# Pregnancy Signs?



## ofallxtoxpieceso (Sep 6, 2011)

Back story: I have had cats my entire life, but they were always spayed or neutered so I've never actually seen a pregnant cat. For the past week or so I had been hearing yowling at night, but couldn't find the culprit. 2 nights ago I finally saw her. It was dark outside and my bf wouldn't let me bring her because he was concerned about fleas (she has little scabs all over her body which I believe may be from fleas or other small bugs), she was fairly small and I guessed she was maybe around 4 months old. Yesterday I finally saw her in the light and while she is small, she doesn't have a kitten face. So I'm guessing she's anywhere from 7 months to just under a year old. It started to rain last night and is supposed to rain bad all week so I went against my bf's wishes and brought her in  I bathed her with Dawn and settled her into the bathroom with food, litter, and a bed. 

On to my question: She has medium-length/longish hair so I couldn't really tell much about her physically until I got her in the house and gave her a bath. I noticed her nipples stick out and are kind of dangly. They are skin-color pink and have no fur around them. She also has no fur on the bottom of her stomach toward her privates. Her stomach bulges slightly (barely noticeable visibly), I didn't realize it until I felt it. Occasionally when she lays down I see a one or two bulges in her stomach, but they're not round like I've read it would be if it is a kitten. Her stomach is firm and the roundness is further down on her body, after her rib cage. I will be taking her to the vet as soon as I get paid, but I was wondering if there are other signs I should be looking for that may hint whether she's pregnant or not? 

My boyfriend doesn't want to keep her because I'm not supposed to be changing cat litter (14 weeks pregnant), he's not fond of cats, and we already have a 3-yr-old boy and a 5-month-old hyper puppy. But she is just the sweetest thing and I couldn't stand the idea of her being stuck out in the cold rainy weather we're having this week.

I'm currently at work and my email is not cooperating, so I only have this one picture currently. I'll update with more when I get home.


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## Lineth (Apr 12, 2011)

*Awwwwwwwwww she is so cute..*

She is so cute. Please don't abandon her!!!!


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## ofallxtoxpieceso (Sep 6, 2011)

She is adorable. I want to keep her, but I don't know if my boyfriend will lit me (it's his house). If he does say she can't stay I'm at least going to convince him to let me find her a home and I will be taking her to the vet to be vaccinated and spayed before then


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## Sinatra-Butters (Aug 9, 2010)

You should be fine cleaning the litter box as long as you wear gloves and a mask. I however have no idea how to tell if a cat is pregnant. Good on you for rescuing her. You should be proud of yourself and in my opinion your boyfriend should be proud of you too, but I understand that sometimes opinions can vary and I would never tell you what to do in that case.


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## ofallxtoxpieceso (Sep 6, 2011)

*Pictures*

Here are the pictures, my emails finally came through.




































Closeup of her belly. 

Thanks, I just couldn't leave her outside where she would most likely die. It's been so warm here and then suddenly last night the temperature dropped to the low 50s and it started pouring and is supposed to keep up all week. All I could think was that the poor thing was going to catch pneumonia or something. I'm hoping someone with experience can give me some advice until I can get her to the vet next week.


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## Julie Carvill (Jun 30, 2010)

She looks preggers to me. Get her spayed ASAP.


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## christinaja (Aug 28, 2011)

She does look pregnant, but with the description you've given, it sounds more like she has recently had kittens. Does she seem to be frantic to get back outside?


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## ofallxtoxpieceso (Sep 6, 2011)

If she is indeed pregnant I will be getting her spayed after the kittens arrive and are weaned. I will also be getting the kittens fixed as soon as they are old enough before I find homes for them. On the contrary, she absolutely loves being in the house. I let her explore when my boyfriend isn't home (shh don't tell) and she hasn't shown any interest in going outside. She climbs right into her little makeshift bed and snuggles up to sleep. She's thin (with a little bulge to her lower stomach) but doesn't look starved and the neighbors had been feeding her for a few days before we took her in. It's possible she had the kittens and they didn't make it , less than 2 weeks ago we got hit with a tropical storm from Hurricane Irene. The damage wasn't terrible but our area had a lot of flooding and downed trees and power lines.She's been around for about a week or so(that I know of) and none of the neighbors have seen or heard kittens. Our house backs up to power lines with a lot of overgrowth and hiding spots. The day I ended up taking her in I was out there looking for her around the bushes and behind the neighbors shed (people have reported little kitty faces peeking out of the holes previously), but didn't see/hear any other cats. I found her laying under one of the neighbors cars. I'll be booking her a vet appointment next week so hopefully they can give me a good idea of what's going on.


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## Sinatra-Butters (Aug 9, 2010)

There is also the option of having the babies aborted, which I believe JulieC was suggesting. This, while sad, is usually the best option in a situation like this. It would prevent the cats having to be put down once they are born if no homes are found.


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## ofallxtoxpieceso (Sep 6, 2011)

I assumed that was what she was suggesting and while I am not judging people who decide it is best, I personally couldn't do it. I have rehomed several kittens previously (a friend of mine worked on a delivery truck in a major city and brought me several strays) and would do my best to find families for any kittens. She will absolutely be kept indoors and spayed and if she has kittens they will be fixed prior to leaving my home.


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## my5kitties (Sep 13, 2005)

Sinatra-Butters said:


> There is also the option of having the babies aborted, which I believe JulieC was suggesting. This, while sad, is usually the best option in a situation like this. It would prevent the cats having to be put down once they are born if no homes are found.





ofallxtoxpieceso said:


> I assumed that was what she was suggesting and while I am not judging people who decide it is best, I personally couldn't do it. I have rehomed several kittens previously (a friend of mine worked on a delivery truck in a major city and brought me several strays) and would do my best to find families for any kittens. She will absolutely be kept indoors and spayed and if she has kittens they will be fixed prior to leaving my home.


The ONLY reason I had Momo's kittens aborted when I took her in is because Momo was a) very small for her age and b) she was about 6 months old. When we brought her to the vet, the vet examined her and said that she was 7 weeks pregnant. She still had two weeks to go and the kittens were getting bigger. After her spay, the vet told me that Momo was carrying 6 kittens. Those kittens would have been very small and more than likely would not have made it. Momo is also a very small girl. She weighed in at 7.75 lbs...while pregnant. I also believe that Momo would not have survived giving birth because of how little she was/is.

My girl is now almost 9 months old. She's a bit taller than when we first brought her in, but she's still very petite. 

If faced with that decision again (and I pray that I won't be), I would have to take a lot into consideration. I wasn't comfortable having the kittens aborted, but I knew it would be better for Momo in the long run.


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## ofallxtoxpieceso (Sep 6, 2011)

I have nothing against people who have it done and I understand that there are definitely cases in which continuing the pregnancy would be dangerous or detrimental to the health/life of either the mother and/or the babies. I'm going to be taking her to the vet next week and see what he thinks. If she is pregnant I'll get his professional opinion on whether she can safely carry and deliver the litter. In your shoes I would absolutely have considered having it done since it was a threat to the mother and the babies probably wouldn't have made it. The stray (I've been putting of naming her because my boyfriend absolutely doesn't want her  The neighbor's daughter was calling her Serenity) is also a very small cat so she may be in the same position as your Momo.


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## Lenkolas (Jan 18, 2011)

Sinatra-Butters said:


> You should be proud of yourself and in my opinion your boyfriend should be proud of you too, but I understand that sometimes opinions can vary and I would never tell you what to do in that case.


That. I am sorry your boyfriend is not supporting you on this...but despite this complicated situation you're facing, you have to know that you are an angel for doing this. Thank you so much.

Regarding pregnancy.... I'm sorry to say I can't give you a definitive answer and probably no one but the vet will. However, I can tell you that both pregnant/recently pregnant are equally possible. I rescued a feral mom last year and I could swear she was pregnant (and I also faced the abortion dilemma) but it ended up being that she had given birth to four kittens 3 weeks before that. It definitely could be that she had birth and kittens didn't make it....

If your bf refuses to keep her, maybe you can find a foster home for her until she (or "they", mom and kittens) can be rehomed. Gosh I wish I could help you! But I have a little bit of a distance problem :?

She looks adorable  good luck, keep us posted please!

Hugs


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## catloverami (Jul 5, 2010)

Thanks for rescuing this little sweet black girl. I'm sorry your partner isn't supportive of your good deed. 
It's definitely possible that she recently had a litter and lost her kittens. Usually _firm pink_ nipples indicate pregnancy, whereas white "nipples stick out and are kind of dangly" would indicate she had been nursing, and the hair missing around the nipples gets worn off by the kittie's suckling. Kitties usually claim one (or sometimes two) nipples, so you can usually guess how many kitties she had. The missing hair in the lower part of her abdomen looks to be caused from overgrooming and not some skin disease. Cats under stress will do that. Perhaps the yowling you heard was her calling for her kittens if they had perished. It's all guessing at this point and I'll be interested to hear what the vet has to say. I do hope she's not pregnant and that you will get her spayed before she comes into heat (as your partner will not want to put up with that kind of yowling). All the best and hope you'll give us an update.


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## Julie Carvill (Jun 30, 2010)

I admire you for taking in this gorgeous cat. 

My past experience with young stray pregnant cats has not been good. They have abandoned their kittens, ended up with infections, etc. When I was growing up my sister's unspayed cat got out, ended up pregnant and had to have the pregnancy terminated due to contracting a bad infection in her reproductive organs.

My friends recently found a stray pregnant cat that had a hernia and kittens were actually growing in her chest cavity. The vet performed surgery and was unable to save the cat. The kittens were delivered premature by c-section. The kittens barely survived, and my friends had many sleepless nights bottle feeding and watching these babies almost 24/7. I imagine they have large vet bills. Now they have to find homes for 5 kittens. The shelters and rescue groups are FULL.

Last year someone brought a litter of kittens into our shelter with distemper. This compromised the health of all of the cats in the shelter, and I imagine some had to be put down. 

Long story short...in my area there are so many homeless cats and many of the stray females are at risk when they become pregnant. 

No one wants to terminate kittens.


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## MowMow (Nov 6, 2010)

Good on your for taking this gal in and helping her.

Imo, keep the mama and all her kittens (fixed of course) and get rid of bf :wink
Let him take the puppy with him.


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## granitestatecat (Apr 17, 2011)

ofallxtoxpieceso said:


> I have nothing against people who have it done and I understand that there are definitely cases in which continuing the pregnancy would be dangerous or detrimental to the health/life of either the mother and/or the babies. I'm going to be taking her to the vet next week and see what he thinks. If she is pregnant I'll get his professional opinion on whether she can safely carry and deliver the litter. In your shoes I would absolutely have considered having it done since it was a threat to the mother and the babies probably wouldn't have made it. The stray (I've been putting of naming her because my boyfriend absolutely doesn't want her  The neighbor's daughter was calling her Serenity) is also a very small cat so she may be in the same position as your Momo.


a little off subject but if you are living there and having his baby then it is your home too and you have a right to be part of the decision to keep the cat


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## ofallxtoxpieceso (Sep 6, 2011)

*update*



MowMow said:


> Good on your for taking this gal in and helping her.
> 
> Imo, keep the mama and all her kittens (fixed of course) and get rid of bf :wink
> Let him take the puppy with him.


I like your thinking  He's a good guy he is just completely not a cat person. I think it's because his ex brought home a cat and it got super protective of her and when he would try to touch her the cat would freak out. They couldn't even have it in the bedroom at night because it would literally attack him lmao I was like I have never ever seen a cat like that, must have been the ex's personality rubbing off on the cat  (OT, but my only problem with her is she's a crappy mother. He has full custody of his 3-yr-old because when the baby was around 6 months old she didn't show up to see him for 3 months. And now she took him 2 weekends in a row because she doesn't want to take him on her weekend next week because it's the start of her week's vacation from work). 

He still says we're not keeping her, but she's been here a week already  His latest complaint is stepping on litter when he gets out of the shower, so today I bought a pan with a guard around 3 sides and am going to try to get her acclimated to pelleted litter. She's been kicking and tracking litter all over the bathroom. I'm crossing my fingers that she'll use it.

Anyway, updates on the little girl...
I treated her with Frontline for the fleas on Saturday and she seems to be scratching much less. She's been licking her scabs alot though causing some light bleeding and little bits of hair to fall out. If she keeps it up there may be a cone in her future. I'll be making her an appointment at the end of this week so hopefully the vet can clear some things up for me.


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## Sinatra-Butters (Aug 9, 2010)

I have to keep our litter box in the corner of the kitchen (we live in a very small place and that is the only place for our giant litter box) and to cut down on the mess I sweep morning and night (it literally takes 30 seconds) and then use the Swiffer wet clothes on the floor. It takes about 2 minutes total and keeps the place clean.


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## ofallxtoxpieceso (Sep 6, 2011)

I've been vacuuming the bathroom everyday, but the litter is getting stuck in between the tiles and stuff. She used the litter with the pellets this morning so it looks like that problem is taken care of


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## blondie1483 (Jan 19, 2011)

Looking forward to see what happens next. Did you make the vet appt? When will it be?


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## catloverami (Jul 5, 2010)

_ofallxtoxpieceso _said: _"I'll be making her an appointment at the end of this week so hopefully the vet can clear some things up for me." _


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