Rescue kitty - possible pregnant??

Hi everyone! I am new here and enjoying browsing around a bit. This is an awesome site! I have two kitties, Azura and Melita and love them to death! A little over a week my mom and I took in a rescue kitty and I am looking for some advice.

Here's a bit of history. Our neighbour had a ton of barn cats. She moved recently and asked me if I would continue to put out some food for her cats once a week or so (she pays for the food). She used to have like 15 cats and kittens, but I found homes for most of them. However there were still three that were very wild and uncatchable. She wanted them left there as mousers.

I was on holidays, so my mom went to feed them a week ago. She went to top up the food and saw the little black cat lying in the snow. She is around a year and a half we figure but is very, very small. She wasn't moving and Mom thought she had died. However the kitty meowed and the cat's back legs were frozen to the snow (it was really cold that day). And her eyes were glued shut with yellow infection.

Mom brought her home and started caring for her. I got back two days later and started helping. We have her eyes on the mend with charcoal water and she is looking WAY better. One of her ears froze though, and the top half is falling off, so that is really sad. She has mites too and I have been cleaning them out and using either hydrogen peroxide or oil to kill the mites. I may just have to get meds from the vet for her mites though. It was so gunked up in there that it took me a half hour or more to completely clean out each ear.

We also are thinking she may be possibly pregnant. Keep in mind I know NOTHING about pregnant cats! I do a little kitten rescue, spring through fall taking in unwanted kittens and then rehoming them (took in 20 just last fall), but I have not had experience with pregnant cats. Her belly does seem large to me, although her nipples are not swollen at all. When I rubbed her belly she rolled over and started purring which was highly unusual as she is still a little wild and growls at us occasionally still. I am attaching some pictures of her and also of her nipples. Just interesting if you guys have any ideas if she might be pregnant from the photos.

My boyfriend helped me name her. We are calling her Muffin - Muffy for short. I am hoping to take her to the vet on Wednesday to get an answer, but I am just interested if anyone on here has any ideas or advice. Also, does anyone know roughly what a vet would charge to determine if she is pregnant or not? I don't have a ton of money, and if I would find out in a few weeks anyways I might be better off just treating her like she is pregnant for a while, with a higher quality food etc. She does I'm sure need to be dewormed though and I read it isn't safe during pregnancy. Any advice you guys could give would be much appreciated!

It's so nice that you're taking care of the poor girl!

This time of year, probably she is pregnant. But if she was sick, possibly that would have kept her from going into heat. So I'd say about a 50/50 chance. I'd treat her like she is, though, just in case. There are some de-wormers that are safe for pregnant cats, ask your vet about it.

I am sure a vet will be able to tell if she is pregnant with just an exam depending how far along she is. They might suggest x-rays to determine how many, size, and how far along she is.  Unless there is a problem or a possibility of a problem, that is not necessary.  I would spend the money for vaccines and medicine as that is what is needed.  Explain to the vet about what you can afford and what you are expecting for treatment so you and your vet can work together for the best possible outcome for Muffin.

I can guarantee, she is pregnant!

She needs a vet asap.

This is not a feral cat, she has had some people socializing at some point in her life, definitely. The longer a cat is homeless, the less social they become, fearing people, but in time you will see, she will calm down and learn to trust. Meanwhile, don't think for a second that she isn't grateful to you for helping her.

You and your mom have saved her little life, thank you so very much for helping her.

Now, vet visit, she needs a deworming, an fvrcp vaccine, terramycin for her eyes, earmite med, her ear tip should be removed, and a spay.

This is not cheap, but there ARE vets out there who do what they do for the love and compassion they have for animals, and will cut big breaks for you, and/or allow pmts. Some will even treat a stray/homeless cat for their costs. No office visit, no price gouging, just what it costs them, which is waaay less than you can even believe.

Sometimes shelters and/or humane society/spca's will tell you the vet they use, which means the same cheaper costs as we rescue groups get.

Or if you can find a rescue group around who will help, this is best. It's what we do. Us rescue groups have our own meds, vets we work with who give us great discounted costs, and so on.

Non profit rescues are not looking for profit in helping, we do this because we have an enormous amt of compassion for the animals. Call around.

For instance, if you were to call my msg phone or send an email to me asking for help with this cat, it would go like this.

You would bring cat to me, I would examine, use earwash and earmite med (Ivermectin and mineral oil mix) deworm with pyrantel, put terramycin in her eyes and give you the rest of the tube, give flea med, and get her an appt on my spay/neuter runs I have weekly at our cost.

The vet would give the fvrcp vax, and spay/abort if prego. His cost-$40.00, cost for what I did-$15.00

Now, some people won't abort. I understand this quite well, as years ago I wouldn't even think of doing it. But years later, all the things I see, all the unwanted kittens born, and then killed, up to 65 per day during kitten season, JUST at the shelter nearest me where I am constantly trying to save them, as much as possible.

I have since seen the light, believe me! However, it takes getting where I am now to be able to abort, NOT that I ever will stop feeling grief, every single time I have to. It still always makes me cry.

So there is help out there, while most vets won't do this, there are some who will. It will suprise you when you find which one that will, and know then that it's not always about the money.

Try finding help with a rescue group first. Or find the vet that the shelters/humane societies/spca's use.

Good luck! Thank so much for taking care of this poor soul. She deserves to live, and be loved, and belong, have a name, food, a safe place in this world.

Thank-you so much for all the advice! Muffin has sort of been around people before, as our neighbour has always fed them. So she is used to seeing people occasionally, but has never been handled to my knowledge. She is taming up wonderfully though! I do think that animals that are rescued are usually more affectionate as they are pretty grateful. My cat Melita was another rescue - had a huge gash in her chest when we found her and was terribly thin, had mites etc. She is our most loving cat!

Yes, I am afraid that she is pregnant. I would like it confirmed by the vet though, and then I can get her on a special food if need be. She needs all the help she can get! I understand the reason behind spaying even if they are pregnant, but I really don't think I could do it. Especially if she was farther along. I have found good homes for over 20 kittens last fall that people gave to me as they didn't want them. So, if she is pregnant I will make sure that I keep her and the kittens until I can find loving, responsible homes for all of them. And then she would definitely need to be spayed!!

Do cat's nipples always swell/get pink in early pregnancy? Because her's don't seem to be enlarged at all. Maybe that is more common for first time mothers - I don't know.

Since today is a holiday I can't get a hold of any vets. Tomorrow or Wednesday I will for sure be able to though! Most of the ear tip has fallen off, but if the rest doesn't then I should have them remove it. She definitely needs a lot of things done for her, poor thing. But I have treated enough eye infections and mites that at least I know what to do in the meantime.

That is a great idea on looking into a rescue group. It is not like I don't want to spend money on her, I just can't really afford too much right now! This was rather unexpected! I will call around to the vets in the area and some rescue groups and see what I can find out.

Thanks again for all the help!

You're very welcome, I hope I was some help at least

In answers to your questions, no, their nipples do not always look enlarged or get pink, My very last prego cat here was huge, like every day I thought, it's got to be today, she is HUGE! Her nipples never changed until she delivered. Had plenty of milk too, fed 7 babes

Seems sometimes they do, sometimes they don't.

She allowed you to rub her belly, she is clearly not a true feral, and has had contact in her life, at some time.

She is fat, so unless she has been generously well fed for many months, she is prego.

We all understand not readily being able to spend hundreds on a suprise stary cat, believe me! Nothing to hold back around here that's for sure

Sounds like you have the right idea, let her have her babes, adopt them out and fix her butt, while getting well and healthy again.