My cat is 61 days pregnant

Hi! I just registered here yesterday but have been lurking now for about a month. I have 3 cats in my home (2 boys and 1 girl). Jada went into heat in February and I am very new to cats so had no idea what her problem was. Then on February 21st I was woken up to her mating with one of my boys. I'm an idiot and thought they were too young (She was 10 mo. and he was 8 mo.) for her to get pregnant so I left it alone. I was then awakened a couple of hours later to her mating with the other boy. (He is also 8 months old) That's when I decided I better seperate them. I put her in the bathroom and went back to bed.

Here we are 2 months later and she is very very pregnant. The boys have appointments to be neutered and she will be spayed after weaning the kittens. Oh the joys of all this. Anyway, I have been doing much reading here in anticipation of the arriving kittens and have found this forum to be very very educational! So thank you to everyone who shares so much great information!

Jada is now 61 days pregnant. She's been snooping closets, drawers and high places for 2 days now so we're expecting the labor and birth anytime now. I have to say that I am very nervous because she is so young (a year old this month) and obviously this is her first litter. I'm hoping to be near her when she has them in case of any emergencies. She's a great cat and let's me and my 3 daughters all rub her belly and feel the babies. She just lays there and purrs and looks so happy. She'll make a great momma I think.

My main question for all of you is this. If she mated with both boys can she be pregnant by both? I have been told this by a neighbor but am not sure of it's validity or truth? Also, if she mated with both would this mean a larger litter? I am hoping for a small litter as we already have homes for 3 so I'm hoping there aren't too many more than that. We already have the 3 cats and so will have to adopt them all out.

Oh gosh, I've written a book here. I will post pictures of my pregnant Jada and the two potential expectant fathers. Thank you for all the information here and I look forward to getting to know all of you! P.S. I love my camera so you'll get tons of pics!

Pregnant Jada -- Dilute Tortie


Potential father #1 -- Jazz -- Black and White Tuxedo


Potential father #2 -- Juby -- Yellow and White Tabby


All 3 cats together -- I love this picture and just wanted to share!

Wow, those are some cute cats, can't wait to see the Babies. It is possible that both are fathers, my vet said that multiple mating can lead to kittens in the same womb but different dads

Welcome to TCS...you have a beautiful furfamily (and good for you on getting them all spayed and neutered!).

To answer some of your questions, yes both boys could be fathers of kittens in the litter. Have you set up a closed, quiet nesting area where momma can go when she's ready? you probably don't want the two boys interacting with the kittens for at least the first month if not till they get their first vaccinations at 7weeks.

I have set up her nesting area in one of our bathrooms. I read here to stuff pillow cases with newspaper (thanks for that genius advice!) and then covered the box with a heavy blanket and cut an opening for Jada to get in and out. The box is a good enough size for her and kittens and is nice and dark and warm. She's been snooping in the box a little but she also seems to like my bottom desk drawer which I've had to now pull out so she won't choose that spot. She's also now taken to climbing up on my refrigerator and perching up there. (But I think she likes that it's cold on her belly as she also now loves the cold ceramic tiles in my foyer too.) At night, I shut her in the bathroom with her nesting box, litter box, food , water and toys. She hates that and scratches on the door all night but I don't want her to have the kittens on my couch or something.

Any guesses on how many kittens in a first time pregnancy? She's quite petite and 12 months old.

She could be pregnant by both male cats. It will be interesting to see who the babies look like. Be sure to keep both males away from your female after she has the kittens or you will be back in the same boat again.

You have beautiful cats. I just love Juby's face!!! The picture of Jazz is a very awesome picture.

Originally Posted by snosrap5

She could be pregnant by both male cats. It will be interesting to see who the babies look like. Be sure to keep both males away from your female after she has the kittens or you will be back in the same boat again.

You have beautiful cats. I just love Juby's face!!!

The picture of Jazz is a very awesome picture.

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Thanks for the compliments! We call Juby "Pretty Boy" because he really is quite handsome. He knows it too and struts around like a little lion.

I love photography and so love to try and get very candid shots of the cats. That one of Jazz is my favorite!

Yes she can be pregnant by both of them - since she mated with both within hours. I'd confine her to a small area (room or cage) so that she has the kittens in one spot and keeps them there. You could cover the cage with a sheet to give more privacy and keep drafts out.

Are they ALL related (direct brothers/sister)? If they are related, you could have some genetic problems or deformities in the kittens.

You will have a combination of basically calicos, tortoiseshells (which should be female) and the rest will be red/white boys or black/white boys (or the dilute of each color - cream/white or blue/white). You can also have both red/cream females and the same for black/blue females.

BTW your "yellow/white" is a red tabby/white

And keep the boys away from her for awhile - they can still get her pregnant within 30 days of being neutered. Don't underestimate the males - I know of a Siamese breeder who let their 5 month old male (who didn't "know" anything) run with her 2 females....well one of the females got pregnant and the little 5 month old was a daddy at 7 months old!

The pictures are above in my first post. She's a diluted tortie and the potential fathers are a yellow and white tabby and a black and white tuxedo. We have her box in the bathroom and it's covered with a heavy blanket.

None of them are related. We adopted all 3 of them from different people.

Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

Yes she can be pregnant by both of them - since she mated with both within hours. I'd confine her to a small area (room or cage) so that she has the kittens in one spot and keeps them there. You could cover the cage with a sheet to give more privacy and keep drafts out.

Are they ALL related (direct brothers/sister)? If they are related, you could have some genetic problems or deformities in the kittens.

You will have a combination of basically calicos, tortoiseshells (which should be female) and the rest will be red/white boys or black/white boys (or the dilute of each color - cream/white or blue/white). You can also have both red/cream females and the same for black/blue females.

BTW your "yellow/white" is a red tabby/white

And keep the boys away from her for awhile - they can still get her pregnant within 30 days of being neutered. Don't underestimate the males - I know of a Siamese breeder who let their 5 month old male (who didn't "know" anything) run with her 2 females....well one of the females got pregnant and the little 5 month old was a daddy at 7 months old!

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Oops I replied before your post was finished or before you edited. That's so funny that you say he's a red/white tabby because we say he looks like a red head! Thanks for letting me know. The woman I adopted him from said he was yellow so I've just always said that. (See -- I don't know much about cats yet)

How do you figure out what their markings/colors will be? That's cool! I hope she doesn't have any black/brown torties cuz I LOVE those! Everytime I see one I want to adopt it. If she has one I'm afraid I'll keep it and my hubby will kill me! Since they are all short hair is there any chance she will have any long hairs? She had a white long haired sister. And Juby had a black long haired sister. I'd love a long hair too. LOL My poor husband.

Longhair is recessive, so if both parents are carrying the recessive LH gene, you could end up with a longhair.

Basis genetics. First the color is carried on the X chromosone (XX - female; XY - male). So mom gives the color to all the male offspring and dad and mom give it to the females.

Now, mom is a tortie (dilute - blue/cream) so she is carrying the blue and cream colors. One dad is black/white (and he could also be carrying the dilute factor (blue). The other is red/white (he could be carrying the dilute factor (cream).

Given those basics you would have:

Tortie/bluecream females, black/blue females, red/cream females
Black/blue or Red/cream males. You probably would get more of the dilutes in the males (I think).

This is a bit harder to think about as you have 2 different fathers and I have to stop and consider each combination....lol

With the above you can also get white on any of them, since one parent does have white added.

Let us know what you do get

Oh I'll definately let you know! I am so anxious to see what they look like although I am already having to remind myself not to get attached. It's very hard. On that note, does anyone have any advice on how NOT to get TOO attached to the little furbabies? I have 3 daughters (13, 10 and 4) who I KNOW will be attached and we have to give them all away. Anyone have any experience in this area? I just have a feeling it's going to be very very heavy on my heart to adopt them out.

And one more question.... Is 8 weeks a suitable age to adopt them out? I've read 8 weeks and 12 weeks. I figure 12 weeks is better on them but 8 weeks is better on us.

GoldenKitty45 -- Thanks so much for all of your great info on the possible colors/patterns. I also know now that a black/brown tortie would actually be called a black/cream tortie? Those are the torties I find to be so beautiful!

Hi there - just confirming what others have said here that mum can be pregnant by two toms at the same time.

My Tinkerbelle's mum is a pure siamese and was mated with another pedigree siamese by a breeder. However, she managed to escape from her pen and mated with the local orange moggy tom.

The mum gave birth to 4 siamese kittens and one multi-coloured looking beautiful but not very siamese girl cat..who I adopted as soon as I saw her and named her Tinkerbelle!

Good luck with your cat and her babies! And you mentioned not getting attached....ah its hard not to! I think its a case of putting in your and your daughter's minds that they are going to be adopted right from the outset, if you are unable or unwilling to keep any of them. Its a case of doing what is practical and best for you and the kittens at the end of the day..your daughters are at an age where they are likely to understand that. Get your girls involved in the process of choosing their new homes - that might help?

The girls are already a big help with the adopting out process. They found 2 of the 3 adoptive familes already! They will be going to their friend's house which will make the seperation from those 2 easier!

Since i've got my fosters i've been trying not to get attached. Someone on here recommended thinking of yourself as their babysitter and you are just taking care of them till their real meowmy comes to get them. It seems to be working for me...

That's good advice too. I've sort of been trying to keep that mentality but am getting really caught up in the anticipation of the kittens. The girls and I both know we aren't keeping any of them so I think the combination of involving them and telling them that we are just "catsitting" will help.

A tortie is basically a black and red cat - mixed colors. The dilute version is called bluecream (which is what you have). A calico is basically a white cat with patches of red and black. A tortie/white has more color then white - usually the white is restricted to face, chest, paws and belly. Its a fine line between calling a cat a calico vs a tortie/white

You might be thinking of a TorBie if you are talking about black/brown color. A torbie is a tortoiseshell with stripes in the brown/black color and the red. Most torTies' will have a bit of striping in the red areas but a true torBie is a tabby with tortoiseshell color.

As far as being attached, when I was breeding my rexes I had pre-homes lined up with those interested in the kits - so that way they only were with me a short time. And its far better to keep the kits 10-12 weeks. While 8 weeks is a minimum, they adjust much better to new homes between 10-12 weeks. They need time to play with brothers/sisters and to learn house rules better.

Please consider keeping them a few extra weeks - it will make a difference.

Yeah, I figure that 12 weeks is better. That's going to be a wild last month. I adopted 2 of my cats at 8 weeks and they were SO active at that age! Should be interesting to have a whole litter at that age.

Update on Jada tonight....

She has been pacing quite a bit again and even went in and out of her litter box 4 times about 30 minutes ago. Then I found her laying on the dark bathroom floor next to her nesting box. I got really excited thinking she was going to have her kittens and a few minutes later she RAN out and plopped down next to me again. LOL She seems to have quite a bit of energy tonight (more than I've seen in the last week or so) and she's snooping in very strange places. Maybe we'll have kittens by morning?

Originally Posted by Momof3Cats&Kids

Yeah, I figure that 12 weeks is better. That's going to be a wild last month. I adopted 2 of my cats at 8 weeks and they were SO active at that age!

Should be interesting to have a whole litter at that age.

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They will keep you laughing from 7-8 weeks on, as they learn to run at lightning speed. They learn how to pounce on the Adults tail, and get scolded by the kitty. They love going up and down our cat tree, up and down, constantly. Anything that moves must be pounced on, any feet that walk must be grabbed. I just love it. Then they get tired out, as quickly as the crazy spurt came on, and are ready to snuggle.
You will want to begin training the kittens to a scratching post, such as sisal and cardboard, so that the families have a couple of different options. I also give a 2 foot scratching post with our kittens, since it already has the Mom and littermates scent on it.
It is great that you are keeping them for 12 weeks, it is really in their best interest.

Welcome to TCS! Good luck with your upcoming litter.