How to tell if a cat is pregnant?

[Venusworld21]

Mama Tootsie is still pregnant. I'm pretty sure she's going to explode though--she's huge. Itsy is up to 1 lb 14 oz. I'm making the kittens' spay/neuter appointment for Thursday. I wouldn't mind waiting longer, until Itsy was bigger, but I really don't have the space to have multiple litters at once and I'm not sure exactly how I'll arrange everyone once Tootsie does pop. Tootsie *HATES* the large crates I have on hand--she needs a large-ish but enclosed space, which means either laundry room or bathroom. We only have 1 bathroom in the house, so she'll probably get the laundry room--much less human traffic in there. I don't want to put her older kittens in the garage (where Lucy is staying) 1.) because of the temperature--it's not freezing here but is getting cold and 2.) because it's not a very clean spot for their surgical wounds to heal up after they get snipped. I don't have a crate big enough for 6 kittens to live in. They'll probably stay in the bathroom for a few days post surgery and then they'll just have to be in the main part of the house with my permanent kitties until they get adopted. They will like that, but my permanent kitties will pitch a fit. Which is why I want to get them snipped and into homes asap.

I'll try to get another picture of mama's enormous belly.

[Venusworld21]

She's a lot less active the last few days, preferring to just lay there. She seems to have slowed down on her massive food binge and is eating roughly the same as a "regular" (non pregnant) cat the last 24 hours or so, but definitely still eating. Her last litter (the ones who are going to be spayed/neutered soon) had 7 kittens (one died before I was able to bring them to my place)....hopefully this litter is considerably smaller.

Updated photos:





Her belly rests on the table while she's eating now:

[minikin44]

Poor Mama Tootsie... I'm just glad you're taking care of her now! It makes me sad that she's had to have so many litters because of irresponsible owners. I don't know much about those medicines and whether or not they could cause birth defects, but you didn't no, so even if they did it's not your fault. Hopefully the kittens will all be just peachy and the worrying will be for nothing. *Paws crossed and prayers sent your way* Keep us posted!

[my5kitties]

Yes, please keep us posted. Mama Tootsie reminds me so much of my Midnight that they could be twins.

[Venusworld21]

Still no babies but she's furious I won't let her back in the garage. I think she decided her nest would be out there and is having to change her plans. Right now she's still parked in various spots around the kitchen and looking huge and uncomfortable. No signs of labor though.

[Venusworld21]

I thought she was going into labor last night and sat up with her until 2 am. Still no babies this morning though, and no signs of labor or distress, so I think I just got myself all excited for nothing. Her older babies are all getting spayed/neutered in the morning. She really needs to have these kittens. Any larger and I fear she will explode!

[Venusworld21]

STILL no babies. I've had her 7.5 weeks now, so she has to be getting close... I'm going to be so frustrated if she makes me wait another week and a half, partly because I'm impatient and partly because that would mean she got knocked up practically the day I rescued her, which would be extremely sad--if only I'd been there a few hours or days earlier, she wouldn't be pregnant.

My friend down in Texas who does cat rescues had a mama cat who got absolutely huge and the affectionately called her the "purring bus." I may have to dub Tootsie with that nickname if she doesn't pop soon.

[rightsaidfed]

I can't wait to see the new kittens - talk about getting more than you bargained for!

You're going to be so busy with 6 recovering from surgery, mom going into labor, and however many new kitties probably in the same week!

From an outside perspective my first thought is "OMG so many cute kitties!" If it were me, I'd be so overwhelmed though.

Do you have homes lined up for the previous kittens yet?


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[Arianwen]

Just bear in mind that the mother cat's attitude to the first wave of kittens will probably change with the arrival of the new ones.

[Venusworld21]

I don't plan on letting the older kittens have any contact at all with their mother once her labor starts. Right now everyone comes out to play in the house together and once in a while one of them will try to con her into feeding them, but for the most part their contact is limited. Once mama goes into labor she'll be in the laundry room with her new babies and the older kittens won't be allowed in at all, nor will any of the other cats. She'll have the laundry room completely to herself with just me coming in sometimes to "bother" her by feeding and checking on the babies. I'll only have the older ones for about another week or so. I am working on starting to get homes lined up for them. Everyone is doing well post-surgery, so I am on track for being able to home them this coming weekend. At the rate she's going, Mama Tootsie won't have popped by then anyway. Still no babies as of this morning and no signs of labor. She's huge. I'll see about getting an updated photo.