Our 11 month old female, Daisy, recently managed to escape the house while in heat (we had planned to spay her but she went into heat and our vet prefers not to spay in season females so we were waiting it out). She is our breaking and entering expert (always opening and getting into various cupboards, drawers, etc in the house) and with the added inspiration of being in heat someone managed to pry open our sliding glass door (it *bounces* and sits about 1-2" ajar if it is closed too hard.....which is what we figure must have happened w/out anyone noticing) and get out
. She wasn't out *that* long as she returned w/in the day but it has become apparent she was out long enough to find a boyfriend.
I noticed her changes a couple of weeks ago and with her recent escape in mind it seemed pretty likely she was pregnant - I took her to the vet and he palpated her to confirm the pregnancy and he thought she felt to be at about 50 days.......BUT.....though I am not 100% sure I *think* by my memory of when she escaped it would have been more along the lines of 32-34 days. I am wondering how accurate the dating by palpation generally is because if he is right then that would mean she hit 63 days yesterday but I don't see much (other than her admittedly pretty large abdomen at this point) evidence of her being that close (her nipples are a little larger and quite pink but no "bagging up" or milky substance present, appetite is normal/ravenous, very very minimal nesting behaviour, normal steady temp, etc). It is important that we are on top of things w/her as with a 6 month old Great Dane pup and a 3 year old little boy in the home we need to confine her/the kittens for their own safety but if she still has over 2 weeks (if my date was right she should be at 46-47 days) left to go confining her to the room we have chosen will probably just stress her more than help.
Also - for those with experience who used rectal temp as a monitor....how true has it held, in your experience, with the drop in temp coming 12-24 hours in advance of labor/delivery?? (I have had litters before but that was with farm cats so it wasn't the in house watching/monitoring situation we are in now)
I noticed her changes a couple of weeks ago and with her recent escape in mind it seemed pretty likely she was pregnant - I took her to the vet and he palpated her to confirm the pregnancy and he thought she felt to be at about 50 days.......BUT.....though I am not 100% sure I *think* by my memory of when she escaped it would have been more along the lines of 32-34 days. I am wondering how accurate the dating by palpation generally is because if he is right then that would mean she hit 63 days yesterday but I don't see much (other than her admittedly pretty large abdomen at this point) evidence of her being that close (her nipples are a little larger and quite pink but no "bagging up" or milky substance present, appetite is normal/ravenous, very very minimal nesting behaviour, normal steady temp, etc). It is important that we are on top of things w/her as with a 6 month old Great Dane pup and a 3 year old little boy in the home we need to confine her/the kittens for their own safety but if she still has over 2 weeks (if my date was right she should be at 46-47 days) left to go confining her to the room we have chosen will probably just stress her more than help.
Also - for those with experience who used rectal temp as a monitor....how true has it held, in your experience, with the drop in temp coming 12-24 hours in advance of labor/delivery?? (I have had litters before but that was with farm cats so it wasn't the in house watching/monitoring situation we are in now)