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

Original poster

Does this look like a pregnant belly?

36 replies

GottaGetUp · 17/04/2019 22:08

We rehomed a cat last week. She is lovely and has settled in incredibly well. When we first saw her they were worried she was pregnant but thought she might just be a bit tubby with the saggy belly spayed cats can get. So they took her to the vet who confirmed (again) that she had a scar, so she had definitely been spayed, and therefore she was not pregnant and we could take her home.

They didn’t do any other checks as far as I know, is there any chance the operation didn’t work?

I weighed her today and she is almost exactly the same weight as when she was at the centre, but her tummy looks rounder to me. I’ve tried to take a few photos, what do you think?

Does this look like a pregnant belly?
Does this look like a pregnant belly?
Does this look like a pregnant belly?
OP posts:
Original poster
GottaGetUp · 17/04/2019 22:08

I’m a total cat newbie btw, so ready to be told I’m just being paranoid 😄

OP posts:
gamerchick · 17/04/2019 22:10

No idea. What's her nipples doing? Dont they become more obvious in pregnancy?

TroysMammy · 17/04/2019 22:11

I read somewhere about nipples pinking up.

Original poster
GottaGetUp · 17/04/2019 22:13

I don’t know what cat nipples are supposed to look like! Hers seem quite prominent, but I think they might have shaved a bit of her belly for checks or something at the centre. But they are only pale pink, not dark or red like some things I’ve read have said.

OP posts:
Harleyisme · 17/04/2019 22:16

No expert but she looks like my girl who is spayed and has thw saggy belly.

Vinorosso74 · 17/04/2019 23:14

From the photos that looks like a saggy tummy rather than a pregnant one. Am no expert on these matters tho.
She looks lovely, cute little moustache!

viccat · 17/04/2019 23:21

I don't think it does... but for peace of mind, it's a good time to register her with a vet anyway (you can get her the good quality flea treatments at the same time - only available from vet and they won't give it without seeing her) and ask them to double check.

Usually when a cat is spayed it's an ovario-hysterectomy and there's no way for it to not work because they remove the uterus and all other reproductive organs.

HellonHeels · 17/04/2019 23:21

What a sweet kitty! I don't think she looks pregnant. The tummy you see when she's lying down is called a primordial pouch, i saw an article about them a few months ago.

agnurse · 17/04/2019 23:44

She very pretty girl! I don't think she looks pregnant either. As PPs have said, if her nipples start becoming more prominent and/or she starts lactating, then you will know for sure.

Some cats have a larger primordial pouch than others and it has nothing to do with weight. Our Biggie has a large one, though admittedly he is overweight (came to us that way).

Tingface · 17/04/2019 23:54

I think she does look pregnant! I’ve had lots of cats and they’ve never had bulges like that...
Watch her all evening. See if her belly moves....

wigglypiggly · 18/04/2019 00:06

I think she looks pregnant too, my cats had saggy tums but they were flaps of skin and they hung down rather than made a round tummy and her nipples look big. Not an expert though. The vet can do a scan to make sure. Shes a lovely little puss.

Original poster
GottaGetUp · 18/04/2019 07:58

Well I was feeling reassured until those last two messages...

But if the operation takes everything out then it’s not really possible is it?

I have registered her over the phone at a vet, but I don’t want to bundle her into a carrier and into the car just yet if it’s not necessary. She wasn’t very happy on the drive back from the centre and I want to give her more than a week to settle in and trust us before upsetting her again.

OP posts:
Hamsterian · 18/04/2019 10:22

She does look pregnant to me; because of the shape of the belly.
I'm a fosterer for a charity so have seen various pregnant bellies but the only way to tell is to have a scan (or for kittens to arrive lol).
It's not unheard of the spaying operation taking place but incorrectly; or the operation started but not finished, things like that. So it is not impossible. Also we are in kitten season.

Original poster
GottaGetUp · 18/04/2019 11:00

Eek. Well, I’ve just had a good feel of her tummy (she’s incredibly docile) and I can’t feel anything moving. What stage would you be able to feel movement?

OP posts:
Easterbunnynearlyhere · 18/04/2019 11:04

A poster a few weeks ago rehomed a spayed dcat..
It had some adorable kittens soon after..
It had a scar assumed to be a spay scar.
Wrong!!

Original poster
GottaGetUp · 18/04/2019 11:07

Nooooo!

I wanted to ask at the centre if they had done any other checks. Because they just said another vet had looked and confirmed she had a scar. But they seemed so sure that scar=not pregnant that it felt like a stupid question.

OP posts:
roundligament · 18/04/2019 11:08

Have a feel of her belly if she will let you
My chubby spayed cat looks like that

CKWattisthemanager · 18/04/2019 11:11

Adult female cats are either neutered, pregnant or in season. They come into season and don't go off until they are mated as they ovulate when they mate. If they don't mate they keep 'calling'.

With regard to the scar that the vet found, I have been a vet nurse for decades and I would love to have a pound for every time I have seen a scar after shaving to prep for a cat spay that looks like she has already been spayed and yet the cat is fully intact inside!

My advice is to wait and see if she produces kittens and if she does, get her spayed when they are just weaned as if she is pregnant enough to have the belly on her that she has in the pictures, it's too late to do anything really anyway. I suspect she is not pregnant though.

Original poster
GottaGetUp · 18/04/2019 11:11

Oh god that thread is not helping.

I’ve given a tummy a really good prod roundligament and other than not feeling any movement, I’m not sure what I should be feeling for?

OP posts:
roundligament · 18/04/2019 11:22

I don't know small cats ? 😂😂😂

Original poster
GottaGetUp · 18/04/2019 11:29

Maybe if I listen closely I’ll hear some tiny mewling too? 😂

I’ve just had another prod and felt something suspicious, but it felt more like bubbles than small cats so i’ve probably just given her intestines a massage and she’s about to thank me with a foulsome fart...

OP posts:
Soubriquet · 18/04/2019 11:32

She does look a bit pregnant but the nipples that I can see look really pink as opposed to brown so I would say she’s just got a bit of a fat belly.

The only way you can really be sure, is either wait to see if she goes into labour, or pay to have a scan done of her belly

Hamsterian · 18/04/2019 15:05

I'm not sure if the nipple being pink or brown is an indicator, my latest foster stayed pink.
Don't prod the belly too much because it won't help you and it could hurt the kitten or kittens inside.

SneakyGremlins · 18/04/2019 15:07
Easterbunnynearlyhere · 18/04/2019 15:31

Nipples get pinker and so does her lady garden area!