Is my 10 month old kitten pregnant 😳

[Mumma2fourfurbabies]

Hello, first post here so hoping for some help!
A week ago I got brother and sister kittens, 10 months old from a local lady. Neither have been done but I have booked them in f or the 30th June!

I was told this lady in question kept breeding and breeding and selling (against the new law now ) I have attached a photo of missy's nipple. Do you think she is or is this normal?

Thank you, a very worried cat owner

Much love

 

[jefferd18]

Hello, first post here so hoping for some help!
A week ago I got brother and sister kittens, 10 months old from a local lady. Neither have been done but I have booked them in f or the 30th June!

I was told this lady in question kept breeding and breeding and selling (against the new law now ) I have attached a photo of missy's nipple. Do you think she is or is this normal?

Thank you, a very worried cat owner

Much love

It does look like her nipple is starting to pink up. However, I am not an expert so hopefully more members will come along. Yes, at ten months she can get pregnant.

 

[Mumma2fourfurbabies]

It does look like her nipple is starting to pink up. However, I am not an expert so hopefully more members will come along. Yes, at ten months she can get pregnant.

Thanks so much for replying! I've attached another photo although this one's a little harder to see due to the lighting. She's seeing the vet on the 30th either way so they can check but thought I would ask in the mean time

 

[Willowy]

At that age, if she's been around unneutered males, yeah, she probably is. Could be her brother's, too :/.

 

[Sarthur2]

I agree that she is most likely pregnant. I recommend that you get her spayed anyway next week. It’s early enough and it’s hard on kittens to have kittens themselves.

 

[cataholic07]

Yah if both siblings aren't fixed its likely she is pregnant from the brother. Get her spayed asap, it wouldn't be too far along if she is pregnant so not a major deal. She will be much happier in the long run as will you, you never know what kind of genetic health issues can pop up in kittens born from litter mates. Plus a young mom doesn't always care for her babies properly, even at all.

 

[Mumma2fourfurbabies]

Hello, me again! So missy's nipples are still pinking up from my last post. She's now got some fluttering going on in her tummy could this be kittens?

Also, even if not in season would she still mate?

Much love to you and your fur babies

 

[Sarthur2]

Yes, cats can and will mate anytime!

 

[lutece]

Also, even if not in season would she still mate?

What do you mean by "not in season"? Do you mean when it's not the typical season of the year for cats to mate, or do you mean when she is not in heat (estrus)?

 

[Mumma2fourfurbabies]

What do you mean by "not in season"? Do you mean when it's not the typical season of the year for cats to mate, or do you mean when she is not in heat (estrus)?

Yes sorry, not in heat

 

[lutece]

Yes sorry, not in heat

Usually females won't mate unless they are in heat, although sometimes they will allow themselves to be mounted by the male. Even if she does accept the male's advances, she cannot ovulate and get pregnant unless she's in heat.

However, symptoms of heat can sometimes be very subtle... so it's fairly common for a cat to get pregnant before the owner notices she is in heat.

 

[cataholic07]

If she has access to an unfixed male she would have bred before you even noticed she was in heat. And yes males can force a female to go into heat to.

 

[lutece]

Males cannot force a female into heat. That is a myth.

 

[Sarthur2]

I think what you mean is that cats are induced ovulators, so when a male copulates with a female, it stimulates ovulation and a cat can conceive.

Here is a link. Scroll to “At what stage of the estrous cycle is a cat able to get pregnant?”

Estrous Cycles in Cats

 

[lutece]

Cats are induced ovulators, but this doesn't mean they can ovulate and get pregnant at any time. They must first come into heat in order to be able to ovulate and get pregnant.

Heat cycles start with the development of ovarian follicles triggered by follicle stimulating hormone. Follicles then produce estradiol, which causes heat behavior, and also primes the body's hormones so that mating can produce a luteinizing hormone surge, leading to ovulation. Without ovarian follicles ready, and sufficient estradiol priming before mating, a cat will not ovulate and cannot become pregnant.

Cats are fertile enough as it is, there is no need to imagine that they can get pregnant when they aren't even in heat... It's also not necessary to blame feline pregnancy on males forcing themselves on females... Females come into heat frequently, and both males and females can be very determined to seek out mates.

 

[Mumma2fourfurbabies]

10 month old missy is pregnant! Been confirmed by the vets this morning!

I have no idea what I'm doing so I need as much advice as possible please on how to cope etc and make sure mums comfy etc

Much love

 

[Norachan]

Mumma2fourfurbabies This may not be what you want to hear, but I just wanted to let you know that it is possible to spay Missy now, before her kittens are born.

You mentioned in an earlier post that Missy and her brother came from a home where the cats were being bred without any concern for their welfare. I think you adopted them both so they could have a better life that that?

If they came from a home where there was a lot of in-breeding going on there is a possibility that the kittens will be born with genetic deformities. You also have to consider how many kittens are born every year, the possibilities of something going wrong during or after the birth, the difficulty of finding good homes for kittens, the expense of caring for a mother and her litter until you are able to re-home them and the thousands of cats euthanized in the US every year because of a shortage of people willing to adopt a cat.

I know that no one wants to spay a pregnant cat, but it is still possible to do that at this early stage and prevent these kittens ending up in a shelter.

If you decide to go ahead with the pregnancy then we are here for you, but please consider spaying her now, while there is still time.

 

[Mumma2fourfurbabies]

We did consider this however the vets confirmed she's too far gone for that to be an option

Mumma2fourfurbabies This may not be what you want to hear, but I just wanted to let you know that it is possible to spay Missy now, before her kittens are born.

You mentioned in an earlier post that Missy and her brother came from a home where the cats were being bred without any concern for their welfare. I think you adopted them both so they could have a better life that that?

If they came from a home where there was a lot of in-breeding going on there is a possibility that the kittens will be born with genetic deformities. You also have to consider how many kittens are born every year, the possibilities of something going wrong during or after the birth, the difficulty of finding good homes for kittens, the expense of caring for a mother and her litter until you are able to re-home them and the thousands of cats euthanized in the US every year because of a shortage of people willing to adopt a cat.

I know that no one wants to spay a pregnant cat, but it is still possible to do that at this early stage and prevent these kittens ending up in a shelter.

If you decide to go ahead with the pregnancy then we are here for you, but please consider spaying her now, while there is still time.

 

[Norachan]

We did consider this however the vets confirmed she's too far gone for that to be an option

Do you know when she is due to deliver?

We have a lot of articles about pregnant mothers and new born kittens. I suggest you read through as many as you can in order to prepare yourself.

Pregnant Cats And Kittens Articles

A good thing to get would be some KMR, bottles you can use if you need to supplement feed the kittens and some scales that you can use to track their weight.

 

[Mumma2fourfurbabies]

He said well over half way through, we took her and a male cat we have (her cousin) to be done today. Dj is having his op as we speak and missy obviously couldn't go ahead. I warned the vet there's a possibility she might be pregnant from living with previous owner and he confirmed he felt a few embryos and she's probably due any time in the next 2 weeks. Other than that she's a very healthy kitty . I will be looking up all the articles and doing plenty of research too. Thank you