As your lovely pets are your family members, this is a time that a new family member is about to come. This article helps you to confirm the good news and to move ahead. Because a timely identification will assist you to treat her well so that she could give her baby healthy delivery.
INITIALS SIGNS TO CALL CATS PREGNANT
Cats start to gain weight in the early stage of their pregnancy. Further, you could notice they are getting their appetite increased. The belly getting swelled is another major sign. Moreover, the appearance of the nipple area changes too. Once you notice these signs, you ought to get your pet cat’s pregnancy confirmed.
CATS’ GESTATION PERIOD
A cat’s gestation period usually runs for a period of 65 days. However, a tiny variation of one week more or less is considered to be normal. During the first two weeks, you won’t get a noticeable clue. Therefore, you cannot utilize the entire gestation period to plan all the things. The latter half would be the period left for you to get prepared. Anyway, if you are anxious about this limited time, the best thing is to take your pet cat to a vet the first instance you go unsure.
CAT PREGNANCY TIMELINE
The first two weeks of the gestation period pass by without getting much notice. Hence, out of the ten weeks, only eight become observable for a common cat owner. Here we go.
Observable Week 1 | Pregnancy Week 3
Spending good two weeks after successful intercourse, the unborn kittens start to grow their organs. This causes your cat to rise her hormones. As a result, your cat starts gaining weight. And reasoning the same, her nipples might get enlarged and darker. For a normal cat owner, this is the very first sign to suspect his cat is pregnant. But keep in mind, that your cat was already pregnant for two good weeks now.
Observable Week 2 | Pregnancy Week 4
This is the week when your cat rises her hormones to the fullest. As a result, most probably she starts facing morning sickness. Some cats undergo this sickness throughout the day. Usually, when your cat is sick, she must lose weight. BUT NOT THIS TIME! Instead, she continues to gain weight. This is a very good chance for you to suspect that your cat is pregnant, standing on a fairground.
Once you start to suspect, never pick up her as how you used to do earlier. Because that might harm the unmatured babies inside, and she might hurt unlike before.
Observable Week 3 | Pregnancy Week 5
Now the kittens are quite big. Your vet could inspect them well, even he could tell the number of kittens over there. This week is ideal to show her to the vet to reveal about the kittens.
Observable Week 4 | Pregnancy Week 6
As the kittens inside are now growing well, your cat needs more food. You could easily notice how she has got her appetite increased. Giving her some good healthy food is how you could show your love. Because the nutritious meal you offer her is not only for herself but also for her baby kittens. With this all, she weighs more.
Observable Week 5 | Pregnancy Week 7
The increased appetite fades away as her tummy is filled with well-built kittens. This is where the uncertainty arises on when she will give birth. She is now curious about a good place to give birth. Here, you could provide her with a nesting box, so that by the time she delivers, she is familiar with it.
Observable Week 6 | Pregnancy Week 8
Kittens are active inside the belly. You can notice how they roll and kick. Nipples are ready to feed the kittens once they are out. Hence, they swelled further, and the hair around has fallen to ease the suckling for babies. The faded appetite continues to be dull. Hence, you should offer her food accordingly, but make sure she is not malnourished as she requires to start producing milk now.
Observable Week 7 | Pregnancy Week 9
Some cats deliver their babies at this time, or at least any cat is just about to give birth. Therefore, her appetite is very low. Her behavior shows how anxious she is. She is eager to confirm where she shall nest.
Observable Week 8 | Pregnancy Week 10
The good day dawns during this week as cats usually give birth to their kittens during the 10th week of their pregnancy. If she takes longer, that means you need to show her to the vet. Probably that is due to the extended time her eggs got to get implanted. Anyway, the best thing is to show her to the vet.
CAT PREGNANCY TEST
A blood test could do it. Pregnant cats rise the “Relaxin” Hormone to ease the delivery. Hence, if you suspect that your cat is pregnant and you need to get the good news confirmed, you could present her for a blood test to check their hormone condition.
Anyway, experienced vets could observe the abdomen and conclude after the first few weeks of pregnancy. Moreover, you could check the condition of baby kittens during the last two weeks through X-rays and provide them with medical treatments in case needed.
CAT PREGNANCY CALCULATOR
A cat pregnancy calculator helps you to prepare your cat for her labor times and a comfy delivery.
It is built upon a simple equation between the mating date, due date, and 63-days-of period which is the average pregnancy timeline of a cat. Cat’s due date means when she shall deliver her baby kittens. Mate date means the date on which she received successful intercourse. So simply:
Cat due date = Mating date + 63 days
There are enough online Cat Pregnancy Calculators where you just need to enter the mating date of your cat so that you could get to know her due date.
FAQs
What are the first signs of cat pregnancy?
Gain of weight
Swelling of Belly
Enlargement of Nipples
Increased Appetite
Morning Sickness
How long are cats pregnant?
65 days or in other words 9 to 10 weeks. Anyway, this variates somewhere around 58 to 71 days on how she got her eggs implanted. Only the last 8 weeks are observable for a normal cat owner.
How to tell if a cat is pregnant?
She gains weight with a swelled belly and gets her nipples enlarged. She has sickness but doesn’t get thin, instead, she gains weight. Here you suspect for the first time, and to make sure you could do a “cat pregnancy test” which is a blood test that checks whether the “Relaxin” Hormone is stimulated.