Is my stray cat pregnant??

by cj
(England)

Hi, well a couple of weeks ago a stray cat sort of adopted me, I saw her on the monday and stroked her and by the wednesday she had moved in. I did the necessary stuff, phoned the vets around us and checked the lost cats and gave our details, checked to see if she was microchipped, she wasnt. I noticed in her first few days that she ate everything and anything she could find which is understandable for a stray, but she was a very healthy stray and had a bit of a belly on her, which started me off thinking. I looked it up online and read that you can feel the kittens in the belly, hear the bubbling of amniotic fluid, see that the nipples are pink and enlarged and that they stay close to the house, eat more or less and get occasional morning sickness.

Well i checked her stomach and felt a sort of round hard yet soft ball near her ribs between her side and the bottom of the belly, im not sure if the nipples have pinked, ive compared them to my other cat and they are pinker and bigger than hers but not by much. I hear little bubbling when i listen to the ball and its different to the gargle of her stomach. We took her to the vets where a nurse and vet had a quick feel and i mean a quick feel, it wasnt thorough. And they said it was very very unlikely she was pregnant and we should probably put her on a diet. But since then ive noticed she doesnt go anywhere but the house, our garden and next doors garden and that shes really loving and affectionate. Recently she ate her dinner, then ran upstairs and was sick in our bedroom and has also recently bin getting quite touchy when i feel her stomach, she doesnt really mind when i check her nipples but if i go to her lower abdomen she lets me know she doesnt like it, by growling and rolling over and walking away, occassionally scratching.
I dont know her history so i dont know whether her personality has changed of whether her nipples are pinker and bigger than usual or even if her bellys different, we dont know if shes spayed either so..
please let me know what you think from the information ive given you if you think she is pregnant or not, because id like to take care of her properly if she is. Thankyou.
Also her stomach is quite hard!

Reply
Hi
First of all I want to say this. What on earth is your vet doing? I can't believe he hasn't provided you with more help regarding her condition. yes it would take further tests etc to discover if she is spayed etc but thats what he should be doing. Plus if he thinks she is not pregnant could he explain the lump in her belly etc.

I'm sorry but i hear it time and again when a vet leaves a owner still guessing and not knowing what to do for the best. Sorry but it makes me mad, i have a wonderful vet and it breaks my heart to think of other cats not getting the same attention.

Anyway back to your situation. well there is not much you can do really. if she was pregnant it often doesn't show until the final weeks. Also vomiting et is not really a sign at all and much of her symptoms could be put down to her being so grateful to having a new home (the affection, the change and abundance in food etc).

All it is not a good idea to keep feeling for a possible kitten, it can actually damage the kitten inside if there was one, that is why a vet should do it as they know what they are touching etc.

All i can suggest is that you keep an eye on her over the coming week and see if there are any other possible signs of illness (if she is not pregnant and something else is going on), not eating, not playing etc. If so then another trip to the vets will be necessary.

if she is pregnant then all the care she needs is to be given good cat food and lost of affection which i'm sure she is getting anyway. there really isn't any extra care they need other than that.

i have lots of pages on my site regarding cat pregnancy and care etc which you may find of further help if it turns out she is pregnant.

https://www.our-happy-cat.com/cat-pregnancy.html

Hope all is well, she looks like a great cat to me :)

best wishes kate

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