Tragedy/ did post previously

I had posted a couple weeks ago or so about a I thought 6 month old kitten had found me and in heat!!! Everyone said take her in so I did and she is the cutest kitty. Everyone was afraid with her being in heat she'd get pregnant she was very clean no fleas or ticks and extremely friendly. Well I had her spayed yesterday and when I went to pick her up they said she was pregnant almost 40 days or more. I almost past out. I have had cats my whole life. She was very thin and yet the Vet said she was about a year old on top of that. I found that shocking as she is so little no tartar on her teeth and seems not all her teeth are in.  What I do not get is how a cat can still be in heat with that crouching position and be pregnant?? They took the babies and I am so upset for the cat "they took her kids". I can cry just thinking of it. Its like a human abortion. BUT!! I suppose they had to. Do cats know their kids are gone?? This is a tough pill to swallow. But she would have had these kittens in the wild if she could not find a home before me and the coyotes, bobcats, foxes and whatever else is around here would have gotten to them. I love this cat and hopefully she'll find solace with her new brothers that are here in the house(my older cats).

Hi there .. Bless you for taking this little girl into your home. It is very unfortunate that this kitty was found to be pregnant when they spayed her, but fortunately the spaying went well, which is something to be grateful for. The vet could have contacted you, to ask what you wanted to do, but then the decision becomes, do you keep the kittens or find homes? You shouldn't blame yourself here at all. You did the right thing, that the person before you, failed to do, which is to have this kitty spayed. Here is an article that addresses rescued cats and the issue of spaying when pregnant. You may find this helpful : http://cats.about.com/od/spayneuter/i/spaypregnantcat.htm

Wishing you and this kitty many hours of happiness together ...

One of the ferals my neighbor and I trapped and spayed last summer was pregnant. She was only four and a half months old, too young to be having kittens to begin with! One of the consent forms I signed previous to the surgery asked for permission to abort the fetus in the event that the cat was pregnant, and I gave consent. I'm surprised you weren't given a similar consent form to sign, and that this wasn't discussed with you? My neighbor took in the feral after the surgery and eventually socialized her. It was hard to tell if the cat was depressed over having her pregnancy terminated because so many other factors were at play-- spay surgery is always painful to recover from, and she was also having to adjust to everything in her life changing from being an outdoor feral to being inside around people and other cats. I felt badly for her, but it's a year later, and she's happy with her life now, so I think we did the right thing. My neighbor and I took in 5 feral kittens that summer and I don't think we could have handled more. These decisions are never easy. If your cat was very thin while pregnant, chances are that she may have miscarried or not have been able to care for the kittens once they were born. Malnourished cats have a very hard time surviving on their own, let alone caring for a litter of kittens. You gave her an enormous gift by taking her in and spaying her, and once she fully recovers, she will be very happy with her new life with you.

batrice said:

 
  What I do not get is how a cat can still be in heat with that crouching position and be pregnant??

They took the babies and I am so upset for the cat "they took her kids".

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1. Oh, they can get into heat although already pregnant. Some forumists do witness this now and then.  Also, its not unique they do have two different litters several weeks apart, both litters healthy.

There are knowleable breeders who assure you they havent never heard about this, nor any of my breeder friends. But. This happens seldom with breeders, as they  have disciline on their matings, but its not unique with moggies.   One of my ex-neigbours has a cat from such a second litter.   It is vivid in her memory, because the farmer "pts" the first litter, as is common with farmers,  but when this second litter come three weeks later, he had no conscience nor guts  to make away the second litter too.

2.  In your main question.  Abort isnt pleasant.   A  calming though is, its not as bad as with humans.   A human baby could survive if delivered at this point, at 6 months of pregnancy.   But not so kittens.  More than 2-3 days premature and its practically hopeless, even if  delivered alive and the caretaker fighs on with everything she has and with full support of her vet...   So the window to perhaps survive if premature delivered (perhaps by cesarean) is maximum 3 days.

Also, I dont think the cat mom suffers here as much. Unlike the human mom, she doesnt has the whole picture.  She do sorrow and misses her delivered kittens deeply, yes she does.   Possibly also aborted very late - as she is certainly aware she is high preg and often seeks help from humans if homeless. Even  semiferales do accept help if taken and given help.   The welfare of their children is more important for them than "freedom" - exactly like human moms.

But. I dont think they are conscious on having babies to be, while earlier in pregnancy.  Difficult to know for sure, but I dont think so, and I didnt had seen any proof or witnesses from our forumists or other sources.

What is, is they are down because of the spaying.  And if freshly intaken semiferales, they are of course not themselves because of it too, not only because of the spaying  (semiferales usually heal easily and quickly).

All in all.   You DID had an unpleasant twist here.  A twist you werent prepared for.  But really.  Everything went as well it could. The surgery apparently successfull, no health problems. 

Surgery is never totally riskfree!   The soviet grandmaster Leonid Stein, the next World Champion in Chess to be, died after an operation on his big toe...  A spaying is a quite more complication surgery than some operation on somebodys big toe.

So this .is really a very very very happy saga!!!

Tx a lot for helping this girl!

Good luck!

It was TOTALLY unexpected and someone let this precious cat out. She loves the Air Conditioning/ water/ and it seems it was someones cat. She came to me knowing I was a cat lover and we connected immediately. She adored me and i guess (if she knew she was pregnant) thought she found a good home in me. Perhaps her heat looking symptoms were from her pregnancy, being extremely affectionate and with her rear end up as if in heat. Who knows. She was someones cat I put up flyers and flyers. She had no fleas or ticks and was definitely an owned cat. I have a feral which took me two months to rescue and now he's a great guy. This cat is very special and I love her . It was an unexpected turn but I believe the vet did the right thing it was early but there were seven of them. Personally I had a similar experience so I feel her pain whether she does or not. I will give her all my love. She still is very tired and is sleeping near me now. Sometimes in life things  happen but everything in my life is so bad now nothing surprises me.

Hi Batrice

I totally sympathize on the shock of having unknown kittens aborted, I went through the same thing with my adopted feral Patience, the difference being, as others noted, that the spay/neuter clinic asks you ahead of time about this in the event of pregnancy  and you need to sign off agreement to abortion. But I do think we worry here more than the potential mother cat does. I've heard of cats who are pregnant pining for their unborn kittens, but  as SefanZ (who is very experienced) says, this is not normally the case, and I did not experience this with Patience, she was just happy to have a home.  Perhaps selfishly I was glad not to have another batch of kittens to find homes for and/or fosters, but for her health's sake (given that she had just weaned one batch) I do believe it was best for he not to have another litter so soon.. Like your girl she was young, probably too young.     You did the best for her, and although it is a shame your vet did not ask for prior consent to abort, it's almost certainly for the best.  A girl that young could have had all sorts of birthing and raising problems, but now you have her as your own cat without those worries. Remember that cats are, for all their wonderful qualities, cats not humans, they don't struggle with moral issues.  I bet your girl is happy to be homed and loved without a bunch of hungry kittens to worry about!