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Original poster

Do animals know when they're pregnant?

62 replies

AintNobodyHereButUsChickens · 16/12/2023 23:45

Late night musings.

Do animals know they're pregnant or is labour/birth/the subsequent babies a shock when it happens?

OP posts:
Unexpectedlysinglemum · 16/12/2023 23:53

No so they don't get anxious about it like we do as they're just in the moment

BaronessBomburst · 16/12/2023 23:56

Domestic pets make 'nests' to prepare, so they definitely know.

Onwegointohappytimes · 16/12/2023 23:57

I saw something recently (think on gogglebox) where pregnant animals won't let males who want to mate near them.

So they do know but don't know how

sherahprincessofpower · 16/12/2023 23:59

Yeah we used to foster rabbits. One gave birth and the first I knew of her being pregnant was finding that she'd ripped out her fur and used it to build a nest to give birth in.

She only did it a few hours before, though, you have to think in the life cycle of an animal. They don't live for 70/80 years so while they might 'know' beforehand that might mean minutes beforehand.

LaurieStrode · 17/12/2023 00:16

A poor feral cat that frequents my yard, tiny skinny thing, had eight kittens last spring!!
She was skin and bones nursing them no matter how much food i put out.
Rescue came and we caught the kittens approximately 6-7 weeks old. I think she was relieved.

They neutered her but insisted on returning her to neighborhood. She's fatter now thankfully. Still very wary & won't come near after being caught the one time.

VanityDiesHard · 17/12/2023 00:31

Yes and no. Technically, they don't 'know' anything, not in the way that humans understand knowledge to mean. But actually yes. They engage in preparatory behaviours such as nesting.

MrsSkylerWhite · 17/12/2023 00:32

Of course they do.

ANightingale · 17/12/2023 00:35

They have instincts that make them want sex; then prepare for the birth, and then guide them through labour and looking after their infants. It would be marvellous to know what was happening in their minds but I suppose they must do what 'feels right' without thinking, in the same way perhaps that humans instinctively do things such as putting their hands out when they fall, without conscious thought.

XenoBitch · 17/12/2023 00:40

I used to work with a lady who bred from her dog. Her dog was not up for it all apparently. They had to tie her to a post and let a male rape her. Then when she had the pups, she rejected the whole litter.. who had to be hand raised by people.

VeronicaSawyer89 · 17/12/2023 00:43

This reply has been deleted

We are taking this down as this is not in the spirit of the site.

Waitingfordoggo · 17/12/2023 00:44

@ANightingale Yes, that would my conclusion too- that they don’t really ‘think’ about any of it or attach any sentimentality to any of it. They’re just driven by their biology and instincts.

Obviously they are ‘programmed’, as we are, to nurture and rear their young but without all the emotional stuff that we attach to it.

caringcarer · 17/12/2023 00:45

LaurieStrode · 17/12/2023 00:16

A poor feral cat that frequents my yard, tiny skinny thing, had eight kittens last spring!!
She was skin and bones nursing them no matter how much food i put out.
Rescue came and we caught the kittens approximately 6-7 weeks old. I think she was relieved.

They neutered her but insisted on returning her to neighborhood. She's fatter now thankfully. Still very wary & won't come near after being caught the one time.

Poor thing. My son found a street cat that was pregnant that frequented his yard trying to sneak into his cat flap to steal his cats biscuits. Then she disappeared for a few weeks then when she reappeared she was fatter. Turned out she was pregnant and had 4 kittens under bushes in his next door neighbours garden. She was starving. My son fed her if he saw her but at that point he wasn't sure where she was living. After about 5 weeks she carried her kittens one by one and put them near to my son's shed in the corner of his yard. She came back through his cat flap and took more cat biscuits several times each day. He caught the kittens and brought them into his sitting room in a cat basket. The mother followed them in. He kept her in for a couple of weeks and contacted the Cats Protection League. They came out to see them but said they were so full there was nowhere to put them but they gave him a voucher and he could get the kittens neutered once they were a bit older and get Mum neutered too. He kept the Mum and one of the male kittens. A lady who lives a few doors away took a kitten. The final 2 kittens were given a home by my other son who lives 150 miles away. Thankfully both cat and all 4 kittens all neutered and microchipped with good homes.

SarahAndQuack · 17/12/2023 00:49

VanityDiesHard · 17/12/2023 00:31

Yes and no. Technically, they don't 'know' anything, not in the way that humans understand knowledge to mean. But actually yes. They engage in preparatory behaviours such as nesting.

How do you know?

I am not keen on anthropomorphising animals and I'm not in for any of that 'but she should get to have a baybee!' nonsense about pets. But surely, we can't exclude the possibility that animals do indeed 'know' things in the way humans (or some humans?) understand 'knowledge'?

SarahAndQuack · 17/12/2023 00:51

Onwegointohappytimes · 16/12/2023 23:57

I saw something recently (think on gogglebox) where pregnant animals won't let males who want to mate near them.

So they do know but don't know how

Lots of female mammals won't be at all interested in mating unless they're in season, and lots of male mammals don't want to mate with a female unless she's in season.

VanityDiesHard · 17/12/2023 00:55

SarahAndQuack · 17/12/2023 00:49

How do you know?

I am not keen on anthropomorphising animals and I'm not in for any of that 'but she should get to have a baybee!' nonsense about pets. But surely, we can't exclude the possibility that animals do indeed 'know' things in the way humans (or some humans?) understand 'knowledge'?

Show quote history

Interesting question. I'm not a philosopher so can't answer with any accuracy. I certainly think that they can have instincts which are as good as knowledge, someone more learned than I could maybe expand upon it further.

SarahAndQuack · 17/12/2023 01:05

VanityDiesHard · 17/12/2023 00:55

Interesting question. I'm not a philosopher so can't answer with any accuracy. I certainly think that they can have instincts which are as good as knowledge, someone more learned than I could maybe expand upon it further.

Show quote history

I'm not a philosopher either - or a cognitive scientist - but I just think we need to be cautious about presuming animals definitively cannot do something, just because we happen to be unable to ask them about it. It's the same attitude that's always had people (usually white men) claiming that women 'can't' do x or y, or people of a certain race 'can't'.

Waitingfordoggo · 17/12/2023 01:18

I suppose instinct is a sort of unconscious ‘knowledge’. It’s stuff that we know but we don’t know we know it. 🤔

LaurieStrode · 17/12/2023 02:51

That's wonderful to hear, @caringcarer
You all sound so kind.

All the babies got adopted but "Molly" as I call her is still hanging around. She has a bad limp lately, which worries me. I put out tuna and dry food for her.

Ladyj84 · 17/12/2023 02:53

Lol at the person who said no. So why do animals make nests,dens etc if they don't know lol

Christabelladaisy · 17/12/2023 03:09

Ladyj84 · 17/12/2023 02:53

Lol at the person who said no. So why do animals make nests,dens etc if they don't know lol

I would say because there is a distinction between knowledge and a sense of something. So for example, animals and birds will sense the changes of the season and (in some cases) migrate, prepare for winter and hibernation etc. I would call that a sense of change. Whereas knowledge would to me be a more human sort of understanding, but who knows what animals, particularly more intelligent ones, have.

Marmighty · 17/12/2023 03:17

Amazed by everyone presuming animals definitely don’t have ‘knowledge’ in the way humans do. We are also animals after all, following instincts and natural compulsions underpinning lots (most?) of our decisions.

Gowlett · 17/12/2023 03:21

I think they definitely do. But a vet / scientist will know more than me.

Christabelladaisy · 17/12/2023 03:24

@Marmighty - I genuinely don’t think I’d have known I was pregnant second time for months upon months had I not been actively trying and testing. My periods stopped but I had no other symptoms - maybe tiredness but I had a toddler so … Smile

My instincts could just be rubbish, I suppose, although both times I knew what sex my children were, and it was more than a lucky guess. I really did know. MN never believe this though!

sashh · 17/12/2023 03:27

They know.

Well cats know, they even know when their hoomin is pregnant. There are a few women on MN who have had things like a cat bringing her a mouse only when pregnant (3 times) and someone whose cats would not allow her to go to the toilet unaccompanied.

Louise303 · 17/12/2023 04:01

They know and it is amazing a dog will cut the cord open the sac stimulate the puppy by licking them.