Having a female cat that has not been spayed yet? Does your cats showing some of this following signs? Swollen nipples? Morning sickness? Increased appetite? Increased belly size? If the answers of most of the questions are ‘yes’, well I got some news for you. Chances are, your kitty cat could possibly be pregnant.
Before we get to the pregnancy signs, the first thing that you should know is the process of how a female cat could get pregnant in the first place.
Estrus (Heat) Cycle
A female cat will reached puberty (sexual maturity) stage usually around 6 months of age. When a human girl reached puberty stage, she will gets her first menstrual cycle. But for a female cat, she will get her first ‘estrus’ or ‘heat’ cycle which indicates she’s an adult. Female cats are called as “seasonally polyestrus” which means that during the breeding seasons they have multiple heat cycles reoccuring. The breeding season of cats will vary depends on environmental factors such as the amount of daylight hours or temperature. The breeding season usually occurs between January and September, and each heat cycle could lasts for several days between 1 day until around 7 days. Here are a few examples of the most obvious signs that your cat is in her heat cycle :
- Female cat becomes very affectionate and demanding of attention towards its owner.
- It keeps rubbing itself against people or even objects around it.
- It usually becomes very vocal (like meowing all the time).
- When getting stroke around her back or spine, it will usually raise it’s rear part into the air and tread with the back legs.
- Increased frequency of urination in some cats.
- It might try to ‘mark’ objects by spraying urine on vertical objects, since the urine contains hormones and pheromones which act as signals of her reproductive status that attract other male cats.
Female cats can be mated any time during their active stages of the estrus or heat cycle. For most cats it only takes 1 or 2 minutes to mate and they might mate a couple of times in a short period of time. Most female cats needs around 3-4 times of mating within 24 hour period for ovulation to occur. A female cat might mate with several male cats around this time. So, there is a chance that the kittens might have multiple different fathers. Around 20 to 50 hours after the mating process, the ovulation will usually occurs. Once the ovulation has occured along with successful mating attempts, female cats will immediately become pregnant.
Signs that Your Cat is Pregnant
The pregnancy stage of a cat will usually lasts around 63-67 days. You may notice some signs or changes of behavior from your cat once your cat is entering the pregnancy stage. If you’re not sure whether your cat is pregnant, here are 6 common signs that your cat is pregnant :
1. Estrus(Heat) Cycle Stops
When cats has entered pregnancy stage, the heat cycle that usually reoccuring every 10 days to 2 weeks will stopped. If your cat hasn’t going through it’s heat cycle in a awhile it is likely that your cat is pregnant.
2. Swollen Pink Nipples
This is usually the earliest signs. There’s a body transformation when a female cat is in a pregnancy stage. You might want to check whether there is a change of shape or color of your cat’s nipples. When a female cat is pregnant, her nipples become swollen and large. Also, there will be a change in color of the which usually turns pinkier or rosier.
3. Increased Appetite
Just like any other females in animal world while carrying babies in their stomach, a cat too need an extra portion of food and calories. You will notice an increasing in appetite, since your cat is not only eating for itself, right? It will eat 1.5 times more than her normal portion when she is expecting. So, please make sure to pay attention to the amount of food that your cat is having.
4. Morning Sickness
Morning sickness? Yes, you read that right! Some cats experience morning sickness too just like human mothers do when they are expecting babies. If your cat starts vomiting on a regular basis, there’s a big chance that your cat might be pregnant. Vomiting is actually a normal sign of pregnancy that you shouldn’t worry about. If the vomiting is really excessive and your cat looks pretty unwell, then please visit your veterinarian so your cat can have a proper examination.
5. The Belly Gets Bigger
Well, the most obvious sign obviously. When mammals are pregnant, their belly will get larger each day as closer to the due date. Since a cat is a mammal too, then so does cat! If you notice that your cat’s belly are a lot bigger than usual then you may want to check
6. Nesting
Nesting behavior is the last sign of cats pregnancy. When a cat goes around the house seeking for the most quiet, private, secluded place and starts arranging blanket or soft towel as her birthing space, that is called nesting behavior. This kind of behavior will occur when your cat is already really close to the due date. Make sure to help set up a good and comfortable birthing spot for your cat.
So these above are the 6 common signs that your cat is pregnant. Whether your cat is pregnant or not, it’s your job to take a good care of your cat. If your cat is pregnant, I highly recommend you to visit your veterinarian for further information and examination, as your veterinarian can also give your cat some vitamins that can boost it’s immune system. If you do not wish your cat to get pregnant, then I highly recommend you to visit your veterinarian to have your female cat spayed.