My cat is pregnant: how to tell, how long it lasts and what she needs
A cat who has been in season or slipped out for a few hours can come home pregnant without anyone noticing for weeks. Feline pregnancy is short, about nine weeks, and on the whole the cat copes very well on her own. Your job is to have the vet confirm the pregnancy, feed her well, set up a quiet spot for the birth and start thinking now about what will happen to the kittens.
The first signs
The first thing people usually notice is that the cat stops coming into season: if she used to call every two or three weeks and is suddenly calm, she may be pregnant. Around the third week her nipples turn pinker and slightly larger, especially in first-time mothers; this is the most reliable sign you can spot at home. Many cats eat more, some vomit on the odd day early on, and others become more affectionate or sleepier. Her belly does not show until roughly the fifth week, and in overweight cats or those carrying small litters it can go almost unnoticed until the end. None of these signs proves anything on its own: a false pregnancy or a hormonal problem can cause similar changes.
How it is confirmed
Your vet can confirm it in three ways. From the third week, an experienced vet can gently feel the foetuses, although this is not always conclusive. Ultrasound is the gold standard: from fifteen to twenty days of pregnancy the sacs are already visible, and at around twenty-five days you can see the hearts beating, which confirms the foetuses are alive. It usually costs around 40 to 80 € in Spain. An X-ray is no use early on, but from day 42 or 45, once the skeletons have mineralised, it lets the vet count the kittens fairly accurately. Knowing how many are coming is very useful on the day: if you know there are five and four have been born, you know to keep waiting or to phone.
How long it lasts and how many kittens to expect
A cat’s pregnancy lasts about 63 to 66 days, roughly nine weeks, with a normal margin of a few days either way. Because cats ovulate when they mate, the exact day of mating is not always known, so dates are approximate. The average litter is four kittens, although it can range from one to eight or more; first-time and very young mothers tend to have smaller litters. A curious fact with real consequences: kittens in the same litter can have different fathers, because a cat can be mated by several toms during the same season. If the pregnancy goes beyond 70 days with no sign of labour, take her to the vet without waiting any longer.
Food during pregnancy
A pregnant cat needs more energy and more protein, and her needs rise steadily across the nine weeks, not only at the end. The simplest approach is to switch her gradually to a good-quality kitten food, which is designed for growth, and keep her on it throughout nursing. In the last third it helps to leave food out freely or split it into lots of small meals, because the kittens take up room and she struggles to eat much at once. Fresh water at all times, and a little wet food helps her drink more. Don’t give her supplements on your own initiative, whether calcium or vitamins: a complete kitten food already contains what she needs, and too much of some supplements can backfire.
The vet visit
A check-up once the pregnancy is confirmed is a good idea, especially if you don’t know her history. The vet will check her general condition and weight, decide whether she should be tested for feline leukaemia and feline immunodeficiency, both of which pass to the kittens, and choose a wormer that is safe in pregnancy, because many of the usual ones are not. During pregnancy she should not be given any medicines or external parasite treatments without asking first, and vaccinations are usually put off. Ask, too, which emergency clinic is closest to you and write down the number: births have a habit of arriving in the small hours or on a Sunday, and it is better not to be hunting for it at that moment.
Preparing a nest
One or two weeks before the due date, set up a place for her to give birth: a roomy cardboard box or a large carrier with the door removed, lined with old towels or puppy pads you can change, in a quiet, warm, draught-free room away from household traffic and other animals. Put her food, water and a litter tray nearby, because for the first few days she will not want to leave the kittens. Show it to her, but don’t force her to use it: many cats choose somewhere else, such as the back of a wardrobe or under a bed, and if it is safe, the best thing is to go along with her choice and move the towels there. What she is looking for is a dark, enclosed corner where nobody will disturb her.
What the law says
In Spain, under Animal Welfare Law 7/2023, cats must be neutered before six months of age, except breeding cats listed under a registered breeder, and breeding is restricted to those breeders. That said, a cat falling pregnant through an oversight, an open window or an escape while in season happens a lot, and it can be put right. The sensible course is to talk it over with your vet, see the pregnancy through properly, find responsible homes for the kittens, hand them over microchipped and at the right age, and spay the mother as soon as nursing is over. Spaying can also be done during pregnancy; that is a decision to make with your vet, weighing up the individual case.
If you find a pregnant cat
If there is a cat in your street or on your estate whose belly keeps getting bigger, the first thing is to find out whether she belongs to someone or is part of a colony. Many town councils in Spain manage cat colonies with volunteers, and they are the best placed to help: let them know or contact a local rescue. If the cat is friendly and lets you pick her up, one option is to take her in so she can give birth somewhere safe, with a vet visit as soon as possible. If she is feral and runs from people, don’t try to catch her yourself: a frightened cat about to give birth gets very stressed, and rescues have trap cages and the experience to do it properly. In the meantime, food and water in a fixed spot help keep her from wandering off.
If you find a litter
If what you find is small kittens with no mother in sight, don’t pick them up straight away. Most likely she has gone off to eat and will be back; separating them needlessly is the worst thing that can happen to them, because no human care matches their mother’s. Watch them from a distance for two or three hours without going near, because if she sees you close by she may not return. If they are clean, round and calm, sleeping in a heap, their mother is looking after them. If they are cold, dirty, crying non-stop, in a dangerous spot, or the mother has not appeared for several hours, then yes: keep them warm, take them to a vet or a rescue, and read up on how to raise an orphan kitten, because warmth comes first.
Warning signs during pregnancy
Call the vet if you notice bloody, greenish or foul-smelling vaginal discharge before the due date, if she has a temperature, is listless or stops eating for more than a day, if she vomits repeatedly, if she loses weight instead of gaining it, or if she reaches 70 days without giving birth. Contractions or straining before time are not normal either. A miscarriage or the reabsorption of foetuses can happen without much showing on the outside, and some infections can be treated if caught in time. Most pregnancies go by without any trouble, but precisely because cats hide things so well, it pays to watch for any change in behaviour.
And after the birth
A cat can come back into season just a few weeks after giving birth, even while nursing, and fall pregnant again. So until she is spayed, she should stay indoors and have no access to any unneutered tom. The usual time to spay her is once the kittens are weaned and nursing has finished, around eight weeks after the birth, although your vet will tell you when in her case. Spaying a female costs around 120 to 250 € in Spain. And she does not need to have a litter before being spayed: that is a baseless myth that does nothing for her health or her temperament.
Pregnancy lasts about nine weeks and can be confirmed by ultrasound from the third week. Switch her to kitten food, set up a quiet nest and keep the emergency vet’s number to hand. In Spain the law requires cats to be neutered unless they are breeding cats belonging to registered breeders: if this was an accident, find good homes for the kittens and spay the mother after nursing.
Educational content from Michipedia, translated from the Spanish original. It does not replace the advice of a vet or a feline behaviour specialist. Every cat is an individual.