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The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

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Original poster

Can a neutered cat get pregnant?

25 replies

Trueheart1 · 03/02/2018 23:06

We adopted 2 cats when they were 10 months old from an owner who loved them very much but couldn't keep them due to health reasons.
The cats were microchipped, vaccinated, had worm tablets and she told us both had been neutered.
At the start of January cats in the neighbourhood started sitting outside our back door and the boy cat kept pouncing on the girl cat, though I never saw them have sex.
Now the female cat is fatter than the start of the month. Is it possible that the neutering didn't work?

OP posts:

dementedpixie · 03/02/2018 23:09

Have you taken her to the vet? If spayed she's unlikely to be pregnant

Twooter · 03/02/2018 23:14

She can’t be pregnant if she’s neutered.

Original poster

Trueheart1 · 03/02/2018 23:16

I am going to take her to the vet on Monday. I am just worried because we really do not want kittens.

OP posts:

bonzo77 · 03/02/2018 23:19

Depending on the stage and the vet, they can neuter and terminate the pregnancy at the same time. Sad but sensible. And get boy cat checked too.

Original poster

Trueheart1 · 03/02/2018 23:25

Oh, I didn't know that was an option.

OP posts:

thecatneuterer · 04/02/2018 00:01

The most likely scenario is that the owners were lying. Or maybe you asked them 'are they neutered?' and they just didn't understand the word and thought you were referring to vaccinations (I come across that sort of confusion surprisingly often).

Another possibility is that when she was spayed a small piece of ovary was accidentally left behind causing her to still come into season. In which case she will need an operation to find and remove it.

Or there is just an outside chance that when she was spayed the vets only found one horn of the uterus and assumed she was born that way, whereas in fact the other horn was just 'hiding' somewhere and would require a midline spay (rather than flank) in order to find it. If that were the case the vets should have told the owners and warned them to watch out for her coming into season.

Whichever it is, if she is pregnant then a simultaneous spay/abortion would be best all round. Occasionally vets refuse to do it. If your vet says they don't do that just phone round to find one that will. But she needs to see the vet this week.

thecatneuterer · 04/02/2018 00:02

Is the male definitely neutered?

Original poster

Trueheart1 · 04/02/2018 00:07

Thanks for the info catneuterer that is really useful.
The lady said they were both neutered, now I don't know what to think.

OP posts:

thecatneuterer · 04/02/2018 00:09

Well it's easy to tell with the boy. Does he have balls?

RustyPaperclips · 04/02/2018 00:13

My little girl cat attracts boy cats every so often. They appear at our door and scream for hours on end. My Dsis is a vet nurse and said that there is a small possibility that not 'everything' was removed during the neutering and that is why she is still attracting male attention. And I know for sure that my cat was neutered

The most likely explanation is that your cat wasn't neutered though

Best check with the vet

RustyPaperclips · 04/02/2018 00:14

@thecatneuterer explained it far better than me!

thecatneuterer · 04/02/2018 00:26

@RustyPaperclips You should get your cat booked in to get that sorted. There are a lot of dangers involved in your cat repeatedly coming into heat. She can be chased far from home and not be able to find her way back for example. And even if she is an indoor only cat she is at risk of a sort of psychosis. Cats that come into heat but can't do anything about it (so normally flat cats) generally end up psychotic. It's something to do with the hormones. We normally see it around the age of 3 to 5 years.

It's a slightly more involved op than a straight forward spay, but the vets should be able to find the stray bit that's causing the problems. If you go back to the vets that originally did the spay they may do it for free as it is in a way their 'fault' (although it probably wasn't anything they did wrong as such). Anyway, worth a try.

RustyPaperclips · 04/02/2018 00:41

@thecatneuterer it has been ok for the last year or so. I would certainly get her checked out but she sadly has multiple health problems and gets so scared going to the vets. It is only a matter of time for her unfortunately. She has shown no interest in going outside for a long time so we are just making her comfortable and giving her lots of attention

We had a trip to the emergency vet in the middle of the night recently and she was reluctant to keep her in even overnight because she was too distressed

Original poster

Trueheart1 · 05/02/2018 20:12

Well now I am more confused than ever. I took her to the vet and he initially said that yes she is pregnant, he felt her tummy and said he could feel the kittens. Then his assistant came in and confirmed that the previous vet had spayed her, then he felt her again and told me she isn't pregnant just fat. Are vets often this unsure? He then gave her a booster shot and some worm and flea stuff and charged me £129.

OP posts:

bonzo77 · 05/02/2018 20:45

Extremely odd. 2nd opinion?

thecatneuterer · 06/02/2018 11:40

It can sometimes be difficult to tell. An ultrasound would be definitive, although if they have a record of her being spayed then I suppose that must be that. However she is still coming into heat by the sounds of it so a bit of something must have been left behind and that is something they should sort out.

Fluffycloudland77 · 06/02/2018 11:54

Well, it's not a long pregnancy for cats so you'll find out soon.

£129! Are you down south?.

EachandEveryone · 06/02/2018 12:00

Thats ridiculous. Is it a years worth of flea and worm stuff? I pay £13 a month.

Original poster

Trueheart1 · 06/02/2018 17:16

I am in London. I do find the vet bills very expensive.

OP posts:

Original poster

Trueheart1 · 06/02/2018 17:17

It was 6 months worth of flea and worm stuff.

OP posts:

EachandEveryone · 06/02/2018 17:21

Im in love ndon too have you not got a Medivet?

Vinorosso74 · 06/02/2018 18:00

You learn a lot on here! How strange about things getting left after spaying.
6 months of flea and worm treatment plus vaccine does add up. Not sure what ours charges for boosters these days (also London) as they put theirs prices down!

Original poster

Trueheart1 · 06/02/2018 22:05

What is a Medivet?

OP posts:

Vinorosso74 · 06/02/2018 23:15

They're a chain of vets.

EachandEveryone · 06/02/2018 23:17

I pay that for a year. Medivet is a chain that seems to be taking on smalker vets. Ive never had pets before so have no loyalty towards a local one. www.medivet.co.uk

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