Will a lactating queen pink up?

I adopted a young female cat one week ago. She had kittens 6 weeks before I adopted her and was lactating when she moved in with me. Since then she has been eating a lot and has noticeably put on weight -- she looks wider and is heavier and harder to pick up. She got pregnant with her previous litter because at least one tom cat shared her prior home. Given her rapid weight gain I'm wondering if she's pregnant again. How likely is she to have gotten pregnant while nursing given that she continued to live with the tom(s)? If she is pregnant would she still pink up even though she has been nursing until recently? (Her milk appears to be drying up slowly -- would this happen if she was with kittens?) I took her to the vet and he couldn't feel anything, but said it may be too early to tell.

Yes, its fully possible she is pregnant, even probable.  Nursing and lactacing does not protect them against new pregnancy, unlike humans.   And they may come into new heat a tenday after birth..   As there were toms around, she would surely come into heat..

Really, I would recommend you to spay her now, even if it means abortion.   IF there are foetuses, they wont be able to survive until a couple of days to the expected delivery - again, unlike humans.

Good luck!

Ok, thanks for the information. This is my first cat, so I am new to things (though I've been reading a lot). It didn't occur to me that she might already be pregnant when I adopted her. I've been watching her mammaries for mastitis; I don't see any pinking of the nipples, which is why I asked about that. Her nipples are long, but I guess that could just be from nursing. I certainly plan to have her spayed but am not sure I can stomach doing it while she could be pregnant -- I understand the reasons but will have to think about it. (I live near the top of a highrise with no balcony so if she's not pregnant the chances of her getting out prior to spaying are nil.) In the meantime I've got her on high-protein cat/kitten food. She seems to be getting more active (pouncing on feet last night) rather than lazier so I guess that might be a good sign.

Well as of this morning I've heard several yowls and she's rolling around, meowing a lot, and dashing up and down the hall, so I think she's actually going into heat.   

Looks like no kittens! Phew! As soon as her heat is over she'll be spayed.

Thanks.

Oh that is good news.
I would hate to think of her being pregnant and having to go though the pregnancy and raising kittens again so soon after her last litter. Without any sort of real break to get back into healthy body condition.

Good luck with her being in heat - just remember it only lasts a week to 10 days, even though when she is shouting at 3am for the six day in a row and keeping everyone awake it will seem like it's been going on forever lol :lol3:

Thanks GemsGem! I'm also glad she's not pregnant and I don't have to make any difficult decisions.  I guess she put on weight fast because she was underfed (light as a feather when she arrived). She's only yowled a bit, but was sticking her butt in the air and treading this afternoon, so it's definitely heat. She was also rolling around on her back on a chair and fell off...lol! I'm hoping this heat doesn't last too long or get too much worse.  If so I have ear plugs.