Is my Cat Pinking up?

[Grant Sachs]

Hi everyone!

I am new here, and I recently picked up a stray cat. She is a Siamese mix and is a little over 6 months. I have noticed that at times, her nipples can look red, and at times they return to a pale color. About a week and a half ago, I started to notice them being visible without looking for them, simply when she stretches back, it's like two rows of spots on her belly that I can see. The frequency of them being red has increased as well. Still unsure if it is pinking up though because I have never had a cat before and I am unsure what they should normally look like, really.

I know shes young, but she is Siamese which are notorious for very young first estrus. And I've have her for nearly a month and she hasn't gone into heat yet.

Any help with clarifying would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

 

[Grant Sachs]

Sorry! Forgot to attach photo!

 

[Grant Sachs]

heres one of the "rows" I was talking about

 

[Sarthur2]

She is most likely pregnant, and if so, the sides begin to bulge at the end of the fifth week. She may not have had a heat cycle. If a male mated with her, females are induced ovulators so she may well have conceived before her first heat.

Have you had her vet checked yet?

 

[Grant Sachs]

She is most likely pregnant, and if so, the sides begin to bulge at the end of the fifth week. She may not have had a heat cycle. If a male mated with her, females are induced ovulators so she may well have conceived before her first heat.

Have you had her vet checked yet?

Thanks for the response! She went to the vet a little under two weeks ago, where they had told me she gained half a pound from the week prior. Thing is, when i took her in, she was both slightly smaller structurally as well as underfed, so she might've just gained weight from having proper food.

I never asked them to check if she was pregnant, but i did ask if it was possible and they said yes potentially so.

I will take her in to get looked at. Thing is, it will be nearly impossible for me to tell if she's "bulging" at first because I will just (or possibly even already have) assumed she was just "filling out"

With her nipples, they aren't really all that big, and not consistently a deep pink... so I never can make up my mind to have her checked out for it

 

[Grant Sachs]

I will note, that the nipples closest to her tail on each row tend to be bigger and pinker/redder than the others, idk if that means anything

 

[Grant Sachs]

Also, of note, (apologies for mulitple comments, wish i could edit them individually!) is that she has suddenly become very much closer to me in the last 5 or so days. She has never really enjoyed my company much, but now every morning when she sees me she immediately gets up and chirrups multiple times, and she started sleeping on my bed for the first time, unprompted. Started laying in my lap too. But of course, it could just be that she is finally warmed up to me... lol I just dont know!

 

[Sarthur2]

Well, my guess is that she is pregnant from your descriptions of her nipples and behavior. If you wait, it will become more obvious if she is indeed pregnant.

The vet can eventually do an x-ray that will show if she is pregnant, how many kittens she is carrying, and an estimated gestational age of the kittens.

In the meantime, since she was stray, did the vet treat her for worms or fleas? She should not be vaccinated while pregnant though.

 

[Grant Sachs]

Thanks for the information! I'll go and have her checked out. I've had her since August 5th, so at this point would the pregnancy be far along enough for an x-ray?

Also, she did get her vaccines, on the 10th or 12th, so probably 2 or less weeks into her pregnancy, is that going to be problematic?

Thanks. Also, her nose is notably pale, except for when she is excited or laying in the hot sun. This is when i tend to notice her nipples being red like today, when her nose was pink, so were her nipples. Is it possible that they aren't as dark because she has that pale genetic situation? Or do cat's nipples normally darken when theyre excited or blood is flowing?

 

[Sarthur2]

Cat’s nipples usually only change due to hormones. I don’t know if you’re over-thinking this in the sun or not or excited or not perspective.

So she would have been vaccinated in early pregnancy if she is pregnant. If she was given any “live” vaccines it could potentially cause birth defects. You’d have to ask your vet’s office what she was given.

So you’ve had her for 4 weeks tomorrow. If she’s pregnant, you should begin to see a slight swelling in her sides in the next week or so.

An ultrasound now would also answer the pregnancy question, but won’t show much else.

Your other option besides waiting this out is to go ahead and get her spayed. That would settle things.

 

[Grant Sachs]

Thanks so much! I'll probably update in a week or after the vet

Have a wonderful evening!

 

[Grant Sachs]

Hey again!

So I took Poppy to the vet around September 3rd, and he palpated her and immediately (like literally) was like"yep shes pregnant"

and so I was like "so you're saying to assume she is, right?" because palpation can be wrong or whatever, and he was like "she's pregnant" and I was like ok. He said she was around 30 days (I picked her up 29 days prior) so that tracked with my expectations (anywhere between 30 and 35 days along).

So, she is young. She is about 6 1/2 to 7 months, a Siamese mix. I got really excited about her pregnancy, but then since that vet visit, I haven't noticed much swelling if at all, she did gain weight, I had her weighed on the 9th at a different vet (followup for deworming) and she had gained a pound since her initial visit on the 11th of August (she went from 4.15 to 5.15 or so).

Thing is, the 2nd vet was really doubtful about Poppy being pregnant, but never even checked to see. She said the palpation was probably a false positive and was just poop or bladder. So since then, I've been a tad doubtful, but certainly, it feels a tad warranted, as she hasn't gotten much bigger. I did switch her back to eating dry food and she seemed to get a bigger stomach overnight so I just assume that is bloating from the plant materials in it? I have a 2nd vet visit Thursday so they can let me know if she's gained weight since two weeks prior.

She is at 7 weeks today (50 days tomorrow), so I just feel she should be more symptomatic. She eats about 250 - 350 calories a day most days (again, she's a 5-pound indoor cat so I assume 150 - 200 calories is enough for her normally?) her nipples aren't bigger than they were when I initially saw them "pinking-up". So I begin to think she isn't pregnant (or maybe was and miscarried??)

I would get an x-ray but I am trying to conserve money right now, but it might be necessary if she is pregnant to get one because shes so young, to have everything checked out, right?

i really don't know what to think, also today i noticed some dried blood in the crevice where one of her nipples meets her stomach, does that mean anything? I can attach the photo too if necessary. Also i can clearly feel lumps in her tummy at different times, but also a lot of gas so I don't think i feel any kicking, and I tend to assume it's just poop. She had diarrhea and vomited immediately after, today, should I be concerned?

Thanks so much!

I feel like the vet is going to dismiss all of my inquiries about this, she seemed to last time a bit...

 

[Heart For Cats]

Well, my guess is that she is pregnant from your descriptions of her nipples and behavior. If you wait, it will become more obvious if she is indeed pregnant.

The vet can eventually do an x-ray that will show if she is pregnant, how many kittens she is carrying, and an estimated gestational age of the kittens.

In the meantime, since she was stray, did the vet treat her for worms or fleas? She should not be vaccinated while pregnant though.

What about the FLV shot?: FLV (I hate typing that e in the middle) spreads from mom to fetus, so I would want her to get that vaccine if it does not harm unborn kittens.

 

[Grant Sachs]

What about the FLV shot?: FLV (I hate typing that e in the middle) spreads from mom to fetus, so I would want her to get that vaccine if it does not harm unborn kittens.

She definitely has her shots, got them around what would be 2 weeks or earlier in her pregnancy -- the vet said it was early enough to not cause any complications or defects, thank god!

The appointment Thursday is actually to test if she had FLV in the wild,I doubt she has it (she got tested a week after I got her, this is the follow up since it can take some time to test positive)

 

[Heart For Cats]

FLV symptoms do not appear right away. The virus (a type of coronavirus IIRC) can be dormant for months or years. So testing for it is a very important part of her pregnancy checkup.

 

[Grant Sachs]

FLV symptoms do not appear right away. The virus (a type of coronavirus IIRC) can be dormant for months or years. So testing for it is a very important part of her pregnancy checkup.

I didn’t know that, thank you. She is being tested again Thursday, hopefully it comes back negative. iirc it can affect the kittens really badly.

if she was a stray for the first 5 or so months of her life (or maybe after being weaned idk, can’t really tell maybe she was feral?) how likely is it that she contract flv? That makes me nervous for her

 

[Heart For Cats]

I didn’t know that, thank you. She is being tested again Thursday, hopefully it comes back negative. IIRCA it can affect the kittens really badly.

if she was a stray for the first 5 or so months of her life (or maybe after being weaned IDK, can’t really tell maybe she was feral?) How likely is it that she contract FLV? That makes me nervous for her.

If she was born in the wild and never adopted before, she is a feral, not a stray.

I can't say what her chances of being FLV+ are, but it is contagious. among cats.

You are right about kittens. Their immune systems have not fully developed, so they have a much higher chance of getting sick early in life. I read a kitten diagnosed with FLV lives only three years.

 

[Sarthur2]

Let’s hope she remains negative. Keep us posted!

 

[Grant Sachs]

I'm going to attach some photos of Poppy and see if you guys think she is getting "big" enough to be pregnant. She is at 50 or so days today.

She did eat about an hour ago tho so I hope that doesnt affect it too much/keep that in mind.

Basically, does this bulge look like it is pregnancy? or could it just be bloating (it's been there ever since she switched to the dry food about 10 days ago) or even just from eating.

Would be super helpful! Could save me a 100$ xray bill if we can just somewhat confirm it here lol, Thanks!

Here's one from a few days ago

 

[Grant Sachs]

I feel like she should be much bigger at 50 days, but then again, she is only 6 1/2 - 7 months old, and very tiny in general (5 pounds)