Stray showed up - preggo or nursing?

Hi all, I'm new to the site. I have five indoor/outdoor cats that live permanently on our farm, and I keep food out to feed stray cats as well. We live way out in the sticks, so although the strays in our neck of the woods have access to mice and such, I'm sure its hard for them to come by a solid meal. This morning, a small tortoise shell/tabby girl showed up to dine on some cat food. She has quite the appetite! She is very friendly, and affectionate. While petting her, I noticed that her nipples are large, and pink. And the hair around them has been licked off. Her belly is a little big, though not huge, and firm to the touch. All signs point to her being pregnant, so I brought her inside, planning to adopt her and help her take care of her babies. All of my cats are fixed, so I've never dealt with a pregnant cat. I started thinking, maybe she's pregnant, but is there a possibility that she's just had kittens and is nursing them (the hair being licked off around the nips)? She hasn't been trying to get out of the house at all. No pawing at doors, windows, or meowing, but seems very content to nap quietly on the kitchen counter. What do you guys think? I want to give her a great home, but I also don't want to keep her from nursing kittens if she has them. 

Here is a picture of her. 

Welcome to the cat site!!

It sounds as she IS currently nursing, or has been very recently.

She can also be prego again, which is common, momma's will go into heat when her kits are about 4 weeks old or so.

The fur gone around the nipples is the best indicator that she is currently nursing, the babies sort of wear it off from nursing.

However it's odd for her to stay away from them if they are dependent on her for food. Moms know these things. Once she ate and was full, she would go right back to them.

Perhaps they are bigger kits who are fine on their own too, hard to know for sure.

I would make sure she has free access to leave at anytime, and keep an eye on what she does then.

Thank you, catwoman707! I took her outside. She sat on the porch with me, so I petted her for a bit, and when I went back inside, she wanted back in, too. Not sure what to do at this point. 

Well, just know that if she had kittens who still needed her she would not simply abandon them, so she must be done.

Very well could be early prego again though....

I have a feeling after looking at her pic again that she is done nursing, just still working on getting her girlish figure back

It takes a while for their nipples to go back to normal, the fur regrown as well.

She needs to be spayed asap.

She is apparently a home girl, thus she got dumped.    Her ex owner may have dumped her but killed the kittens, or any evil combination of the dumping...   High pregs often try to please themselves in, even if they are otherwise shy, but she is too friendly.  She must be a home girl and dumped recently.

Proceed as you do, help her but leave her possibility to go out to her kittens, IF they are out there.

Another possibility is she has a small litter, and is still preg...  And this you will see with time if it is so.

And plan on vet visit and spaying.   If it is possible, the optimal is you go to vet now.  This way you will get know surely if she happens to be preg, but not visibly - perhaps a small litter.   Does she lets you palpate her tummy?  If you are used to this, you can yourself get some  ideas if there is something...  If the kittens are moving, then you KNOW.  

I mean, when high preg, they themselves lick off the fur around the nipples, so if you arent experienced in this, it may be difficult to know which is because she herself cleansed her nipples, and which are the babies.

Her tummy doestn looks preg, but if she has a small litter...

Tortoise + tabby is often called for Torbie, btw.

Tx for caring!

Good luck!

Yeah like I said, her tummy isn't huge, but its a little bigger and more firm than our other cats. So if she is preggo, maybe its really early on, or she just has a couple in there like you said, StefanZ. It seems as though she has come into milk as of this morning. Her nipples were swollen yesterday morning, but now the whole area around each of them seems 'full'. I put her outside several times to see if she would leave, left her alone even. She wandered around the yard, went down to the pond and got a sip of water, watched the ducks swim, and came back to the porch. I even walked her down to the end of the driveway (where she came from when she randomly showed up yesterday morning), and she followed me right back up it., and back to the house. Is it possible for her to be getting milk already for her (potential) unborn kittens, or is that something ONLY happens when they have kittens and are actually nursing? I am so confused. Thanks for your input, everyone!

A stray showed up at our farm two days ago. At first I thought she was just pregnant, but now its apparent that she has kittens somewhere as well. I've been watching her, trying to figure out where she has them hidden and so far, no luck. She's a very friendly girl, and we'd like to adopt her, and eventually get her current, and future kittens (I still think she's currently preggo) spayed/neutered and find them good homes. We live way out in the sticks, with not many neighbors around. Is it possible that she has them somewhere in the woods or would she travel a good distance to find a barn or shed? I don't know how far away nursing cats will travel from their kittens to get food. She only leaves our porch to nurse them maybe twice a day, so I don't know what that means about their age, maybe they're almost weaned? Anyway, I'd like to get her current kittens to our house so that she'll have her next litter in the safety of our home. So I guess what I'm asking is, once her current kittens are weaned (hopefully soon), will they follow her to our house to get food?

Yes, probably it will be so.  she will bring them to you, her feeding place and the friendly people there.  They do it usually somewhere at 6-8 weeks...

In a couple of days, when she is more used to you and your friendliness, you can try and follow her, sweetly and friendly talking the whole.  with a little luck she may perhaps lead you to them.  Several of our forumists managed with this...   And if the kittens are small, collect them in a carrier, and carry them back home, mom following.

Its no fire sure plan, but with a little luck.   May succeed, especielly as you tell she is very friendly to you.

And if you succeed, you have won everything. Kittens young enough for easy socializing.   Mom inside - you can choose to spay/abort, or to let her deliver safely this second litter at your place, etc, etc...

Good luck!