Is She preggers?!?!?

Hi,
I am so happy I found this board, I have a HUGE problem. I have an 8 month old female kitty, that got outside a few weeks ago and now I believe she is pregnant. I feel horrible she's my baby girl. She is getting a little bigger around the middle, and she more sweet and affectionate. She doesn't seem to eat that much more, but I have two other kitties too so it's hard to tell(they are older spayed females, 3 and 18 years old). I don't have a lot of money right now that's why I hasn't got spayed yet. The three vets around here quoted me $250, $350, and $500(with the spay, blood work, meds, and other stuff). I don't have that kind of $ lying around. Plus they charge anywhere from $20-$50 more if she's pregnant. I don't know what to do, I love her but don't want to do anything to harm her. I would like her to have the litter if she's pregnant, but what would it do to her. I will get her spaye for sure after she has the babies(I will ask like a $20 adopton fee to help with the vet bill). I would feel horrible giving her a "kitty abortion" but I hate adding to the over pet population. Please help me with this, and please no hate mail I couldn't handle it right now. Thank you SO much!!!
Kat and her kitty cats...
Luna 8 months
Tobi 3 years
Sophie 18 years

Hi Kat and welcome to TCS! The membership here in the Pregnant Cats and Kitten Care Forum all understand that life happens. That is why we are here. As pet owners, we may have good intentions but sometimes, reality steps in and makes a true mess out of all our good plans. Please don't think we are here to judge you or to in some other way criticize you for not getting your kitty spayed before now. That is not our goal here. I feel confident that you will do the right thing just as soon as you can and that you are otherwise a very responsible pet owner. When the time comes, here is a list of low-cost spay/neuter clinics in your area - maybe one is close enough by to assist you when your girl is ready:

http://www.lovethatcat.com/stca.html

OK, now to address your concerns. 8 months is a little young to be having kittens, but it certainly doesn't mean she will have a difficult time of it. Being a young, first-time/inexperienced queen, she may not take to motherhood as easily as an older cat, but with time, she should be fine with a little help from you. There is a very good article with lots of important information here:

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=80724

Take a few moments and read up on what to expect, how to prepare and how to assist if necessary. If you still have questions, please don't hesitate to post them here. There is always someone around (and many of us have either recently gone through this or are currently going through this with our own cats) to help.

For now, begin feeding your pregnant girlie a good, high-quality kitten food in both canned and dry formulas and let her have as much as she wants. She will need the extra calories and resources to care for her babies when they come.

I would monitor interaction between your girls as the pregnancy progresses - some Mommas get a little anxious closer to the delivery and might become aggressive towards other household pets or small children if they perceive them to be a threat.

Also, you will want to keep all of your cats strictly indoors from now on to reduce the risk of viral or bacterial infections, parasites, or other baddies that may come in on furkids. Additionally, once the babies are here, you must not let your Momma kitty outside again at all for any reason until she is fully recovered from her spay procedure.

Again, I am glad you found us. We are here to help.

~gf~

Thanks... sorry I thought everyone would jump all over me about letting my 8 month old kitty get pregnant. I also wanted to ask I looked at her nipples and they don't seem any larger than my other cats(the older two) but are a little pinker. She just seems so round and her belly feels harder. Could it be something else. I will try to post some pictures of her to see what you guys think( if I can figure it out). Thank you again.
Kat and her kitty's...
Luna 8 months(maybe mom-to-be)
Tobi 3 years
Sophie 18 years

At 3 weeks along the nipples get pinker but don't really start changing size for a while. They do progressively get bigger throughout the pregnancy, especially towards the end.

Originally Posted by SolarityBengals

At 3 weeks along the nipples get pinker but don't really start changing size for a while. They do progressively get bigger throughout the pregnancy, especially towards the end.

Click to expand...

I always heard at 2 weeks they start "pinking up" but 3 weeks is pretty close, so if the cats nipples are "pink" then you have a pretty good idea that she is around 3 weeks along. 21+ days, and the gestation period is around 63-65 days, so you should beable to have a good idea of when she will deliver, within a few days to a week. Good luck, it's a long wait when you are nearing the end