Not Sure If My Cat Is Pregnant..But Concerned :(

Okay I just joined this site but have been reading depth for DAYS at all of the "I don't know if  my cat is pregnant" and "how to tell if your cat is pregnant" posts. This may be a bit all over the place but here's the story:

I have two cats, Buttons, a black cat with a white patch who is almost two (intact, going to be neutered any day now) and Bella, a tiny tortie (possible torbie) who is almost a year old who is not spayed. Now I definitely know the importance of spay/neuter so I definitely don't need/am not looking for that advice. I had meant to have it done just before Christmas but a family emergency came up unexpectedly. We had done a great job of keeping our two cats separate, they actually were buddies who cuddled (when I was present) for the most part   but there were a few times where Bella would go to get a bite to eat and Buttons would jump down and try to grab her neck, he never succeeded at mating though. When she was in heat they were completely separated. Fast forward to December, Bella went into heat the week of December 18th and stopped suddenly on December 22nd (previously Bella would go into heat every 2 weeks for 7 days). I was gone for most of the day on the 21st and 22nd so I have a feeling my dad (who lived upstairs) or my boyfriend accidentally let them be together because her heat just stopped so suddenly. We left on Christmas holidays to my family's place down the island on the 23rd and took Bella with us, she was pretty scared ad stayed in the spare room in her crate basically the whole time. She's never done that. So Bella has not gone into heat since, her little nips are SO big, you could never even know she had nipples before unless you really dug around in her fur. She HATES being alone now, she cries and tries to jump onto my leg and pull me back into the room if I leave. She wants me to sit on the floor with her. She hates her stomach being touched but it's probably because I'm always trying to see her nips or feel her belly! She has definetely gained some weight, and has "sides" to her now. She's always been such a tiny cat that any amount of increase is noticeable! It also looks like her underbelly is getting a bit bigger, but it's definitely the sides. She meows a lot, and seems to be nesting like I've read about.

What I'm concerned about is her nipples are quite dry with black spots on them? The tips almost look like black spotted dry scabs sort of maybe? And I'm also concerned that I can't really feel any movement!? Is this bad? The lumps I can feel are kind of farther back, even up higher sometimes but they move around quite often. Sometimes they'l be by her hindlegs and then they''ll be down by her belly. Then the other ones I can feel are sometimes up near her ribcage then they move lower down or up her side more. She's still jumping a lot too  I'm just really worried I guess,  she's my baby and I want to take care of her as best I can. I've set up quite a few nests for her even though I'm not completely convinced she's pregnant. It's really hard going back and forth every few minutes nevermind everyday, thinking "Yep, she's definitely pregnant!" to, "well..maybe not?.." haha! Maybe some of you can give me some insight!? Anything would be helpful at this point! I know vets could give me insight, however I've heard so much about vets damaging kittens and that makes me nervous too! Plus I'd kind of rather save my money and wait it out and spend my money on having the kittens spay/neutered etc before they go to good homes

And yes, I plan to have her spayed 8 weeks after the kittens are born or sooner if she's not pregnant   

Welcome to the Cat Site! You've come to the right place for help. Your little tortie is pregnant. She is showing all the signs. Gestation is 65 days, so count the days from Dec. 22 and you will know when she's due.

The nests are fine, and the clingy behavior is normal. She will probably want you to be with her when she delivers. I don't know about the black spots, but the lumps are probably kittens. It sounds like she is going to have them in a few days.

Keep Buttons away from her after the kittens come. She can go into heat very soon after delivery, and even if you have him altered now, he will be fertile for about a month.

Enjoy your new kitties, and come back with more questions.  We will all be here.  @sarthur2  is a good resource on moms and babies.

Thanks for the quick reply! I've been trying to keep Buttons away as much as possible already, she seems frightened of him, she never was before but everything seems to make her skiddish these days She hates when I try to touch her belly. I was just concerned about the spots on her nipples, I'm going to try to get a picture when my boyfriend gets home with the phone. I've been feeding her unlimited dry kitten food as well as wet kitten food in the morning and friskies wet food at night..sometimes she eats the evening wet food and sometimes she doesn't. I was also going to pick up some KMR to start feeding her asap after I asked on here if you guys thought she was pregnant! I didn't want to start giving it to her if she wasn't. Is it normal to not see much movement? I feel like I can just see her breathing haha I do think I've felt some tiny flutters at bedtime but that's about it. She purrs almost all the time so it's hard to decipher which is which! She seems to be jumping around still though (from the bed to the top of the large dog crate which is about a foot away, and from the window ledge to a shelf on the wall) is this safe!? Basically all she's done for the last few days other than that is sleep, eat, try and get into the treat bag and sleep some more haha. I just wish I knew why her nipples were like that! 

I don't think the black specks are anything to be worried about. The KMR would be wonderful for her and give it to her as long as she's nursing. Movement from the kittens usually isn't noticeable until a few days before she delivers. Let her do what she wants; jumping won't hurt her or the kittens. Right now, she's confused because she doesn't know what's coming, but when the kittens arrive, she will know what to do.

Thanks so much for your help, I feel much much better  

So I finally got a picture of a couple of her nips, one looks okay, like the black spots came off, but then there's the others that still have the black spots. Maybe someone might have some insight or experience as to why? Do these look like normal pregnant kitty nips!? So weird to say but I gotta know! Lol

DreamerRose said:

Welcome to the Cat Site! You've come to the right place for help. Your little tortie is pregnant. She is showing all the signs. Gestation is 65 days, so count the days from Dec. 22 and you will know when she's due.

The nests are fine, and the clingy behavior is normal. She will probably want you to be with her when she delivers. I don't know about the black spots, but the lumps are probably kittens. It sounds like she is going to have them in a few days.

Keep Buttons away from her after the kittens come. She can go into heat very soon after delivery, and even if you have him altered now, he will be fertile for about a month.

Enjoy your new kitties, and come back with more questions.  We will all be here.  @sarthur2
 is a good resource on moms and babies.

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Can no one see my post or something? Everyone else has so many people commenting!

She sounds pregnant to me, and is 6 weeks along. She has 3-4 weeks to go. She will be due anytime after February 23rd.

You will begin to see or feel kitten movement the final 2-3 weeks. I would be careful about palpating her belly so as not to harm the kittens.

Feed her unlimited dry kitten chow and wet food, and set up a couple of nesting areas for her in dark, quiet places such as a closet.

It's normal for pregnant cats to lick their nipples. If her nipples seem dry you can put olive or coconut oil on them. The black specks are just pigmentation in her skin and nothing to worry about.

sarthur2 said:

She sounds pregnant to me, and is 6 weeks along. She has 3-4 weeks to go. She will be due anytime after February 23rd.

You will begin to see or feel kitten movement the final 2-3 weeks. I would be careful about palpating her belly so as not to harm the kittens.

Feed her unlimited dry kitten chow and wet food, and set up a couple of nesting areas for her in dark, quiet places such as a closet.

It's normal for pregnant cats to lick their nipples. If her nipples seem dry you can put olive or coconut oil on them. The black specks are just pigmentation in her skin and nothing to worry about.

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Thank you! I haven't been trying to feel really, if anything I just lay my hand on her belly. I'm glad her nips are fine,I'll try some coconut oil on them. Do you think I should start kmr right away here or wait a bit longer?

A dish of KMR a day provides the extra calcium mom needs. [emoji]128522[/emoji]

sarthur2 said:

A dish of KMR a day provides the extra calcium mom needs. [emoji]128522[/emoji]

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Great! I'll pick some up tomorrow

I'm getting a bit worried! She's pretty rough when jumping around and playing. I don't want her to hurt herself or her babies :-( will she be okay?! She seems smaller today even, I've seen her whole body do the ripple thing a few times but it's almost like she's in heat? She flicks her tail and rubs against things and if Buttons comes in her body will ripple and she'll hide under the bed. We've been keeping them apart 98% of the time. I still can't really see any movement, I think I've felt some at bedtime but I'm not sure if it was or not as I'm just laying my hand on her belly. I don't want to risk damaging the babies by feeling around too much! Am I just super paranoid and worried for her since this is her first (and only) litter? Is this all normal? Help! Lol

Yes, what she's doing is normal. She still has a couple of weeks to go. She won't hurt herself.

DreamerRose said:

Yes, what she's doing is normal. She still has a couple of weeks to go. She won't hurt herself.

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Okay good, thank you! When should I be able to feel movement do you think? Or even see it? And it's normal for the sort of heat behaviour every once in a while. Also she's nesting a lot already

You won't see movement until the last week.

DreamerRose said:

You won't see movement until the last week.

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Okay, good to know

Sorry, another question! Is it normal for her to be pooping 3 or 4 times a day?! Her bum is starting to look a bit red..

Is it diarrhea or formed? How long has it been going on? Many cats "clean out" before going into labor, but it's not time yet, is it?

You'll want to put olive or coconut oil on her bum for some relief from chapping and burning. Poor kitty!

It's formed, she had diarrhea a while ago but it was the canned food I had given her one night (I had given it to both of my cats and they both had diarrhea) so I stopped it immediately and it was gone the next day. However, for the last week or so she has been pooping 3 or 4 times a day everyday! (formed poops) and peeing like crazy! We are cleaning out the letterbox constantly! I know she doesn't have worms as we just finished her worm treatment a month ago (I cleared with the vet that it was safe for pregnant kitties). It seems like her whole back end is irritated though, as if even her vulva (not sure if that's correct) is opening and closing and yesterday was leaking the tiniest bit of clear fluid (it could have been pee I guess though) maybe I'm just overreacting and this is all normal for pregnant cats?!

She is probably eating much more food than normal, so extra pooping during pregnancy is not unusual. I would make sure her back end and vulva are clean by gently applying a warm, damp cloth, and then applying some oil. It's also normal for a pregnant cat to have clear vaginal discharge. She sounds okay other than her bottom getting sore.