Past due pregnancy?

ciawearshats

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I thought I noticed my Chi's nipples being very noticeable around June 22nd, and my boyfriend saw her a week later and said he thought she was pregnant too. Her attitude changed and she's become more clingy and affectionate. Her tummy became noticeably more hard. She went from being a 4.5lb cat (I know, she's fairly small, even though she's a fully-grown adult) to weighing 6.6lbs.

Within the last two weeks, she has started leaking from her nipples and spends most of her time in various boxes I've placed in quiet places throughout the house. I notice that her tummy is much larger than usual but other people who see her can't believe she's very pregnant because she looks so normal (aside from needing constant affection from anyone who walks through the door, particularly wanting her tummy rubbed, which she never liked before).

She doesn't act sick and still eats fine, plays with my other cat and two kittens, bathes normally, and has normal bowel movements, but at this point I estimate she's closing in on eleven weeks pregnant. Could it be an eleven week false pregnancy? Or could she have started showing her nipples earlier than 3 weeks?
If she acted anything but normal I'd take her in to the vet, worrying the kittens died inside her, but she seems totally fine. I've thought I would check what people who have been through a cat pregnancy first think before coughing up that huge sum to get her checked out again. (I just took her and two kittens I found outside in to be treated for fleas and ear mites, plus getting my boy kitty neutered and given the same treatment.)
Hope you have some advice or thoughts!
Thanks a ton!
 

StefanZ

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Yes, i too Im a Little baffled - it seems a quite long pregnancy...   but the other behavior you describe sounds like normal behavior for the late preg.

Btw, DO rub her tummy, it helps with the suitable hormones coming on.  So its not just pleasant for her, it helps her pregnancy.

Luck is, cats usually manage a too long pregnancy better than humans.  While kittens dont manage well to be too early, to be premature - again unlike humans.

Do you feel her kittens move?  Did you ever felt the kittens move, or being there?    If you felt, but not so much more, its prob because the last day-two she drops, and they go down into birthing positions - and are not so easily felt.

If you never felt the kittens move, its probably a false pregnancy.   So here is the answer to your question.

Keep reporting and asking!

Good luck!   @ciawearshats
 
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ciawearshats

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I was fairly sure I felt two kittens in there a few times, and sometimes I see the sides of her lower stomach jump or push out. I'm not really sure if it's kittens in there. I've never been around a pregnant kitty (or person) before. Her stomach isn't bulging out huge and round like most pictures of pregnant cats I see, but it's definitely harder and bigger than it was a couple months ago.

If it is a false pregnancy, could it have lasted since June? I read they usually end after a few weeks. Could it have lasted all this time? Or if she's really pregnant, could it be lasting so long because she's so small? She's not undernourished at all, she's a healthy and happy cat, just small.
 
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ciawearshats

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StefanZ

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I was fairly sure I felt two kittens in there a few times, and sometimes I see the sides of her lower stomach jump or push out. I'm not really sure if it's kittens in there. I've never been around a pregnant kitty (or person) before. Her stomach isn't bulging out huge and round like most pictures of pregnant cats I see, but it's definitely harder and bigger than it was a couple months ago.

If it is a false pregnancy, could it have lasted since June? I read they usually end after a few weeks. Could it have lasted all this time? Or if she's really pregnant, could it be lasting so long because she's so small? She's not undernourished at all, she's a healthy and happy cat, just small.
I think false pregnancies are almost as long as the usual ones,  but long enough they can be taken for real.   But as false pregnancies arent ironclad and arent ruled by any real laws of nature, they can surely last longer too.

Nay, her pregnancy wont be longer just because she is so small.    Although pregnancies may vary somewhat individually / by maternal lines, it  cant be much longer.   I did heard about pregnancies on over 70 days, but that is rare. 

If you saw the nipples clearly changes about 19 juny, she would be about 3 weeks then...  It gives she is about 2 weeks overdue...

OR her nipples changes unusually early....  They usually get a more intensive rosa-red color at 3 weeks, but that is not always so.

Also,  her taking care of  rescued kittens.   And still protecting them,  may  provoce a false pregnancy...   Not the most common, but its one of the variations.

So, again.  You must analyse:   Did you felt at first kittens as clumps, and later on felt and saw them move?    You dont need to be any great palpitator to feel them move. Usually its clear enough.

You begin to feel them move about 2 weeks before delivery. If you are often feeling through the tummy and decently used to it, you can sometimes even feel them move already 3 weeks before.

Also, if they died inside, its safest to take them out to not risk the decay poisoning - which is of course deadly for the high preg.  (even if sometimes they  become absorbed, or calcified inside, so sometimes with luck....).

Best is probably you let a vet check her up. If it is a false pregnancy,   she will get an injection with suitable hormone, to end the "pregnancy"

If you dont afford to visit the vet ust for look see with some palpation,   you do perhaps have some neigbhour who is experienced with cats or dogs?

And you go to the pay-vet first in the next step, when you KNOW it is necessary.
 
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ciawearshats

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Whoa. So I'm a little shocked and horrified by this whole "birthing" process. I thought I was about to have to rush my sweet Chi to the vet hospital, if there's even one around here. I thought she was dying. She was clearly making "I'm in a lot of pain" sounds, and there was weird things happening to her rear end.

And then a wet slimy thing the size of a half-dozen Tootsie Rolls dropped onto my bed and she hopped off, flouncing her tail and looking proud as the Siamese twins on Lady and the Tramp. So I assume this is birth.

But Chi has had her nipples shown since early/mid July! And has been acting pregnant since then! I got my boy cat fixed in mid-July, but they were separated for a couple weeks before he was fixed (I thought she was due soon then and didn't want her to hurt him).

Whoa, how is this even possible? I guess he could have right before I separated them, and she's a little late? 

Jeez, I'm just shocked. I read every article ever on cat birth and pregnancy to be prepared, but I was expecting kittens MONTHS ago.

She crawled under the bed. I offered her the kitten (placenta and all) to her because it was chirping. She took it and bathed it and ate the placenta, and things are quiet under there so I assume things are okay. I can't really see what's going on under there and don't want to bother her (though I'm worried about making sure all the placentas come out).

But under the bed is a really bad spot. My bed is pretty creaky and wobbly, so I don't want one getting caught in a board under there. Can I move her and the kittens? How soon is too-soon to move them? I have a very curious kitten (Theodora)I rescued and while Chi doesn't mind her too much (she's been nursing from her the past couple weeks), I don't want Theo to accidentally (or intentionally) hurt the kittens.
 

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Pardon me for asking - these kittens born are alive and seems well?  You arent describing some missformed lifeless freaks of the nature,?  OK, if you are sure it WAS 3 months, it may be:

1.  She wasnt pregnant when you though.  She got pregnant later.   2.  It was a case of double pregnancy, the second one coming typically 3 weeks later.

There is of course the question what happened with the litter nr 1.  Perhaps it got absorbed.  Or she had a miscarriage and she ate up the rests.

To your question:  The most probable is her placenta come out.   The best is you prepare one or even two nice cozy nests, visible to her.  And hope she moves voluntarily herself.

But you can essentially move them yourself.  Most owners do weigh the kittens every day, so it is not so dramatic to handle them some, if you do it carefully and respectfully.

If your other cat is her best friend, you can allow them to be toghether if she doesnt mind.  But if you are the least hesitant or unsure - separate them.   She dont want her to be stressed.

Good luck!
 
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ciawearshats

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Oh no they're all alive and well and healthy! Three of them (unless I missed one!) They're all the same size and color, so I assume all from the same pregnancy. They're really not as cute as I imagined newly born kittens are though. They have pug faces and their claws are all splayed. So that was a surprise.

I could have sworn she was pregnant. She has looked the exact same for months now (until this morning, now that she's dropped some weight by giving birth). What  you suggested makes sense, maybe there was a miscarriage or it got reabsorbed or maybe she just had a false pregnancy first.

She's perfectly okay with the other kitten. She pretty much adopted her when I brought her home. She even nursed her some. But the kitten (probably 4 or 5 months) is unhappy. Does a cat smell different after giving birth? Theo keeps sniffing her and grumbling like she does when she's upset. Chi isn't bothered though and bathes her anyways.

I tried what you suggested and she did move to the box I prepared, but only took one kitten with her. I heard the others chirping under the bed for a while, but she didn't seem concerned. When I offered them to her she took them though, and they're all happily napping and nursing in the box now.
 

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Was she allowed access to the male right after he was neutered (within a week or two)? They can retain some sperm in the tubes for a while after neutering, so if they had access to each other then he might have had a last hurrah. That's about the right timing.

Anyway, glad to hear everything came out OK. Hope they grow up uneventfully, without making you go crazy! :lol3:

It would be a good idea find where the vet hospitals are in your area---it's better to find them before you need them than to flail around in an emergency.
 
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ciawearshats

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Yeah, I brought him home and he went right to bed! The next day they were playing again and it was business as usual! I thought once the surgery was done, he'd be fine. I had no idea he could still impregnate her then! You're right, the timing is about right for that, since I kept them separated and supervised for about two weeks before the surgery.

So another question, now that it's done with. She keeps laying on the kittens. She follows me around meowing until I sit by her nest, then she rolls around on top of the kittens and asks me to pet her. She's purring while they squeal, and doesn't seem to concerned, other than being uncomfortable and shifting around. If I move the kittens out from under her she'll roll her tummy up a little higher so they can nurse and she mostly lays still then. Why is she doing this? Does she not realize she's laying on them?

She's very attentive to them otherwise. She nurses them and bathes them and checks on them every few minutes. She's clearly very proud of them but she just lays on them while they squeal and try to get out from under her. I'm just worried about them since they're only a few hours old, I don't want her to accidentally hurt one. 

Also, one kitten is smaller than the other two. He has trouble latching on to her nipple and usually ends up just crying in her armpit, and any time he does manage to latch on, the other two are trying to nurse too so they push him off. Am I going to need to bottle feed him?

Thanks so much for all your help!
 

StefanZ

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Also, one kitten is smaller than the other two. He has trouble latching on to her nipple and usually ends up just crying in her armpit, and any time he does manage to latch on, the other two are trying to nurse too so they push him off. Am I going to need to bottle feed him?
You may be forced to bottlefeed him yes.  So get home the gears (dropper is good to begin with, or a small syringe without needle - easier for weak kittens than a bottle).  Kmr or goat milk...

You must be observant with him. Several tricks is to put him to mom when the others are sleeping.  Or even - when they had eaten and are happy and sleepy, put them a little aside in their own extra nest, with a warming pad,  and let him get quality time with the mom...

You may perhaps find your own tricks yourself.

But yes, the situation demands vigilance and some extra care on your part.

Also, it  is wise to weigh him / them every day, easiest on an electronical kitchen scale measuring in grammes -  to see if they gain as they shall...

Re mom laying on them.  Its not optimal, but it apparently happens mom sits on them, or lay on them - they get seldom suffocated.

How is the temp in the room?  She perhaps thinks its too cold?
 
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ciawearshats

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She's stopped laying on them as much. I think she was just too excited about being a mom and was being silly. Her pupils were huge the first day. Today she's much more normal and attentive.

The one kitten who was smaller has gotten better at nursing, and the other two eat very well! She's cleaning them fine, too (though they sound pretty angry when she bathes them!)

Thanks for all the help!
 
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