Cats get pregnant easily. Pregnancy can occur every time the cat is in heat, which occurs several times a year from spring to autumn. Remember to sterilize the female if she is not a breeding cat and you want to avoid unwanted offspring. Because during the first few weeks of pregnancy the female cat has no external symptoms, you won’t see any difference at first. How long are cats pregnant?
Signs of pregnancy
- Pregnant cats will not show oestrus symptoms, although this does not guarantee pregnancy, it only indicates that ovulation has taken place; a cat may have an imaginary pregnancy.
- After 15-18 days, the nipples may enlarge and become red.
- A pregnant kitty may also occasionally experience nausea. Although it may take the form of ‘morning sickness’, it is important that you consult a veterinarian if it occurs frequently, permanently or if the kitty deviates from the norm in any other way and this affects her appetite.
- Your cat will gradually gain weight from one to two kilograms, depending on the number of kittens. This is definitely an indicator of pregnancy. Pregnancy can be accurately diagnosed by ultrasound after only 15 days (by an experienced diagnostician), beating hearts are visible from the 17th day, and the number of kittens can be determined by an x-ray after 40 days.
- The abdomen will begin to grow, but avoid touching it so as not to risk damaging the fetuses. There are other causes for abdominal enlargement.
When will the kitten start giving birth and how long will the delivery take?
Just a week before the birth of small cats, the nipples of the future cat mother will be significantly enlarged, you can even see drops of milk on them. From now on, the cat will focus on finding the most suitable place for the upcoming delivery.
A day or two before this event, your pregnant kitty will eat a lot less and spend a lot of time in her comfortable nest. Every now and then she will look into it and correct it with its paws. When the time of birth is approaching, the cat will lie on its side and from time to time try to lick the genitals. It can also meow in an unnatural way and wallow. However, not all cats are meowing. If this is the first litter of a female cat, she may behave restlessly. Fear of an upcoming event may evoke the desire to get help from a guardian, or just the opposite – a kitty in fear may become aggressive. Get ready – the babies are on their way!
The birth itself lasts from 4 to 8 hours. After its beginning, the first kitten should be born after the first hour. Next after 15-20 minutes. It happens, however, that the cycle of birth of young kittens is interrupted and lasts up to 48 hours. Pregnancy ends in the birth of 1 to 8 (usually 3-5) kittens. After the birth of each kitten, the placenta should be ejected from the female genital tract, which she eats immediately. Let her instinctive behavior, it’s valuable for her body.
An average cat’s pregnancy lasts from 63 to 67 days, but this time can range from 61 to 72 days and it can be difficult to determine the exact duration of it, because cats can mate several times. If you suspect that your cat is pregnant, you should take your future mother to a veterinarian for confirmation.
