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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

My Cat Knows I'm Pregnant!

43 replies

LouisaJF · 06/04/2011 16:42

No, I haven't taken leave of my senses!

I have two cats, one of which isn't very affectionate, particularly towards me. If I am at home during the day (I work from home quite a bit), I barely even see her. In the last few weeks she spends all her time snuggled up to me, resting her head on my stomach with her ear firmly pressed up to where the bump will be. Sometimes she even licks my stomach.

I've been reading about how cats are capable of picking up on hormonal changes, and so she probably does know what's going on. My other, more affectionate cat is a bit thick, so he hasn't worked it out yet.

Has anyone else experienced this with their pets?

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PheasantPlucker · 06/04/2011 16:45

Yes, I did

MadreInglese · 06/04/2011 16:46

When I was pregnant with DD my mother's cat would always sit on my knee leaning up to my bump whenever I visited her house, and this cat was usually snooty and not at all a knee-sitter or particularly friendly to anyone. After DD was born the cat went back to ignoring me but would always try and sneak into DD's buggy

With this pregnancy our two cats who always love lying across your tummy/chest will only perch on the end of my knee

I do think they can sense something, whether they can hear something or just detect the heat or what it is exactly I don't know

nickelbabyhatcher · 06/04/2011 16:48

I wish mine did! Jo keeps treading on my tummy, and it hasn't stopped.
Keep trying to boot him off, but it makes him tread harder.

nickelbabyhatcher · 06/04/2011 16:48

maybe it's a boy/girl thing - just noticed everyone else's seem to be female.

MadreInglese · 06/04/2011 16:49

my mum's cat is female but our two are male

FABsBackAndIsWell · 06/04/2011 16:50

When I was pregnant with my first my cat spent a lot more time near me than usual. Less so with subsequent pregnancies.

chrisrobin · 06/04/2011 16:53

Yes, my cat picked up on my pregnancies very early on. He became very lovey-dovey and obsessed about sitting on/with me, he was also very protective of me.

He picks up when my boys are ill too and will sit outside their bedroom door each night until they are better. One night I teased him and said 'there is no point sitting there, the boys are fine' , a few hours later my DS2 started throwing up. I guess the cat knew better than me!

Darlingdamsel · 06/04/2011 17:01

My 18 year old cat literally put her head between my legs about 10 days after conception and then proceeded to pee all OVER the house for the first three months.

Have moved now and the change of scenary and her getting used to the pregnancy seems to have done the trick.

I canot wait to see what happens when DS arrives. Whatever happens, it won't be pretty. She is totally my shadow and has been since I got her.

amistillsexy · 06/04/2011 17:07

I had 2 cats and one of them in particular was very keen on my bump when I was pregnant. She used to jump onto it as soon as i sat down and then follow me to bed and curl up next to it.

During labour with DS1, I was lying on my bed on my side, and she plonked herself in the small of my back and massaged it with her front paws! She was fantastic!

Strangely, she was really stand-offish the rest of the time!

FeralGirlCambs · 06/04/2011 17:08

Yup, psychic cat here too - a boy one and the treading sounds very familiar! Pesky, isn't it. Not to say uncomfortable. But cute!

Twinklebum · 06/04/2011 17:10

my cat is only ever a lap cat when im pregnant (4th timer!!) this time round i didnt know until the cat settled on me, did a test as a routine comfirmation!!!

amistillsexy · 06/04/2011 17:13

Love that Twinklebum! You should hire your cat out!

Congrats, by the way!

jasmine51 · 06/04/2011 17:15

Yes, dogs this time. When I was just a few weeks pg, my neighbours dog started barking, running away from me and cowering under a table. The very same day a dog I was looking after started following me everywhere around the house. Now several months later, the same neighbours dog cant pass me in the street without barking (hes previously been so soft and lovely with me) and the other dog wont leave my side when hes here.

One story about cats - when I was trying to get pg I went for a type of reiki session. There was a cat there who jumped up on the bed and pawed at my chest.

TinyDiamond · 06/04/2011 18:16

My lovely female cat knew I was pg before I did! The few days before I tested she would be waiting for me when I got up in the morning and follow me to the bathroom rubbing herself on my legs then sit on the bathmat and watch me wee whilst meowing trying to tell me something. I'm now 21 weeks and she loves to be near me and until my bump came she'd sit on my tummy. Now she is more tactful and snuggles at the side of it. She really is very loving

mckenzie · 06/04/2011 18:20

My Tom cat knew I'd started early stages of labour before I did. In his 14 years he'd never ever bought home ant dead birds or mice but in the three days before I gave birth, he bought home about 4 or 5. Th vet said it was because he could sense the hormone changes and knew there would be another mouth to feed. Might be cods wallop but I like to think it was true

RAlover · 06/04/2011 18:23

My cat sat outside the bathroom door when I was in labour with DD and refused to move.
He spent both my pregnancies sitting on top of me, and, was the first one to know I was pregnant (noone else in the house at the time, I showed him the test )

PrincessScrumpy · 06/04/2011 18:24

My cat weed on my mat clothes if I left them out. She went very strange. With my second pg the cat is far more chilled out - possibly as she has a 3-year-old chasing her round!

Valiant1 · 06/04/2011 18:28

My mums cat will not go to any one at all exept my mum but when i am pregnant it will sit on my knee. my cat just keeps coming up to me for a fuss then biting me at the moment am 15+2. not a pleasant thing

busyboysmum · 06/04/2011 20:28

My cat gets very loving and happy when I am pregnant. I was really worried with my first baby that she was so loving she would turn on the baby out of jealousy but she was amazing - it just seemed to make her really happy, se just purrs and purrs and wants to sit on me!

pookiecat · 06/04/2011 20:39

My cat kept on following me around before I knew I was pregnant. When I came home from work, where my waters had broken, she took one look at me and decided to go out !! The new male cat we have , is always concerned about my DD when she is upset and is very patient with her[ 2 yr old toddler.] The other 2 females not bothered about her at all .

Jellibob · 06/04/2011 20:47

I had a terrible pregnancy with DTs, would regularly start bleeding and have to rush to hospital. My (female) cat is usually very stand-offish and sits on the sideboard so she can swipe at people as they walk past. But for a few hours before I had a bleed she'd be all over me like a rash. Became handy, as I'd pack a bag and sort out childcare...

The day I went into very premature labour, she was stuck to me like a limpet. (Glad to say all is eventually well with the DTs and they now delight in her. She tolerates them.)

Beesok · 06/04/2011 20:49

Oh am sooo jealous ;) my cat is VERY cuddly and he loves being around people but as much as I hate to admit it - his "special" person seems to be my hubby, when it's comes to choosing between the two of us DH wins hands down and sadly thing's haven't change since my BFP, hopefully when the bump grows and becomes more "interesting" he'll shift :)

Although I remember that the first time he saw a baby (friend's child) in the house he was terrified!! He literally ran out of the room and only slowly came back in when the baby was sleeping in her buggy and he carefully crept up to it to sniff it and then retreated again.......just to add he is a VERY social cat, not with babies though apparently!

popstar · 06/04/2011 20:58

I was in the school playground chatting to another mum with a young baby, when another parent came over because his dog had literally dragged him towards us. Dog starts sniffing all round me while the other parents start having a conversation about how the dog likes young babies and in fact can even tell when someone's pregnant, gets very excited and is all over them.
They didn't appear to notice the dog wasn't anywhere near the baby, but all over me- 10 weeks pregnant, still in shock about it and hadn't told a soul other than DH!

bilblio · 06/04/2011 21:05

I've 2 cats, one has never been that close to me, loves DH though, the other has always been friendly with me but hates to be picked up and will never sit on anyone.
Through last pregnancy with DD and this one (I'm 12 weeks) the cats have been much much more affectionate. They sit on me, next to me, under my legs, just as close as they can get. As I got bigger last time they would do everything they could get a perch on my bump... which was fine, except DD was a very kicky baby and the cats weren't best pleased that they kept getting kicked :)
The look of disgust they gave me when it happened was fantastic :o

DMCWelshCakes · 06/04/2011 21:25

Am now almost 36 weeks with DC2 & the cat has been glued to me throughout. In fact I keep treading on him because he likes to walk in front of me & I can't see him (it's the only confirmation I have of where my feet are - haven't seen them in months). He was glued to my side while DiddyDragon was on the way & used to lie wrapped around the bump even though she used to kick him in the head regularly.

He was the same through first 2 pregnancies that ended in mc too, to the extent that he "guarded" me when I came back from the hospital by sitting on the top of my sofa & defending me from people who came too close.

He's a 12 year old rescue neutered tom who's not normally known for his loving nature so I'm not sure where all the pregnancy sympathy comes from. (As far as I know he's not learned to read pregnancy tests so I have no idea how he knows in the early days.)

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