Adopted Cat may be pregnant?

Another "is my cat pregnant thread." 

So, my husband and I adopted our little fluff nugget about a month ago (It'll be one month on the 4th). We got her unspayed, because the shelter itself doesn't do spayings, they gave us a voucher to go to our local low cost spay/neuter organization and get it done there. We got an appointment for their earliest open (which is next week) and waited. 

I've been noticing she's been getting a bit rounder in her belly, however. When she sits, she looks very pear shaped. Her nipples are pretty large, but they were like that when we got her. The people at the shelter said when they did her examination, she wasn't pregnant, but she's been an inside only cat since we got her. There's no way she could have escaped outside, since she only sticks to our bedroom and hides under the bed whenever a door is opened. 

I don't know if her appetite has increased, or if her mood has changed, since we've only had her a month! It's been the same since we got her, she eats often and complains when the bowl is empty (I'm having to fill it three times a day, with a 3/4 cup scoop). She's super friendly and loving. She sleeps constantly, and doesn't seem very active. I just noticed today that she seems very intent on licking her genital area.  

So my questions are:

1. Is it possible she was just too early to tell for the shelter? It's very poorly run, they're often over crowded and understaffed, as it's the only one in town. For a Humane Society, they end up having to put a lot of animals down. 

2. If she is pregnant, she'd have to be a little over a month along. Is there an easy way to tell just by looking at her?

In no way will I even consider taking her back to the shelter, and I'm quiet happy with keeping her and her kittens!! I just have no experience with female cats, as all of my previous felines have been males. 

Adding pictures!! Hopefully I can get better ones soon, if I can get her to hold still long enough. She's very intent on rubbing her face against myself and my phone, haha

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I also forgot to add, what do I even do if she's pregnant? Like I said, I've only had experience with males, and any female cat that's had kittens in my life have been shop cats on my grandparents orchards, so not exactly friendly or wanting help. 

If she is just make sure she's eating kitten food and has plenty of fresh water. You could take her to the vet to confirm? Otherwise you'll have to just wait and see.

Krissy Marissy said:

If she is just make sure she's eating kitten food and has plenty of fresh water. You could take her to the vet to confirm? Otherwise you'll have to just wait and see.

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I'm calling the shelter tomorrow to talk with the administrator to see what she has to say since we were only talking to a volunteer when we adopted her, and then calling the Animal Protection League (our local low cost organization) to see if they can tell me! They're both closed Monday's and Tuesday's. If they can't help us, we're finding a local vet to take her to!

You can make sure the vet verifies she is not pregnant before he does the spay. 

She could be getting rounder because she is eating better and more food than at the shelter.  How old is she?

She is a beautiful cat.  Female orange tabbies are unusual.  Are you sure shes a she?

Handsome Kitty said:

 
You can make sure the vet verifies she is not pregnant before he does the spay. 

She could be getting rounder because she is eating better and more food than at the shelter.  How old is she?

She is a beautiful cat.  Female orange tabbies are unusual.  Are you sure shes a she?

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The organization in our county doesn't do regular checks, as far as I can tell. They don't any pre-op bloodtests, so I'm not sure they'll check or even tell me if she's pregnant. 

She's pretty young, they estimated her to be between 1-2 years old. We actually switched her food to something that had a whole bunch of omega stuff in it, since she's a huge shedder and supposedly that helps with her coat. When I feel her belly, she's squishy near her back, and as you move down toward the bottom of her belly there's less give. I'm not poking her too hard, though, don't want to hurt anything that may be in there!

Haha, that's what the lady at the shelter told us! She said they rarely get all orange females. She was on the female side of the shelter and has no male organs, so she's 100% a lady. Either that, or she's hiding them really well. 

She does look quite round, but it's too early to tell. My neutered male developed a round belly after coming home and eating better, not having to compete for food with the other cats. When you take her in for the spay, the vet can tell you for sure if she's pregnant and make suggestions on how to proceed.

DreamerRose said:

 
She does look quite round, but it's too early to tell. My neutered male developed a round belly after coming home and eating better, not having to compete for food with the other cats. When you take her in for the spay, the vet can tell you for sure if she's pregnant and make suggestions on how to proceed.

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She'd have to be over a month along, if she was. She hasn't set foot outside since we got her. 

On a related note, I just got an email from the administrator at the shelter that the spay/neuter organization will let me know if she's pregnant and will give me the option to keep the babies. I'll be calling Wednesday to see if we can get her in earlier than her appointment, so we'll hopefully know for sure soon!

Your cat definitely looks pregnant to me, and appears so from what you've said. Prepare for kittens!

Just an update for everyone! 

Her vet isn't able to get her in until next week, BUT that visit may not be needed. 

Yesterday I had my hand on her belly and I could feel things moving around, almost like little jumping beans. When she lays on her side, you can see the little kicks and movements! They get really active at night. 

Hopefully they won't come before her vet visit. I'm so excited! First time kitten mom, haha. 

I've been looking up online, and the consensus is that she could be 5-7 weeks pregnant.

We're in the middle of a move, would changing location mess up any nesting she's done (she's picked some pretty hard places to reach in case of trouble)? So should we wait? 

If you're seeing/feeling kitten movement, she's around 7 weeks along. They start to show at 5 weeks. She must have been pregnant when she came to the shelter.

So she has 2-3 weeks left. She'll pick new nesting areas if you move quickly. If it's a slow move, I suggest you wait, but you wouldn't want to move her kittens for a few weeks after they are born either, if you can help it.

Have you read any of our articles about pregnant cats and kittens? They will help you get prepared! [emoji]128522[/emoji]

sarthur2 said:

Have you read any of our articles about pregnant cats and kittens? They will help you get prepared! [emoji]128522[/emoji]

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I've read a few, yes! They're super helpful, and I think I'm pretty prepared. 

Great! What did you decide to do about moving?

I've made plans for both if we're not in the house by the time she has kittens, or if we are. It's all up in the air right now, since the house moving company we've used has really decided to take their time getting out to level the house, smh. There's nesting boxes at both locations, and they've both got old clothes of ours and catnip in them. 

Our goal is to be in the home by this weekend, so hopefully she'll cooperate with us. If not, we've got another week on top of that to play around with before moving her and the kittens. 

Sounds like it's all under control. She should be fine either way! [emoji]128522[/emoji]

Oh goodness, I just checked her belly, and she's got white flakey stuff around her nipples. She may be coming along faster than we expected!!

Dried milk. Yep, could be in the next couple of days!

I'll be keeping a close eye on her. She's been noticeably more ravenous today.  

I've started mixing Milk Replacer Plus into her water, since she won't really eat the kitten food we just bought her and seems to prefer it liquid rather than mixing the powder into her food like the can suggested. 

I keep joking with my husband that she'll have her kittens right on his lap since he seems to be the one she's happy with waking up every few hours for attention and pets. XD

She can have a dish of KMR mixed properly (like a bowl of milk) every day. I've never mixed it into wet food like the can says. [emoji]128522[/emoji]

That's good to know. She wasn't going for the powder. 

She's a bit confused at the moment, I'm packing up the closet and I think I pulled her preferred nesting spot (one of my duvet covers nestled into a rucksack). I put the box I made into the spot it was, and she's crying at me like I stole a family heirloom.