Large Pink Teats but No Kittens

Hi,

I adopted a stray cat from a shelter. One of the volunteers said she must have been pregant recently because her nipples were hard and her breasts were a bit large. Unfortunately, we dont know whether she did and where her kittens are. During our adopted process she was spayed, and when we took her home we noticed that her breasts were large and pink.

She doesnt seem to be in any pain and there isnt any redness to her breasts. I was doing some research and I'm hoping she is not sick. Unfortunately I know nothing about cat post pregnancy and no website stresses on how the cat will look like after she has kittens.

Will this pink swelling/large breast go away over time? Or is this just normal? Or is she sick?

Please help our cat, she is very sweet and probably had her little kittens taken from.

Thank you.

Feel free to email me with answers.

What did the vet say when she was spayed? Surely you voiced your concerns to the vet? Are the nipples scaly or discolored or bleeding?

Hi Hippo Wong, welcome to TCS.

The nipples begin to 'pink up' at around 3-5 weeks of pregnancy and the breasts enlarge in the last couple of weeks. It's possible she was spayed while pregnant or, as you said, she did have kittens. Either way, the breasts will get smaller and the nipples should return to a light pink colour in the next few weeks. Sometimes, with a cat who has lost her kittens but is still lactating, you can place a warm cloth on the nipples to relieve some of the discomfort for her.