud which is why he isn't fixed however we are extremely careful with him). We have her in our cat room for about half the day and then when my husband gets home, we switch them and the litter boxes and he will go in the cat room and she will get to roam the house. We hold them during the switch.
She is eating small amounts frequently and likes to just lay down and rest for the most part although she does have short burst of energy and will chase the cat teaser for about 5 min. Her belly has just become noticeable this last week. I trapped her on May 13th.
Does she seem to be pregnant or am I just losing it? I wanted to post a few photos of her for you all to see but I can't figure out how. If she is actually preg, about how far do you think she would be? My guess was maybe 5-6 weeks. Anyways any input would be appreciated. I will continue to try and figure out how to post pictures. She has an appt to be spayed in 3 weeks. I'm going to call and see if they can give her a checkup hopefully sometime this coming week.
 

StefanZ

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She sounds to be preg, perhaps 4 weeks.  The tits get rosy (raspberry-colored) at about 3 weeks, alhough they get noticeably thicker first after that.

She either were pregnant when you got her, OR she come into a quiet heat with a fully fertile stud near, and managed to sneak out á la Houdini. (OR to him).  10 minutes is more than enough with an experienced stud and a willing female...

If you arent anxious to have this litter, I would say an immediate spay is still fully possible. In 3 weeks it is definitely too late, it would be ethically unpleasant.

If you dont want to spay / abort, there is no big hurry. They come when they come.   :)

I suppose the wet did deworming?  If not, do so.

Tx a lot for caring!

   Good luck!

 Welcome to our Forums!
 
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snipersmommy90

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Thank you for your response StefanZ. I believe she was pregnant when I trapped her. We have had quite and issue with cats not being microchipped than they get loose and its hard to find the owners. My neighbor thinks this little girl was the one she shoo'd off when it was mating on her back porch. She complained to housing the same day which she said was the 9th on May however thee is probably more than one black cat in the area so it's not 100% that is was this little gal. My vet says they can get her in on Wednesday for a check up. I'm quite worried about her being pregnant as she recieved shots on her first visit and she would have already been pregnant by then
 

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I'm quite worried about her being pregnant as she recieved shots on her first visit and she would have already been pregnant by then
Yet another reason to spay now.

Vaccining with killed off vacc stuff isnt as dangerous for fetuses as vaccining with alive vaccine,

so the danger depends partly on what sort of vaccine she got.

Rabies is killed off I think.

Good luck!
 
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snipersmommy90

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I'm not 100% sure what vaccines she got as I don't have the bill in front of me right now but our vet says they don't do spay/abort so I would have to search for a diff one if it comes down to it. I will be taking her back in on Wednesday though. I really believe she is someone's kitty. She's too friendly to have been a stray very long.
 

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our vet says they don't do spay/abort so I would have to search for a diff one if it comes down to it. I will be taking her back in on Wednesday though.
This is not only an ethical declaration (or possibly a way to avoid criticism by anti abort folks). But it also means they dont have experience in such spaying - or possibly even, arent first rate surgeons.

So yes, if you want to go forward with spay/abort, look after someone more experienced in surgery.  :)

But do go for the check up on wednesday, to have all the forework done.  How is it, I understand this military vet is free for you?
 
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snipersmommy90

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No the Vet here on post isn't free. They don't cost as much as some private vet/animal hospitals but they aren't exactly cheap like low cost clinics either. I think we pay on average about 15% less than we would off post. Our vet is just really particular about not performing a spay while the cat is in heat and not performing spay/abort and from what I've heard that's pretty typical at vet clinics on other posts. Most people I've talked to go to this one vet for spay/abort that has locations pretty much everywhere. I would have preferred to stay with my vet though since I've been going to them for 2 years and know them well at this point.
 
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snipersmommy90

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My vet asked me to watch a video of the spaying of a pregnant cat before I decide anything. I haven't yet made a decision as I would like to do my research and talk to my husband about it.
 

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Well, of course, spay/abort is quite unpleasant, more so the farther they are along :/. But then, what happens to kittens who do not find homes, or find the wrong sort of home and are dumped later in life, is even more unpleasant :(. Personally, I don't think I could do a spay/abort if she's more than halfway along. But I usually end up keeping the kittens. . .:tongue2:. If that's not a possibility (because it is really hard to find good homes!), you need to think very hard about your options.

I'm actually surprised that a base vet is so adamant about it. I always found base vets to be, hmm, brusque? Not particularly sentimental. But I was on an overseas base and the vet only came once a month, so there was a long list for spays---if the cat didn't get spayed when her name came up on the list, pregnant or not, it probably wasn't ever going to happen!
 
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snipersmommy90

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On post vets are pretty hit or miss. Some really do care and take their time with your pet like the one we have here. Others just try to get you in and out as quick as possible. Ours is on post just about a 10 min drive from me.(Speed limit here is 15 in res and 25 elsewhere) and they are open 6 days a week and IMO do a great job. I guess it's diff overseas :( . I will be going into the vet on wed and from there we'll decide what to do. My husband doesn't want to spay/abort but he also won't be the one caring for momma and babies and finding responsible homes. However if she does have a litter, I can assure you that babies will be fixed before they are rehomed.
 
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snipersmommy90

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So momma cat had her apptlast week and vet couldnt tell how far along she was through palpation or ultrasound. Today we went back for another appt and after the ultrasound the vet put her at 6 weeks and said we should be expecting 5 kittens.
Shes been warming up to me a bit. She still wont let me pick her up but she'll come up to me and rub her head against me. Also sometimes if im lucky, she will come and lay next to me on the couch. Today i got to scratch her head quite a bit and feel her tummy before she decided she'd had enough and batted my hand away (scratching me in the process lol). I could have swore i felt just 1 kitten move. It was very soft and easy to miss between her breathing and purring but i felt it multiple times so i know it was a kitten. In other places i just felt something that felt like little tiny bubbles popping. Alot of them though. Could that be the other kittens? Or is it just gas? She hasnt been farting or anything. I dont really feel her stomach or press on it, i just gently lay my hand on top of it or scratch lighy is she wants me to.
I know as it gets closer to her birth im going to be asking a ton more questions since im usually the person witnessing matings with my Savannah stud. Ive never witnessed a birth.
We do have the number for an after hours emergency animal hospital incase anything goes wrong.
 
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