Pretty sure my 8 month old rescue is preggers

marleyandme1

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Hi everyone. New here. First time with a possible litter of kittens.
My usual crazy, spunky, & playful baby has completely changed these past 2 weeks.
Little back story, my husband and I live on an acreage, we have 2 farm cats (a fixed male and my rescue female whom we haven't fixed yet) they're both outside together 90% of the time, they do usually come in in the mornings for a few hours for some cuddles, otherwise they live in our heated shop.
Marley wasn't let outside until she was 6 months (we've done this with both cats because we have hawks and coyotes around so they need to be mature enough to take care of themselves) anyways, about 2 weeks ago she started to want to stay in and refused to go outside which is strange because normally she loves it out there and only wants to be in the house for short periods. She ended up getting into some oil that my husband left out so I had to bring her in to bathe her in my sink and as I was giving her a bath I noticed she had a bigger belly and I felt about 3-4 walnut sized lumps. So I checked her nipples and they seemed to be longer and more pink than normal.
Fast forward to now, she's been in the house for 2 weeks now, had absolutely no interest in going back outside even though her buddy milo (our fixed male) is outside. Her bahaivour is COMPLETELY changed. She's very affectionate, doesn't like it much when I lightly touch her belly (which is pretty big now, it's starting to take a round shape and I can still feel lumps all around her belly area), she won't leave my side, eating like crazy and she's sleeping for hours during the day and mostly through the night. Marley is usually a crazy, playful, spaz of a cat lol so this is totally out of character for her. Although I am not sure if she's just gaining weight and changing into an adult. This is all new to me. Her and Milo are the first cats I've ever owned, I've always been a dog person until meeting them.
Another worry I have, she was found by a friend in a sewer culvert on a highway at around 3 months of age, cold, dirty, wet and starving. I took her in immediately and she's been with us ever since. I am worried if she was abandoned by her mother if she's going to abandon her babies too?

I have attached some pictures of her nipples and her belly.

Any advice or opinion on wether or not she's pregnant would be awesome! Thank you [emoji]128516[/emoji]
 
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marleyandme1

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Ahh sorry everyone, I didn't think the ones from my original post would upload. So I used the reply section to upload some. Some of the pictures are uploaded more than once, I apologize.
 

Willowy

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At this age it could go either way. Most outdoor cats in northern areas don't get pregnant until January, so she'd be very early in her pregnancy, you shouldn't see any changes yet. Although I suppose if she got pregnant in early January she'd be about 3 weeks along and may be pinking up by now. Anyway, yes, it's best to assume that any unspayed female cat over 4 months who has been outdoors is pregnant. Tomcats will come from 5 miles away to find a female. If you can't provide for kittens a spay/abort is possible at this point. If you would be OK with it if she's already pregnant, but would really rather not have babies, keep her inside from now on and hope that the tomcats haven't found your place yet, then she can be spayed when you're sure she isn't pregnant.
 
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marleyandme1

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oh no, we would definitely be keeping them! I could never imagine aborting any animal!! In fact most vets where I am from will not do that unless something is or could be wrong with the kittens or mother, should they be born.
Here in Canada, we don't have an overgrown cat population so it's not hugely pushed onto people (in my province anyways) to ensure spaying. Although we do plan on getting her spayed, just really didn't think it was going to happen this fast.
As I stated, she's been in the house and will stay in until her babies are big enough to be given away. We will keep them until about 10-12 weeks.

My questions were simply if anyone agrees that she could be pregnant, and if she could possibly reject her babies.

Also, of you read up about the heat cycle in northern areas, a lot of vets/experts will disagree with the whole winter thing. I know quite a few people who have pregnant cats in December, January months. Also, my male cat was born in late December. So it definitely is possible :)
 

Primula

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True, one of my cats was born on Xmas Day.

No clue if she is pregnant. She won't reject her babies. It's not a genetic trait. There are many reasons an outside cat would reject her litter.
 

Willowy

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Maybe. From what I've seen, the local farm cats don't ever seem to get pregnant at a time that they would give birth in the dead of winter. They usually have the fall litter in late August or September and then don't get pregnant again until January-February, so the spring kittens are born in March-April. The kittens always seem to have their first heat in the first January after they're born, so that fall kittens are only about 4-5 months old but the spring kittens may be 9-10 months old.

Maybe cats allowed indoors have their cycles messed up by the lights. But 100% outdoor cats don't seem to have winter litters around here. In my experience anyway. Farm kittens would just freeze to death if born in winter so maybe the cats have figured out how not to expend energy on having a doomed litter.

But for the basic question, yes, she's definitely old enough to be pregnant. The earliest signs you see will be the teats pinking up and getting bigger. Her tummy may not show until after 6 weeks along---some kitties show earlier, some later, just like people :D. Once you can feel the kittens moving, it will be about 2 weeks from then. Keep the vet's emergency number handy; most cats birth easily but there's always a chance she'll have problems. I don't think she has a greater chance of not being able to care for the kittens just because her mother did---sometimes a mother cat may abandon the babies due to lack of resources, so since your kitty is well-cared-for she shouldn't have any reason to abandon them. But do put in a supply of kitten formula, bottles, and eyedroppers so you can feed the babies in an emergency.
 
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marleyandme1

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Thanks for the advice! The kitten formula, is that purchased from the vet? I have droppers/ syringes on hand but not sure where to get the kitten formula.
Thanks :)
 

Willowy

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Around here you can buy it at Walmart or any pet or farm store. Not sure about availability there. PetAg KMR powder is the best option.
 
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marleyandme1

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That's another thing I was thinking, she doesn't seem to far along. Judging by my timeline in my head, she likely would've gotten pregnant early this month. Which would make sense considering the pinkness and enlarged nipples & the belly not being too big. She went into her first heat sept/oct and we've had a super mild winter here in Alberta this year. Very long summer and spring like temperatures throughout most of December and this month. It was shortly after her first heat that she was big enough to go outside.
I have a large male orange tabby and he is 2 years old. Well as of the last couple weeks, she's the same size as him already lol.
 

Sarthur2

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You can also buy PetAg KMR online from Amazon. Please get the powdered formula in the can. If it's not needed for supplementing, mom can drink a little each day for calcium both now and while nursing. Kittens also drink it when weaning.
 

talkingpeanut

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That's another thing I was thinking, she doesn't seem to far along. Judging by my timeline in my head, she likely would've gotten pregnant early this month. Which would make sense considering the pinkness and enlarged nipples & the belly not being too big. She went into her first heat sept/oct and we've had a super mild winter here in Alberta this year. Very long summer and spring like temperatures throughout most of December and this month. It was shortly after her first heat that she was big enough to go outside.
I have a large male orange tabby and he is 2 years old. Well as of the last couple weeks, she's the same size as him already lol.
If she was going into heat, she was definitely old enough to get pregnant. It actually could have happened a lot sooner.
 

catmom marcia

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Most likely she is.  As she gets close to giving birth, she will slow down a tad and start looking for a place to next.  You should keep her indoors unless you want them born in the wild and possibly eaten by a predator.  Prepare a box with plenty of bedding in it in a quiet corner of a closet where she can feel safe and it is dark and quiet.
 
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marleyandme1

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If she was going into heat, she was definitely old enough to get pregnant. It actually could have happened a lot sooner.
Did you look at the pictures? Does she look pregnant to you? I can post more if needed. I've actually never seen a pregnant cat other than in pictures so I really have no clue lol
 
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