"Spayed" cat is pregnant - help!

[janebee4]

Bear with me on this.

We adopted a cat from the RSPCA in November and were told she was chipped and spayed, as they do with every cat. She even had the little shaved patch where they'd spayed her. A few months back, she was dragging herself along the floor miaowing her head off and not pooping. The vets all said it sounded like she was going into season (we got a second opinion), but when they saw her and her shaved patch they said it couldn't be that as she'd obviously been spayed. We put it down to constipation, gave her some laxatives and she did a very gross hard poop after 5 days and I assumed I was right. Fast forward to the last few weeks and she's been putting on weight around her belly. She's only small so it was quite noticeable but she was being super greedy all the time so we just thought she was getting chubby. She also hates going outside and had stopped running around the house so doesn't do much exercise. She's been getting bigger and I thought she had worms, and then I started worrying it was a tumour or organ failure or something. DP took her to the vet this morning AND SHE'S PREGNANT. DUE IN 1 OR 2 BLOODY WEEKS.

I called the RSPCA we got her from and they were gobsmacked and apologised profusely. Turned out when they'd taken her to be spayed, there was a scar where they normally spay the cat so the vet assumed she'd already been done. I have told them that if we get any vet bills as a result of this pregnancy we will be asking them to pay because our insurance isn't valid given we told them she was a neutered cat when we took it out. They're fine with this and kept apologising and saying it's never happened before and the chance of a cat having a scar in that exact spot without being spayed is so small. They offered to take her back into kennels while she has them, but I don't want her gone for 10 weeks.

Just looking for some advice about what to do when she goes into labour. Do I need to do anything? Will she take care of the kittens by herself or do I need to help her with anything? What do I do if one of them dies or seems to not be breathing? What if they struggle to feed or she struggles to feed them? Do they just poop and wee on the floor or would they use a litter tray instinctively? I WAS NOT PREPARED FOR ANY OF THIS. WE ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF DECORATING AND THE HOUSE IS UPSIDE DOWN.

takes deep breath

Agnurse your gatsby looks striking like my peggie.
She was neutered last week, hopefully successfully 🤞

Mummy cats are amazing when they give birth. They do it all. It's a privilege to witness and help.

She'll just need you to look after her a bit, food and reassurance and monitor her.

She'll need a quiet dark place to nurse them afterwards. Be prepared for her to move them about to new areas to nest. It's normal and to do with her instinct in avoiding predators.

You'll be glad you had this opportunity. I'm hoping to have this opportunity again one day.

Ask the RSPCA to find homes for the kittens. This was the hardest part, trusting the people who came with the tiny kittens.
They will have proper checks in place.

Good luck!

One of my favourite memories as a child was staying with a friend the night her cat gave birth. Magical to look under the bed in the morning and see all the tiny kittens. Please post pics OP

Please take the RSPCA's offer to find homes for the kittens, they'll make sure they get the vaccinations and wormers they need and they have agreements to take the kittens back at sexual maturity to neuter them for new owners.

Enjoy the experience 🐈

I have a friend at work who has desperately wanted a kitten for ages so hopefully that's one home sorted. DP has asked if we can keep one, which is hilarious as he didn't want the cats we adopted in the first place (he wanted a dog), and now he adores them (we have another we adopted at the same time as Jaffa, and he is utterly bonkers).

But yes I agree, I asked the RSPCA if we needed to do anything with the kittens like worming, vaccinations etc and they said that's a conversation to have with the new owners and not something we have to do ourselves if we're not keeping them. They also said if we can't find homes for them we need to give them to the RSPCA asap though because the older they get the harder it gets to re-home them. If we don't have any (trusted) people to adopt
them by the time they're 3-4 weeks I'll call the RSPCA to arrange for them to go there instead.

Also here is a photo of pregnant Jaffa who was so tiny and now resembles a whale.

I'd go to the cat protection to rehome rather than RSPCA. Shes gorgeous, cant wait for kitty pics.

Shameless kitten pics placemark

I'd love one of mine to have kittens. Unfortunately they are all boys.

My cat had babies after escaping for an hour when we had only had her for a week... took her in to be neutered- vet rang us and said she was preggers so we just collected her and when she had them it was amazing!! She gave birth under my bed, purred the whole time- she was amazing! One baby had a cleft pallet and couldn’t eat- the vet put her to sleep as she was soooooo so tiny. Another didn’t make it despite best attempts. It was pretty sad and I’ll never forget, but the other 4 grew up strong and healthy in lovely new homes.
I would never knowingly allow any of my pets to have babies, but in your case and mine it was unavoidable so you should enjoy it- I’m jealous!!

OMG. We have a kitten from a rescue place. She's bonkers. She's also got big quicker than we expected.

Ooh kittens! How exciting, though unexpected! I can't wait for baby photos. 😄

She is gorgeous! Much like our tortie girl

Can't wait to see some kitten pics.

Shes lovely :) I wonder what the kittens will be like.

Another one shamelessly following for kitten updates. I lived on a farm growing up, we had one hunting cat who was massively popular with the local pet owners, so had a litter every couple of years (all very promptly bagsied and rehomed) and it was lovely having kittens around. They are hilarious.

When I was about 8 or 9 I came home from school and went to look for the cat.

She had chosen to give birth in my bed under the duvet. I picked her up ad there were kittens!

My mum didn't understand how quickly they go into heat after a birth, so we had another litter not long after, I played midwife.

My parents took most of the kittens to the vet and left her with one, she decided that in order to keep this one safe she needed to move him and selected the bottom of my parents' wardrobe.

No amount of moving her and/or her kittento the box with blankets worked, the kitten lived in the wardrobe for about 4 weeks.

Sashh I've been worrying about this! We're trying to avoid leaving her in rooms we really don't want the kittens to be in, luckily she seems relatively happy with the nest we made so I just hope she does end up using it when the time comes. And girliefriendlikescake your tortie girl is so beautiful!

She very pretty girl, OP! All the girl kitties on this thread are pretty girls

Adorable 😻

Sorry, I'm useless. I'm just here for kitten pics.

THE KITTENS ARE HERE. Sadly one had passed away still in its amniotic sac, but the other two seem well and are feeding

They so cute!!! Sorry for the one you lost, but it sounds like you could keep one and give one to your friend.

Oh 😍😍😍 look at them

Aww, so cute! Sorry for the one who didn't make it.
The photo with ones arm around the other is lovely.

Awwwww teeny tiny kittens! 😻They’re gorgeous! Are you sure she’s done or might there be more on their way? I’m sorry she lost one.

Oooh baby kitties! So lovely!

Sorry for the one that didn't make it.

Yep we've got another one! All black! Is it normal for them to be a bit rubbish at finding her teets?