? Sign Of Pregnancy In Nursing Cat

[merree]

Can a cat's sudden dislike of having her sides touched indicate pregnancy? I'm a bit suspicious about our current foster mama cat. For about the past week she has been lashing out at hands that go near her body. She's still very affectionate otherwise and happy to be touched around the head and neck. Her middle is slightly rounded and feels unusually firm, but it could just be from normal weight gain. She is nursing her previous kittens so I can't use nipple signs as an indication. She was taken into care when her kittens were less than a week old, so if she did mate again before being picked up she would have to be about 5 and a half weeks along.

 

[Sarthur2]

Oh dear, it sure sounds like she is pregnant again, and it’s entirely possible. So sad.

And yes, she would be about 5 weeks along, poor gal. So about 4-5 weeks to go.

She’ll need to be separated from her current litter once she goes into labor, as the new babies will need all her milk.

How are her current kittens doing?

Mom needs unlimited kitten chow and wet food 24/7 to support the pregnancy and nursing.

 

[merree]

Her current babies are doing well, with the possible exception of one that looks like she has a heart condition. I've just relocated them from the kitten room downstairs into my bedroom so I can keep a close eye on that kitten. They have dry food all the time and a warm mush of soaked dry food mixed with fresh meat four times a day. I'll increase the wet food offerings.

The kittens will be desexed when they reach 1kg (around 8-9 weeks, so they should be gone before she has new kittens if she is pregnant again) and two of them will go back to the shelter to be adopted. We're keeping the third

 

[merree]

I'm really hoping she's not pregnant, poor girl. She's only young herself.

 

[Sarthur2]

I hope she’s not pregnant again either!

Does she have mastitis by any chance? Are her nipples red, swollen, or sore?

I’m concerned that something is bothering her.

She may need a vet check. The rounded, hard belly is not what is usually seen in nursing cats.

 

[merree]

I can't see any obvious problem with her nipples. She seems happy enough for the kittens to nurse from her, and she's even started playing with them now that they're a bit bigger and more interesting. She seems happy enough except for not wanting her sides touched. She will tolerate it from me but the children get a swipe if they try to stroke her there.

The roundness of her belly is quite subtle, probably only visible to us because she's otherwise slim. She has her normal hips and a waist, but below that is a fullness. We've run our hands over our own cats and compared how their bellies feel to what we're feeling when we touch her. They're soft all the way along whereas she seems to have hard things in her, easily felt when she's lying on her side and I run my hand over her. It doesn't seem to be painful, she just gets annoyed at me. I'm really crossing my fingers that she's just a bit constipated!

She's due for a vet check in the middle of the week. Easter has made it difficult to get anything done before then.

 

[Sarthur2]

Hopefully all will be well. Let us know how the vet check goes! She sounds healthy other than this tummy mystery!

 

[merree]

I will. In the meantime I guess all I can do is treat her like a pregnant princess until I know otherwise!

 

[merree]

Well, I now know otherwise. She was taken into care while she was in labour! Zero chance of pregnancy so we need to look for another explanation. My money is on a backed up colon.

 

[Sarthur2]

That or she has retained a placenta or her uterus has not healed properly.

An x-ray would show any of these possibilities.

However, if it was a retained placenta or other uterine problems she would likely have fever and infection, and not be eating well.

You can begin adding a few drops of olive oil to her food at each feeding. This will soften her poops in case it’s constipation.