Pregnant or just fat?

[Ally Cat's Mommy]

Any suggestions how to differentiate between a FAT CAT and a mom-to-be??

I have been caught out before, trapping a "pregnant" stray who enjoyed a 6-week stay at our shelter, whilst we waited for her to deliver. Turned out she was just over-eating, so she was spayed and released.

Kissy (who lives in my garden) looks like she has a basket ball in her belly right now! I don't want to trap her and take her to the shelter unless she IS pregnant. Should I be able to feel if she is preggy? Will her tummy feel hard (which it DOES)???

Help!!

[catcrazylady]

I know when Pervy was expecting she got really big. Towards the end when she would lay still I could lay my hand on her tummy and feel the kittens move. I don't remember her getting a real hard tummy until the last couple weeks. I figured I would be able to tell how close the time was based on her teets. NOT! She was so stretched that I couldn't tell she had milk! Her teets are always real pink anyway so I was at a loss for awhile as to whether she was pregnant or not, until the very end.
I know I have not helped you at all but it sounds like your kitty might be. Can you trap her and take her in just to find out? You could always bring her back if she is just a pudgy!!

[catlover4ever]

I remember when my mom started taking care of a little stary that we called Tiger-Lily. We were not sure if she was pregnant or just plain puggy. Well after a few weeks her tummy started to almost drag on the ground and while she was alying you could see her tummy move....that's when we knew she was pregnant not puggy.

Now my Mystic...when she showed up at my door step I thought she was pregnant because her stomach was huge. I kept palpating her tummy to see if I could feel the kittens but her tummy was so hard....turns out she had worms really bad and that she was not pregnant (she had already been "fixed" by whoever abandoned her).

Hope some of this helps, please keep us posted. --- Meg

[jenluckenbach]

Maybe she should be trapped any way because like mentioned, it could be a bad case of worms.
I also know you can look at the nipples for color but I won't act like an expert here because I've only been around 2 pregnant cats in my whole life and one was as a child and one was Bonnie who did not let me near her before she gave birth.

[stacwase]

Well whatever you do, don't congratulate her and ask her when she's due! If she is just fat she'll be highly insulted.

[Tubby & Peanut's Mom]

I'm not going to be much help either, but I know when Goofy first started hanging around my mom's house, he was a skinny thing and then all of a sudden he ballooned up and got the biggest tummy on him! Obviously he wasn't pregnant because he was a he and had been fixed, but he sure looked like he was! And his stomach was hard too. Turns out he had worms. It took awhile to get rid of them, but now he's a sleek, fit cat.

So, if nobody else comes up with a good way to tell, you might want to trap her and have a vet check her out and if it is just worms, you can always treat and release her. But if she is pregnant it sounds like she's due any day now, so you might want to trap her just to be sure.

Good luck!

[Ally Cat's Mommy]

Originally posted by stacwase
Well whatever you do, don't congratulate her and ask her when she's due! If she is just fat she'll be highly insulted.

I have put on a load of weight since we moved to Bahrain, and about 14 months ago someone who I hadn't seen for a while patted my tummy and asked when I am due I still get upset thinking about it

But you are right, I WILL have to be VERY tactful when I have a chat to her.

The suggestion of worms has got me worried - I think I'll trap her anyway and let the vet give her a check. She actually is an abandoned pet, and lives on my front porch. She allows us to handle her, and even pick her up. It's heartbreaking because when I go outside and pet her, she cries and follows me to the door when I come back inside!


I took some pics of her today:



It's hard to see in the pics, but she is REALLY ROUND!

[stacwase]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Ally Cat's Mommy
[B]I have put on a load of weight since we moved to Bahrain, and about 14 months ago someone who I hadn't seen for a while patted my tummy and asked when I am due I still get upset thinking about it

Somebody did that to me last week, and I've actually LOST weight! I was in tears! I'm not big - only a size 10. That's not that big, is it? She patted my belly and said "congratulations".

You wouldn't want to hurt the kitty's feelings that way.

[catland]

Check her nipples. They should be pink and the fur around them should be thinning out. (Its called "pinking up" and occurs three weeks into the 9 week pregnancy). Also, if she is pregnant and depending on how pregnant, you really don't want to be squeezing her abdomen too hard or you could damage the kittens.

[CatDad]

I have absolutely no experience in this area, so am of no help.

I would however suggest trapping her and getting her checked. I would be worried about the worms thing. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Also, I loved the part about being careful when talking to her.

Julie and Stacey just remember that some people have no tact and just taken with a grain of salt. I am sure that you are just fine.

[Fox-Gal]

All's I know is when I got Lita, pregant, there was no question about it. She was only fat in the middle, if you looked at her from the back it looked like she was carring two saddle bags. The rest of her was normal size. Same thing with a stray I found a while back ago.

It's the meowing that makes me wonder, Lita did that all the time when she was pregant and she had to be around people and that is not like her at all now.

The pictures just make her look fat to me, but then who knows.

[K & L]

Her nipples should become pink.
• Gradual weight gain of about 2-4 pounds.
• Swollen abdomen.
• Exhibits "nesting" behavior.

By four to five weeks after conception, your vet will be able to feel golf-ball sized swellings in her abdomen. At this time the developing fetuses are usually quite easy to count. Shortly afterward, her belly becomes a visibly enlarged.

[RedHedd]

I'm with the "get her checked" bunch. When my Mitzi was rescued she was very round and they thought she was preggers so they waited .... and waited .... and waited. No kittens. Turned out she was already spayed, was healthy (no worms) but was just a little pudge-ball. She's STILL a little pudge ball! I've tried "light" foods, playing with her more, etc. but her weight just won't budge more than an ounce or two. I know she's healthy and we're trying to slim her down. In the meantime I just love my little ball of voluptuous kitty fluff!