Signs of Cats Having Babies

Cats are complex animals and can be difficult to comprehend. Unlike many other creatures, they like solitude and have no instincts for living in groups. On the other hand, they can fit very well into human families and will tolerate other cats in the same household. Perhaps because of their instinctive preference for solitude, they can seem to be very independent, selfish and difficult to train. Therefore it may be difficult to know the signs, especially the early signs, of pregnancy.

  1. Early Stages of Pregnancy

    • The gestation period for a pregnant cat is approximately 65 days. For the first couple of weeks, it will be extremely difficult to know that a cat is pregnant because there are no overt signs. She will behave normally during this period but after about three weeks, one noticeable sign is that her nipples will turn pink. From the time that this happens, the kittens will be born after about six weeks.

    As the Kittens Grow

    • In the next stages of gestation, there will be more noticeable changes in the behavior of a pregnant cat. She will have no heat cycle and therefore no interest in male cats. She will also become more loving and, if she is normally a cat that likes to spend a lot of time outside, the owner will notice that she now has a preference for staying indoors. She will gain weight and this will become visible after about five weeks.

    As the Mother Gets Bigger

    • After about six weeks gestation, which is three weeks before the kittens will be born, the nipples of the pregnant cat will grow much larger because they are filled with milk. Her size will show that she is obviously pregnant and she will want to eat a lot more than usual. She will lose her appetite shortly before giving birth.

    False Alarms

    • It is not uncommon for female cats to show some of the symptoms of pregnancy when they are not pregnant. Interestingly, the reasons for this are that she may have mated with a male cat that has been neutered or her body may have released eggs for no apparent reason. Her nipples may still turn pink and she may gain weight but this could be a false alarm.