false pregnancy

[peaches/ca]

Hello, you all have given some very helpful information on pregnancy and labor, but I think I am now dealing with a false pregnancy with my 1yr old calico. I *believe* her last heat cycle was the end of February. She had 2 within 10 days and then she hadn't had one. I have 2 neutered males and one other female who is spayed. My 1yr old did not go into heat until her 10th month and I had planned on getting her spayed soon. Anyway, my calico, Bella Capri, looked like she was pregnant. Her belly was hard and poked out the sides a bit, her nipples popped out this week and she had begun to groom around her nipples a lot. I figured if she was pregnant, she would possibly have her kittens around the first week in May (according to your calendars). I also noticed that she ate a lot of food on Sunday, getting up to nibble every 30 minutes or so. And I don't think she ate anything yesterday. Although rare, I figured this was a false pregnancy since my males are fixed and she has not gotten out since I got her at 6 weeks old.

Well, apparently, all she did was sleep today and she purred when my husband stroked her belly. All she wanted to do this past weekend was sleep on me and I caught her somewhat nesting yesterday. When I got home from work tonight, I found spots all over the carpet, about the color and consistency of a Starbucks Frappaccino. I put her in a box, first lined with towels, and she didn't like it, she jumped right out. Then I put her in a box with newspaper. She stayed in there for a while but jumped out about 20 minutes later and the bottom was soaked.

I put her in a spare bathroom upstairs in the same box and she jumped out, not wanting to stay in there. I lined the entire bathroom floor with puppy pads (I use them under the litter boxes, in case of leakage) and she sat and had a few contractions over the next 30 minutes or so. About 90 minutes ago, the discharge changed colors to more pink, then red. The discharge has now thinned out a bit more and is more just blood than anything. Not nearly as much is coming out now as was a few hours ago. I'm hoping this will all be over soon. I was extremely worried that there was something else wrong with her, but I noticed the discharge was definitely coming from her genitals, and not her anus. I had been too impatient to confirm where exactly it was coming from!

Was this all a false pregnancy then labor? I have not been able to find much online about what happens after a false pregnancy. With all those hormones, something was bound to happen to release what she had been preparing, right? Everyone I've spoken to about labor and birthing is that there is usually not that much blood. She doesn't seem like she's in distress--her pupils are dilated, her ears and nose were cold earlier, she just seems to be concentrating. And then she'll have a contraction here and there...I've had contractions before, but had miscarriages, so I know how uncomfortable it is and I feel like I know what she's going through.

Any insight/help would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[peaches/ca]

Well, it's almost been about 5 hours since onset of this whole thing and she's breathing normally, purring, meowing at me and her belly is almost back to normal size. She lost a little bit of weight, I'm sure, due to no eating or drinking today/yesterday. No more discharge, but boy is she a mess. It's all over her backside, legs, tail, yuck!

Since I wasn't able to find much about this, I was quite intrigued (and scared) at the whole thing. I lost a cat a year ago to complications from kidney stone surgery, almost to the day, and everything just kinda flashed before me. If there was something wrong with her, I didn't want to lose her at such a young age--she'll be 1 yr old in a few weeks.

I would greatly appreciate hearing of stories anyone else has had similar to this. Most of my animals have been fixed, except for Bella (and she will be soon!) and my purebred male dog, so I haven't had much experience in the animal pregnancy/birthing process. I had a dog that was one of seven in a litter and I was there when the puppies were born, but didn't witness the entire event or pregnancy. We did, however, have to feed the puppies because the mom couldn't produce milk. 7 puppies, every 2 hours!! Whew!!

 

[kluchetta]

I thought false pregnancy was pretty rare, but another member experienced it recently, maybe you could do a search. But I'm concerned about the blood. I don't think a false pregnancy involves bleeding. Is there any way you could get her to a vet?

 

[peaches/ca]

I thought it was unusual, as well. We plan on taking her in first thing in the morning. Thanks!

 

[kcm]

Good Luck, Hope everything Comes out well and i hope she feels better..

I'm Crossing My Fingers

 

[gayef]

Wow, this is something quite new to me and I would be extremely interested in hearing what your vet has to say. My gut tells me this is more than probably going to be diagnosed as an "open pyometra", but nonetheless, I hope you will come back and let us know what he/she says.

I am glad your girl is ok.

 

[booktigger]

Good luck at the vets - pyometra is the first thing that came into my head too.

 

[xxtashaxx]

good luck at the vets , i hope your little girl is ok.
do update us when you get back

 

[tjwharton24]

This is very interesting to me. i would really like to know what the outcome of this is.
As for you, I really hope everything goes well
Blessings are on their way from me to You and your Bella
Jenn

 

[emmylou]

It could also be a real pregnancy or miscarriage. The indoor males may not have been neutered properly, or there may have been some contact with an intact male that the poster wasn't aware of... it sounds like the timing isn't too clear.

 

[black&tan]

I know a little about false pregnancies we have been through them on purpose.
I breed Old Style Siamese and this past year my queen had to take a vacation. My Vet had me stimulate her into false pregnancies to break her estrus cycles to protect her health. Most people don't realize the cat is even in a false pregnancy. Queens cycle continually without a break unless they are stimulated to release eggs. The reason for stimulating a false pregnancy is to break the continual hormone cycle.

We have never had any bleeding or discharge. With one false pregnancy she started to be very protective and mothering of a kitten we have from her last litter. This kitten is 9 months old and bigger then mom. Our queen would call and scold her like she does with her new kittens. She kept trying to carry her by the scruff and make her nurse....she had no milk but they did the nursing thing several times a day for about a week. This was the most demonstrative she has been at other times she behaves no different then normal.

I agree that this sounds like an endometritis. You don't mention if the discharge had an odor. If this has progressed to pyometra it is a severe endometrial infection with an accumulation of pus in the uterus. You would notice a bad smell. This is serious, the toxins can pass thru the uterine wall and into your cat blood stream. Typical bacteria involved can be Staphylococcus and Streptococcus, with E Coli being the most common. Make sure you clean really well.

Please, Let us know how she is doing.

 

[deniselsmith]

I'm sorry, peaches/ca, but you should have taken her to the vet as soon as you noticed this happening with her.. I cannot even imagine having a " wait and see " attitude about a beloved pet. I hope that if anything unusual happens with any other pets of yours, that you get them to the vet right away instead of assuming that everything is probably fine.And yes, I know vets are expensive, but if you are going to have pets, you need to take care of them.