Is my pregnant cat's behaviour normal?

My little girl mated on 21st August. This is her first litter and she is a year and two months old. I took her to the vet last week and two vets said they could feel her babies, my mum, who has had cats forever, also said she could feel them.

The trouble is she is still quite small, she doesn't really eat a lot more, her milk bar hasn't grown a lot and she is showing the signs of being in season. I'm very confused. Is she pregnant or has there been a mistake? I know I've never heard of a pregnant cat calling.

Can anyone help? I havn't been able to find any information on this. I will of course be taking her back to the vet for a check up, but in the meantime has anyone experienced the same?

Thanks, Helen

thinking after it is not impossible she may be in heat. Because I know it is possible for cats to have two wholly different litters at the same time. They give birth to one litter, and some weeks later to the second one.
The big wonder is that often both litters are healthy!

This is not usual or common in any way, but as you see of all there often - it is not entirely unique either!

Se to your momcat has good food. Kitten food first shorth before delivery, not yet if her usual food is good. Depends of course if the coming litter seems to be big 6-or more...

And held her apart from fertile tom-cats as she seems to be in heat..

(And a couple of weeks after delivery she may get in heat again - so careful with fertile tom cats if you arent there watching.
But tomcats dangerous to the smalls is parthly a myt. some fertile toms are very friendly to kittens, and many neutered males are almost as extra moms - only good for kittens to know more cats than own mother).

Thankyou!! I've never heard of that happening before.

She's an indoor cat, as there are very busy roads nearby, so keeping her away from toms isn't a problem.

I feel she doesn't eat enough though, I've been feeding her kitten food for the last 2 weeks, but she's a very fussy little girl. I have mixed in a bit of boiled chicken to encourage her, but my vet says that too much calcium can cause problems, so I don't want to overdo it.

Thanks again for the information and advice.

Helen

Calcium yes. too much calcium is not good right (I presume you had a lot of chicken bones??). But too little is not god either. If a cat eats much meat=muscles (ours do, especially the younger one) - then extra calcium is good (ours get).
Quality kitten food is well balanced, so no calcium extras are necessary as your vet says.

Extra calcium useful later when the queen giving milk to the smalls. And necessary if big litter.

Again thankyou!

When she had chicken, I only ever gave her top quality chicken breast and then only a little. However, I won't give her anymore and just shop for more kitten food to try her with.

I'm off to the vet in an hour for her check up and fingerscrossed, all will be fine.

thanks again, Helen

Hey Helen...I'm assuming this was a planned pregnancy. I would highly suggest you PM Gayef who is the moderator of this board and is a breeder of Old Style Siamese. She has a wealth of information on breeding and pregnancy. BTW....what breed of cat is the mum?

Katie

If she is an indoor cat then how did she get pregnant? You can spay her right now and then she won't have the babies, which is okay to do. Unless you are a breeder, but I didn't get the feeling that you are. Also she doesn't have to be in HEAT to get pregnant again by the way, they have induced heats that are triggered when males come around.

Yeah, I was about to ask that same question seeing as how you even know the date on which she mated. If you aren't a breeder, pl do a kind deed and neuter her as soon as you possibly can (before or after the birth of her kits is entirely up to you I suppose).

You'll probably have to hold off the surgery till the kits are weaned, and till then, pl keep her indoors away from fertile toms.

I had wanted to abort Catsy's kittens because she looked SO tiny herself, almost too tiny to have babies. Silly us told her on Saturday that we were bringing her in for surgery on Monday, and she went into labour on Sunday morning! She really wanted those babies...

Yeah but point being, please please neuter the mama when she's done with this litter! There are enough suffering kittens out there.

If you are a breeder, then I apologize for jumping to conclusions. Just that I didn't get the feeling you are one

Originally Posted by decadenz

If you aren't a breeder, pl do a kind deed and neuter her as soon as you possibly can (before or after the birth of her kits is entirely up to you I suppose).


I had wanted to abort Catsy's kittens because she looked SO tiny herself, almost too tiny to have babies. Silly us told her on Saturday that we were bringing her in for surgery on Monday, and she went into labour on Sunday morning! She really wanted those babies...

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I wouldnt NOT recommend that late abortions, when the kittens are fully alive and delivery is near.

Dangerous for mom is one, and de facto killing healthy kittens practically borne? Nay.

Or if breeder, killing healthy kittens only because of wrong colours? Nay.

Decadenz and I mailed to each other; therefore I know Decadenz is not recommending late abortions - only exception as a despeate measure to save the mothers live. Or as mistake in how much time is left...

But as D. dont edit and change this her letter - I must do a remark.

Have to clear my point up there. I did not advocate late abortions. I have just noticed that QueenAnne said her cat is now over 1 yr old, so she should be able to handle birth. When I posted above, I only noticed that she said her cat was small and not eating much.

I have to reiterate that I do not recommend late abortions unless there is a very good reason, like mamacat being in poor health due to her pregnancy.

For my case, I had wanted to abort because (as I have already explained to Stefan) my mamacat looked very very small and skinny (she was 5 mths old at time of birth). Aside, I also had insufficient experience in estimating how long she'd been pregnant as she was a feral. Being small-sized, her tummy looked small as well, so I really didn't expect her to give birth quite THAT soon!

Hope this clears everything up

Thank you for caring, Stefan. Guess I shd have cleared up my stand earlier.

Originally Posted by StefanZ

I wouldnt NOT recommend that late abortions, when the kittens are fully alive and delivery is near.

Dangerous for mom is one, and de facto killing healthy kittens practically borne? Nay.

Or if breeder, killing healthy kittens only because of wrong colours? Nay.

Decadenz and I mailed to each other; therefore I know Decadenz is not recommending late abortions - only exception as a despeate measure to save the mothers live. Or as mistake in how much time is left...

But as D. dont edit and change this her letter - I must do a remark.

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As a principle of ethics, I agree with you.

However, in the US we kill literally millions of healthy kittens and cats every year in animal shelters. Right now, it really is a matter of killing unborn kittens vs. killing cats who are old enough to actually know what is being done to them. The whole situation is horrible and I'm not going to pretend it isn't, but given the number of homeless cats killed each year in this country it is hard to say that it is wrong to spay a pregant cat.

Spaying a pregnant cat is not really different than an ordinary spay. There is minimal to no added risk unless the surgeon makes an error.

Semiferal. Im well aware of the situation in shelters.
And Im NOT saying against it: when cornered and in a desperate situation, often there is not possible choosing of the best solution, but the only choosing is among the evil solutions, thereby they must choose the least evil.
These people have my deepest admiration and full respect!

Also, one reason I never talk here in this forum about aborts is I know the debate about human aborts in US, and it isnt my doing as foreigner to talk about it if not asked.
Yes, I know about the possibility and sometimes even I do recommend it.

But this cat we do talk about is not a homeless cat. It is a healthy homecat well being taken care off. So desperate measures should not be necessary here. Nor killing of healthy kittens. Therefore. A early abortion is OK here, a late is not - in my thinking.

I didnt know about the late abortions practically non dangerous if the veterinary surgeon is competent. I though it was a "calculated risk". Thanks for the info.

Hello Jen,

To answer your question, no I am not a breeder. I have, however, always had cats and take in unwanted animals, like my mum and my aunty before me ( I have 14 so far)

I rescued my cat, 'Spot', as a kitten. She was very scared, tiny and flea ridden. We nurtured her back to health and she's now a little nutcase who likes to think she's the boss......well she kinda is! She is still nervous around strangers and darts off when one comes to the house, but she's soon out again.

I didn't take the decision for her to have kittens lightly. I knew there would be a lot of opposition, lots of people telling me to spay her, whether pregnant or not. I had already decided that I would keep all her babies, then get her spayed. One reason for keeping them all was that I wouldn't be able to part with any and I couldn't risk one of them ending up an unwanted cat.

So she mated and the pregnancy was confirmed. She went for a check up every 2 weeks her last being the day I posted my question. I was devastated to find that she had lost the babies. It is very very hard to come to terms with this as they were very much wanted. The vet says she is absolutely fine though, so I am thankful for that.

I am considering, on my vets advice, to let her have her litter next spring, but I am very nervous in case it happens again. So I am thinking about a rescue kitten as I know there are many out there. My family is in regular contact with a local pet charity (I live in the UK) so finding one wouldn't be difficult. At the moment though, this is just a thought as I am going to need a while to recover and so is Spot.

Helen

At the moment though, this is just a thought as I am going to need a while to recover and so is Spot.

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Helen...I'm so sorry to read that she lost the babies. If it were me (and I realize that the decision is yours) I would have Spot spayed only because there is no guarentee she wouldn't lose a second litter. Spaying her will not only give her a chance to heal..but in the end, it is healthier for her to be spayed. I'm glad you are in touch with your local cat rescue and are considering that route.

Katie

Hi Katie,

I have to admit that I am leaning towards the decision to spay her. I am absolutely terrified that it may happen again. It was such a shock. I didn't consider this as an outcome as she had regular visits to the vet and was always fine.

I think it would be kinder in the long run. She was going to be spayed anyway after her litter, but this way I can give another unwanted kitten a home when Spot has fully recovered. But I would have to send my mum to get him/her as I would probably bring them all home!

Thanks, Helen

Originally Posted by queenanne

Hi Katie,

I have to admit that I am leaning towards the decision to spay her. I am absolutely terrified that it may happen again. It was such a shock. I didn't consider this as an outcome as she had regular visits to the vet and was always fine.

I think it would be kinder in the long run. She was going to be spayed anyway after her litter, but this way I can give another unwanted kitten a home when Spot has fully recovered. But I would have to send my mum to get him/her as I would probably bring them all home!

Thanks, Helen

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You are welcome Helen and again, I'm sorry about the loss of Spot's litter. Let us know how it goes (and if your mom does pick up a little one from the shelter...we will want to see pictures).

Katie

I am sorry she lost her litter - which you wanted. Hard to say she did though and given the health concerns, I have to say if it were my kitty, she would be spayed asap to prevent any possible health concerns. Her body is telling her and you something. It's prob wise to listen to it. Not all Queens make good mamas - as any breeder can tell you - and pregnancy does have its risks.

Glad she was fine after the pregnancy!

hi queen i live in south west of england and i have a litter of kittens you are most welcome to come and visit and if all goes well rehome one