My female cat got out and now I am afraid she my be pregnant. She is not real young but I would still consider her a kitten. She hasn’t went into her heat stage yet and I am looking to find signs of a possible pregnancy. I have never noticed her nipples before but now if I run my fingers on her belly I can feel them? Do you have any tips for figuring out if she is pregnant early on?
Anonymous (username wild flower)
Hi there. I’ll answer your question asap. Other regular PoCers are better qualified than me to answer your question which is why I published it as an article. You should get some answers within 24 hours.
What you might like to do is tell us in a comment why you did not have her spayed as soon as possible as that would have prevented this happening. If she is pregnant you’ll have to find homes for the litter unless you take care of them yourself.
Thanks and good luck.
Yes well worth the battle scars and I wish I was still young and fit enough to do as much physically 🙁
It is especially frightening for some of the last in a colony. They become trap shy after watching and listening. There were a few times that I had to go out with a blanket or comforter, throw it over them, and fight them into a trap. I hated it but it had to be done. Sometimes, it was 3 or 4AM and very cold. I cried a lot but was happy to bring them in out of the cold until they could be taken in. I bear a lot of battle scars, but it’s all worth it.
I know it has to be done but my heart ached for the ferals we TNR when we were feral officers for CP, they are so frightened when the trap springs. It must be such a shock for them being handled, yes a very tricky business all round. We’ve spent some hours and shed some tears over the colonies here.
They are released at the end of the same day. I took them in at 7AM and picked them up at 5PM. It was rare for me to return them to the colony until the next morning. I usually kept them in their trap (I have some pretty big ones) with food, water, and a mat to sleep on in my bedroom with me. Sometimes, a small litter box which some figured out and some not. The clinic would place the mat for me while they were still sedated. The rest I did at home. Very tricky business.
Sutures were dispersable, yes.
Ultrasound at the 15 days stage can now maybe confirm pregnancy, but the kittens heartbeats can’t usually be heard until day 24. So I’d think waiting until then to confirm the kittens are alive would be worth it. If anything wrong is detected it’s still not too late to spay the cat without too much danger.
Late spaying is pretty dangerous as there is a lot more blood, it’s almost like a Caesarean and very distressing to see the kittens dying in the uterus.
I’d be worried about a feral going through it, do your vets return them with dispersable stitches as soon as possible or keep them confined?