Is Scout Pregnant?

How to Tell if a Cat Is Pregnant

Recognizing that a cat is pregnant is important to providing adequate care for the cat mom and her babies. For kind hearted souls who take in stray animals and try to find homes for them, early identification that a cat is pregnant can make the difference between a positive adoption experience and a cat being returned along with her kittens. Recognizing that a cat is pregnant can be tricky, even for seasoned veterinarians and animal welfare workers. Here are some ideas to help identify if a female cat is pregnant.

Steps

1. Check to see if her nipples are larger. Around day 21, a pregnant female's nipples will often turn bright pink. If they are, she is pregnant. If not, wait another week, and check again. Some may not turn bright pink or become enlarged, but most will.
   
2. Very gently run your hand over the surface of her tummy to see if you feel a sort of swelling and small lumps the size of walnuts. DO NOT feel or prod the lumps.
   
3. When a cat becomes pregnant, her demeanor may change. Pregnant cats become very affectionate, and not all teeth and claws.
   
4. Stand back and look at your cat's overall shape. From the side, pregnant cats frequently look a little swayback with a slightly distended tummy. From the top looking down at the cat, a pregnant cat's tummy is frequently distended slightly more than halfway from the neck to the tail. This look has been compared to the posture of a burro. If your cat's profile has changed from normal to burro, she might be pregnant.
   
5. 
   
6. #To distinguish pregnant from fat: fat cats are fat all over, including the neck, the legs. etc. Pregnant cats are not. However, keep in mind that fat cats can be pregnant too!
   
7. When a pregnant cat gets close to delivering her kittens, she may start nesting -- arranging blankets, towels, straw, whatever, into a secure place to have her babies.
   

Article provided by wikiHow.