Cat Pregnancy Signs
If you have a female cat that is not spayed, it is important to know the cat pregnancy signs. Any unspayed female cat that spends any time outdoors could become pregnant without anyone knowing about it.
Knowing cat pregnancy signs will help you keep a lookout for a potential pregnancy, allowing you to take the best care of your cat and her kittens. If you plan on breeding a cat, knowing the signs of pregnancy in cats will also help you in providing the best care for her and her kittens.
Unfortunately, there is not an early detection pregnancy test for cats as there is for humans. You can’t draw their blood or ask them to pee on a stick to know whether or not she is carrying a litter of kittens. But there are symptoms to look for.
At the earliest stages of pregnancy, your cat may not exhibit any symptoms because her hormones do not begin to change until a little later in the pregnancy. You may see only a slight weight gain. The kittens are too small to begin to change her body shape, and they are too small to feel. For the first two weeks, you will likely not know kitty is pregnant.
If you are trying to breed your cat, you can try to detect the presence of kittens by ultrasound in your vet’s office around 15 days after conception. If you suspect an unplanned pregnancy in your cat, you will not be able to tell anything for sure until day 15.
Around 20 days after the cat becomes pregnant, the vet can see the heartbeat with an ultrasound. Also around day 20, an experienced vet can feel around the queen’s abdomen for the presence of the kittens. This must be done with the most extreme care because an inaccurate prodding of the mother’s belly can rupture the placentas of the kittens.
While cats don’t exhibit many symptoms early on, you may see symptoms of morning sickness in your queen between weeks three and four. Some cats will turn away from their food, and others will experience vomiting. If you don’t suspect pregnancy, you may even miss that the morning sickness occurred because it is usually very short lived. If you find your cat turning away food for more than a couple days, or if she is not drinking water, be sure to have her checked out by your vet.
The late onset of morning sickness is due to the later change of hormones in cats. While in people, pregnancy hormones are present very early, in cats the detection of hormone changes does not set in until later. Around week 30, the vet may be able to use a pregnancy test. It was originally designed to detect pregnancy in dogs, but some use it for cats.
By day 35, you will see kitty’s belly growing. You may also notice that her nipples become pink and more obvious. Sometimes her breasts will enlarge, but that is also a symptom cats experience in the normal heat cycle. If you notice these symptoms, take your cat to the vet for a diagnosis. Some cats may also begin to excrete milk around day 35.
An ultrasound may be the best tool for helping the vet provide proper care for the queen early in the pregnancy, but later an X-ray is a better tool. While an X-ray should not be used early in the pregnancy, later it can help the vet identify the number of fetuses present, as well as evaluate the growth process and bone structure of each kitten.
Six weeks into the queen’s pregnancy, her physical shape will change obviously. Her abdomen will have a distinct pear shape. Within two weeks of delivery, you will be able to feel the kittens move when you place your hand on mom’s tummy.
The gestation period for cats typically averages 65 days. If kittens are born between 63 and 69 days, the gestation is considered normal. Some breeds carry longer. Kittens that are born before day 60 usually are to underdeveloped to survive.
Whether you are trying to breed your female cat or you don’t want to spay her yet, you need to know how to recognize cat pregnancy signs. An unspayed cat can easily get pregnant in just a few minutes away from your sight. In order to provide the best care for your queen and her kittens, you need to know what her pregnancy signs will be.
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