I think My Maddie is Pregnant

I'm new here... I think Maddie, My little Russian Blue baby girl is pregnant...

She had her first heat cycle a couple of months ago and I think she's had another cycle and Scorpio (our male cat) mated with her when we weren't home... (dh and I would separate them when Scorpio would try to mount)

But, over the last two weeks, I've noticed that Maddie's weight has increased, she's eating a lot more than she used to... She's also become VERY cranky when Scorpio gets ANYWHERE near her. He gets close, and she will hiss and growl at him.... She's never been like that... Not only that she has become very aloof... She's usually close to my dh.

Anyone who can help give us some guidance??

Thanks,

Sarah

If you kept an unspayed female and an unneutered male together, she would get pregnant. You can't just separate them when you see them together!

She may need a check-up at the vets. Hopefully she is up on all her vaccinations, so the babies won't be born with an illness. Have you neutered the male yet? If not, she will go into heat soon after having her litter, and can get pregnant again right away, which isn't healthy for her.

I haven't been able to afford the surgery... I am looking to get Maddie into the Vet within the next two weeks when my dh gets paid again.. Her vaccinations are up to date, I made sure of that. She is due to have them again in November, as is Scorpio...

My local humane society offered a free day a few months ago, sadly I couldn't get an appointment. I never knew a female is so susceptable, I can assure this will be her first, last and ONLY litter of kittens.

Originally Posted by Maddiesmama

I haven't been able to afford the surgery... I am looking to get Maddie into the Vet within the next two weeks when my dh gets paid again.. Her vaccinations are up to date, I made sure of that. She is due to have them again in November, as is Scorpio...

My local humane society offered a free day a few months ago, sadly I couldn't get an appointment. I never knew a female is so susceptable, I can assure this will be her first, last and ONLY litter of kittens.

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List of low cost clinics, at least you can get your male fixed in the meantime:


ARIZONA
Discount Spay/Neuter
Gilbert, AZ
480-545-7729
Pet cats and feral cats. No appointments necessary for ferals.
S/N Clinic
Mesa AZ
480-633-1734



Spay Neuter Clinic
Tempe AZ
480-829-1002


Pet Pride of Arizona (cats only)
Scottsdale AZ
480-829-2444


Burke Vet Hospital
Tempe AZ
480-838-2020
Need to be refered by AAWL, humane society, or Pet Pride.

Aztec Animal Hospital
Scottsdale AZ
480-945-8671


Aloha Animal Hospital
Scottsdale AZ
480-949-8362


Humane Society of Santa Cruz County
Nogales AZ
520-287-5654
For feral and pet cats.

Good Samaritan Program
Tucson, AZ
520-325-1055
Free spay/neuter for pets of qualified low income residents.

Humane Society of Tucson
Low cost spay/neuter clinic
3450 North Kelvin Blvd
Tucson, AZ 85716
520-321-3704

Spay/Neuter Hotline of Arizona
Pima County
520-624-7729

Animal Crusaders of Arizona, Inc.
PO Box 31586
Tucson, AZ 85751
520-798-6451
Low cost spay/neuter for animals of low income people and for rescued animals.

Animal Defense League of AZ
Spay/Neuter Hotline
602-265-7729 Maricopa


Van Aken Pet Hospital
Phoenix, AZ
602-278-6632

Maricopa Count Animal Control Services
City of Phoenix S/N Program
602-506-3471
Low income people may qualify for free or very low cost spay/neuter services for their pets.

North Phoenix S and N Clinic
1610 E Bell Rd Suite 108 Phoenix AZ 85022
602-787-4240


S/N Clinic
Phoenix AZ
602-863-0116
602-846-3979


Spay and Neuter Assistance Program
(S.N.A.P. Clinic)
1812 West Bell Road
Phoenix, AZ
602-942-7283
Low cost s/n for every one. Also low cost vaccination clinics held twice a month.

HALO Animal Rescue
Phoenix AZ
602-971-9222
web: www.halorescue.org

Spay/Neuter Hotline of Arizona
Graham County
928-428-6558


Spay/Neuter Hotline of Arizona
Yavapai County
928-541-1356

East County Animal Guardian Angels Inc
Wellton AZ
928-785-3242

At least make sure you get the boy neutered ASAP. Female cats can and sometimes do get pregnant within a couple of weeks of giving birth.

Hopefully you will never have an unneutered tom and a female in heat at the same time again, but if that ever happens it is absolutely necessary that they are separated from each other. Otherwise, unless you are watching their every move it is inevitable that she will get pregnant.

It really is shocking when you realize that most female cats can get pregnant at six months of age and have their first litters at 8 months, and a lot of kittens can get pregnant even earlier than that. It's babies having babies. That's why it is so important not to put off spaying your female kitten.

You can also take her to the vet right now to have her spayed. That way she will not have the babies at all. Find some money, sell something, borrow some or do a payment plan with the vet. I only suggest this because you said you cannot even afford the surgery so how will you afford the care of a litter of kittens plus the extra care for the mother during pregnancy? You have to take her to the vet anyways to confirm the pregnancy and give her a check up to make sure everything is going along smoothly. That could be $200 right there in a worst case situation, depending on the vet, plus more if there is something wrong with her.

The kittens will need shots and wormed when they are old enough and you will have to be paying for all that and the kitten food and certain litter for when they are old enough to be litter trained. Plus your female cat may have problems during delivery and require emergency vet care which you know will cost a ton. If she JUST had her first heat cycle, basically if she is under a year or so, she is way to young to be having babies and there could be problems developing because of that. So there is also the possibility that the kittens can die if she isn't mature enough to properly care for them, she could kill them or neglect them and then you will have to bottle feed them ALL every 2 hours, all night and all day, when you would rather be sleeping or working or school or whatever your situation is.

This is all worst case scenario, and it could all go smoothly. But you never know and what if everything I just mentioned happens? That would be more vet bills then you know what to do with.

Last thing, I don't know if it is the case for ALL cats but I do know that females can be pregnant with multiple litters at the same time. If she is still in contact with the male while pregnant, she could have lots and lots of kittens. A cat came into my shelter and had a litter and then a week later, had another litter.

SHE NEEDS TO BE COMPLETELY SEPERATED FROM THE MALE UNTIL SHE IS SPAYED. During pregnancy and birth if you decide to go through with it. He needs to be kept seperate from her. He could harm the babies after they are born and like someone else mentioned, she can get pregnany almost right away after the kittens are born.

Plus, by not spaying her before her first heat cycle, she is now more prone to the risk of getting cancer and other diseases, it greatly cuts the risk when the female is spayed before she goes into heat for the first time.

Also, it can take 6 weeks for males to stop producing sperm after being neutered, so you cant just have him done and say that it will be fine, it may not be so they should still be separated. I have also heard people say that when they have had male cats neutered older than 6 months, they are more likely to still 'try it on' after being done.

Originally Posted by booktigger

Also, it can take 6 weeks for males to stop producing sperm after being neutered, so you cant just have him done and say that it will be fine, it may not be so they should still be separated. I have also heard people say that when they have had male cats neutered older than 6 months, they are more likely to still 'try it on' after being done.

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Great point...we've actually had people who have posted about a just neutered cat getting an intact female pregnant.

Katie

I have taken Maddie to the vet and unfortunatly it is much too late in her pregnancy to stop the kittens from being born as they are due anytime before next weekend... Thank you for the resources, I will for sure take advantage of checking some of those out. Thank you again.

Originally Posted by Maddiesmama

I have taken Maddie to the vet and unfortunatly it is much too late in her pregnancy to stop the kittens from being born as they are due anytime before next weekend... Thank you for the resources, I will for sure take advantage of checking some of those out. Thank you again.

Click to expand...

Did you at least ask about having the male neutered?? It would be MUCH better for him and for your situation if you had him neutered. And please keep them seperated until your girl is fixed.

Katie

OK, here once again, the original poster has asked for help here at TCS and not been served according to the guidelines in this Forum. I will remind EVERYONE yet once again that this forum is to assist people who find themselves caring for a pregnant cat NO MATTER WHAT THE REASON. Please people ... if we cannot adhere to the guidelines, then people will STOP coming here for advice. We aren't here to judge, we are here to help. When someone posts a request for our assistance, we ASSIST WITH THAT REQUEST. Automatically posting all the good reasons why cats should be spayed or neutered do not help with the situation at hand. It only serves to alienate the poster and makes it so they do not come back here anymore. We cannot reach those who do not seek our advice and we must remember that when we are making our replies. I will ask you all again this once nicely - Be considerate of others, understand that mistakes DO happen and that our goal here is to assist with the pregnancy, the labor and delivery and the care of the kittens.

MaddiesMomma, from reading your original post and subsequent replies, it is clear to me that you will take the appropriate care of your cats by getting them altered as soon as you can. In the meantime, the advice you've received to separate your male from your female until a month or so after your male has been altered is sound, even if misplaced in this Forum. While you are waiting for the babies to be born, my suggestion to you is to read everything you can and educate yourself on what you may expect as well as what you can do to help your girl and her babies - please see this thread for some important information about the behaviors of pregnant cats and the signs of impending labor and delivery. I sincerely hope it is helpful to you. http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=46743 If I can be of any help to you at all, please do not hesitate to contact me here at TCS via this Forum, or by private message.

Everyone else ... I am disappointed.

~gf~

well said gayef as sometimes it has upset ppl

How is Maddie doing? Is she gaining weight well? Have you set up a kitten box for her yet?

Sorry for sounding preachy in my prior post. I hope everything goes well for Maddie. Please post pics of the kittens when you can!

Thank you Gayef... You can be assured that My husband and I have already gotten the ball rolling for Scorpio to be fixed. In other news, I am happy to announce the birth of three very healthy kittens.

Maddie went into labor at 8:06 am and had the first kitten at 3:50 p.m. Kitten #2 was born at 5:00 p.m. and Kitten #3 was born at 5:15 p.m. Mom and Kittens are doing well and spending some quality time together. Maddie's Daddy and I are very proud of her.

Congrats, Sarah. Read the kitten info in the sticky threads at the top of the board. They help a lot with all your questions!

Congratulations on the new arrivals! What colours are they? Can you tell yet what gender they are?

I want to see pictures!