Ok, well Miki is 9 months old and I got her a few weeks ago. She was a stray stuck in a tree for two days. At first she was distant and jumpy but once settled (took her only a few hours to call the place home. She acts like she owns the place.) she immediatly became very affectionate and demanded to be loved on everytime someone came near. She kept me up during the night wanting to be loved on and wouldn't let me sleep. I'm wondering if she could possibly be in heat or already be pregnant. I've heard females make a lot of noise when in heat, and she's actually pretty quite and doesn't really hang round the back door really. I can't get her seen by a vet for another 3 weeks, so I won't know for sure until then, but I just wanted to see what you guys had to say about it. I've never seen a cat this affectionate before so I'm kind of curious to know if she's pregnant.
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Pregnant or in Heat?
- Thread starter soka
- Start Date
If she is 9 months old she almost definately has come into heat for the first time by now. One of the main symptoms of being in heat is raising her butt way up into the air with her front end crouched down on the ground. In mating position.
As for pregnancy, if she is that old, unspayed and was on her own outside, I would say chances are very likely that she is pregnant. If you have other cats, I would keep her seperate because she could have a disease and you don't want to pass it to them. Any way you could take her to a different vet to be seen sooner?
As for pregnancy, if she is that old, unspayed and was on her own outside, I would say chances are very likely that she is pregnant. If you have other cats, I would keep her seperate because she could have a disease and you don't want to pass it to them. Any way you could take her to a different vet to be seen sooner?
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- #3
Wonderful. Well is there any other symptoms of pregnancy I can look for? I know the nipples are supposed to get pink or something like that. I didn't really check for that, but she is overly affectionate. Obnoxiously affectionate. She kept me up alllllll night wanting me to pet her.
That doesn't usually happen until a few weeks into it. I believe cats are pregnant for 65ish days. What you can do is take her in to be spayed without knowing either way. Tell the vet that she is a stray and could posibly be pregnant, she could possibly even be spayed already, but you don't know. So just spay her and if you feel bad about it, tell the vet you don't want to know. That is what I do when I find stray pregnant females. I don't want to deal with having to vaccinate and spay and neuter and deworm all those kittens and the mother and feed them and worry that they might be born with some disease carried by the mom, or the mom might ignore them and I will have to bottle feed them every 2 hours, etc...plus I don't want to be adding to the overpopluation and then having to worry about finding forever homes for them...
Remember she might not even be pregnant, just a pretty good guess that an unspayed female most likely would be.
Remember she might not even be pregnant, just a pretty good guess that an unspayed female most likely would be.
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- #5
Well I would feel really bad about spaying her if she's pregnant. I know I'll have some money to devote to her and any possible kittens, so if she does turn out pregnant, I'm going to let her go through with it. My mom knows about animal births and can help me through that. (She has assisted in everything from dogs to horses.) I'm really hoping she's not, but if she turns out to be, I'll be ready to do everything I can.
What about eating habits. Do pregnant cats eat a lot more than regular cats? Miki seems to eat a lot. She probably eats more than either of my yorkies.
What about eating habits. Do pregnant cats eat a lot more than regular cats? Miki seems to eat a lot. She probably eats more than either of my yorkies.
She may eat some more. If she is pregnant, she needs high quality kitten food (Nutro or Chicken Soup For The Cat Lover Soul are good ones) from now until the babies are weaned at 10-12 weeks old. She can also get pregnant as soon as a week or two after having the babies so just keep her inside until then.
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- #7
It would really be best to take her to the vet to be looked at, especially since if she ISN'T preggers you can go ahead and spay her and if she is then you will know for sure. But you may notice increase appetite, pinker nipples, rounder belly, typical signs like that.
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- #9
Oh and assuming she is, get some nesting materials together, especially since you probably won't know when she is due. When it gets closer, she will build a littel nest wherever she feels safest. Remember that the place she chooses isn't always ideal for you so you may need to close her into a room to build her nest there. If you have other cats, especially males, they need to stay away until the babies are older.
That I do not know, I have never personally had a pregnant cat from conception to birth, I have taken in pregnant strays but I spay them immediately and I have seen cats at the shelter I worked at give birth. Most came in pregnant and showing or else had a horrible birthing, like one had her babies in the litterbox and covered them because she was too young, only 10 months old or so and had no idea what to do with them or what was going on, poor thing.
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- #12
We have no other cats so male cats are not a problem. If she is pregnant, she isn't showing yet. The main things that are causing me to suspect is mainly the appetite and the affection. I have never seen a cat become so attached to someone they barely know so quickly. Its to the point that she follows people and demands attention at all hours of the night. I swear, the cat was just really really obnoxious with it. If she is pregnant, she probably will give birth sometime after I get home from college, which is a good thing. I'll be able to be there for her. We've given her a black cage that was supposed to be for my mom's new dog but the dog hates the cage so she gave it to me for the cat and the cat has taken to it wonderfully and loves to sleep in it. The cage wasn't out there for even five minutes and she was curled up inside it sleeping like a baby. If anything she'll probably choose it for a nest. Its dark and warm.
Hello
Well we took in a stray off the street and she was VERY very very loving.
We had thought she might be pregnant because of being a stray plus her nipples were slightly enlarged. Turns out she was just going into heat.
Im the same as you and if she was pregnant I would have waited to get her fixed. Only time will tell if shes pregnant with the weight gain in that rounded belly.
When you take her to the vet in 3 weeks they may have some idea but otherwise you will need to just wait and see. My vet when I called said only time tells until the babies are bigger and the bones can be picked up on an Xray.
Good luck with your kitty. And enjoy the loving.
Seems to me they missed out on that by being outside and just cant seem to get enough of it once you take them in.
Well we took in a stray off the street and she was VERY very very loving.
Im the same as you and if she was pregnant I would have waited to get her fixed. Only time will tell if shes pregnant with the weight gain in that rounded belly.
Good luck with your kitty. And enjoy the loving.
You know, she could just have been a stray long enough that she is LOVING the attention she is now getting. Maybe she was ignored at her previous home. Never know.
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- #15
Well she's to the point that I had to put her in her carrier during the night just so I could sleep without having her rubbing against me or laying on my face to wake me up. That's how she'd wake me up. She'd either claw at me or lay on my face. I've taken in cats before that didn't have much attention as kittens, but none of them were this bad. And she eats like a pig. I will definatly have her checked in 3 weeks by a vet and in the meantime I'll get my grandmother to watch out for the pink nipples and swelling of the belly.
Ya she might just be pregnant, but on the other hand, my 3 female cats are exactly the same way and they are spayed. Only one was pregnant when we got her and quickley spayed, the other 2 were spayed at 8 weeks old before ever going into heat. NEver know, justhave her looked at in 3 weeks and then go from there.
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- #17
It depends on if you go to a regular vet or a low cost clinic. I would go the low cost route. I think it would be best to find one and then call and ask them for their prices. I mean a regular vet could charge hundreds of dollar to spay and neuter all the kittens and the mother and vaccinate everyone, deworm all and test the mother (actually I would suggest doing this if they can when you take her in 3 weeks to be looked at, if she is positive for FeLV or FIV then you will need to spay her because you don't want to breed positive kittens, that would be awful)
This is kind of off topic but how are your cute little yorkies reacting to your new cat? Do they get along with her? I just wonder because my mom has a yorkie as well who doesn't get along well with his kitty brother.
I hope you have some luck with your pretty girl and she is not pregnant.
I hope you have some luck with your pretty girl and she is not pregnant.
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- #20
The two yorkies have not officially met Miki yet. They would bark and sniff at the door to the bedroom, but they couldn't get to her. Lacey on the other hand, has met Miki and they get along fine. Miki seems a bit annoyed by the Silkey Terrier, but she just walks away. My mother is worried that she will attack Lacey though.
