# What age can a cat get pregnant from?



## wantabully

Sorry, probably a stupid question but I've never had kittens.. 
and how long is the gestation period?

Thanks. 
(gotabully).


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## Alansw8

They can get pregnant from 1st season which can be from 5-6 months and they carry for 9 weeks or up to 70 days.

Alan


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## wantabully

thanks for your prompt reply. 
gottabully.x


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## Biawhiska

someone's cat on here got pregnant at 4.5months i think! so neuter asap if a female cat goes outside.


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## Guest

I'm currently fostering a very young queen at the moment, her kittens were born prematurely and 4 out of the 5 have died . We think it was her first season as she is only about 8months old max ( probably 7mo's). She is trying to be a good mum, but its all to soon for her. If her previous owners had had her speyed, then she would be fine and there wouldnt be 4 more kittens waiting at the bridge. 

If you think your cat is pregnant at such a young age, then if possible get her speyed early on into the pregnancy. Its not a nice situation to be in, but it is for the best. My foster girl arrived with only about 2 weeks to go, and it was (in our rescues opinion) too late to spey. 

There are some very real risks with a kitten becoming a mum  please dont let another cat become a statistic.


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## gemmaleigh66

previous poster i dont think advising spaying early in the pregnancy is giving good advice have you seen the pictures of a cats womb thats been taken out with 3-4 kitten balls still in it? in other words advising abortion?? 
cats can get pregnant from 5-6 mnths it is best to get spayed but if unfortunately kittens happen take your cat to the vet and seek advise from them they rarely would suggest this procedure!!!!


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## gemma1983

come into season from 6months and they are basically always on call. So they will have a litter and when the kittens turn 6weeks they can again fall pregnant. I would suggest having them spayed as soon as possible and not let them out untill they are. Despite what people thing a cat never missed not having kittens in her lifetime. And they are pregnant for 65day but that can go 2 days either way. So can give birth day 63 to day 67.


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## Guest

gemmaleigh66 said:


> previous poster i dont think advising spaying early in the pregnancy is giving good advice have you seen the pictures of a cats womb thats been taken out with 3-4 kitten balls still in it? in other words advising abortion??
> cats can get pregnant from 5-6 mnths it is best to get spayed but if unfortunately kittens happen take your cat to the vet and seek advise from them they rarely would suggest this procedure!!!!


Yes many times......

You are entitled to your opinion, however i am also entitled to mine.

I see what happens to too young queens on a daily basis. I foster heavily pregnant cats and their resulting kittens for a local rescue, so i have a pretty good idea of what goes on and can see the bigger picture. Sometimes abortion is the better option imho.

With regards to a vet suggesting the procedure, the risks of a 5month old kitten going through a whole pregnancy and birth far outweigh the risks of a spey whilst in the early stages of pregnancy. I know most vets would reccomend a spey procedure in the cases of pregnant kittens. The risks increase significantly for the procedure the further the pregnancy progresses, which is why i end up breaking my heart over and over again when we lose mums and babies because of irresponsible ownership. I am currently fighting for the life of the remaining premature kitten from a 7/8mo mum - 3 kittens died due to prematurly developed lungs, the other had to be pts due to kidney and other organ failure, the final one has a severe heart murmur so his future is uncertain.... so yes - i do know what i am talking about thankyou!

Before you start the mad faces again, i will ask politely that you think about respect for others views. I disagree with yours however i respect that you are allowed your own opinion. I will however not accept being verbally abused on a forum from anyone.


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## gemma1983

billyboysmammy said:


> Yes many times......
> 
> You are entitled to your opinion, however i am also entitled to mine.
> 
> I see what happens to too young queens on a daily basis. I foster heavily pregnant cats and their resulting kittens for a local rescue, so i have a pretty good idea of what goes on and can see the bigger picture. Sometimes abortion is the better option imho.
> 
> With regards to a vet suggesting the procedure, the risks of a 5month old kitten going through a whole pregnancy and birth far outweigh the risks of a spey whilst in the early stages of pregnancy. I know most vets would reccomend a spey procedure in the cases of pregnant kittens. The risks increase significantly for the procedure the further the pregnancy progresses, which is why i end up breaking my heart over and over again when we lose mums and babies because of irresponsible ownership. I am currently fighting for the life of the remaining premature kitten from a 7/8mo mum - 3 kittens died due to prematurly developed lungs, the other had to be pts due to kidney and other organ failure, the final one has a severe heart murmur so his future is uncertain.... so yes - i do know what i am talking about thankyou!
> 
> Before you start the mad faces again, i will ask politely that you think about respect for others views. I disagree with yours however i respect that you are allowed your own opinion. I will however not accept being verbally abused on a forum from anyone.


totally agree i foster and work in the cpl and see just what happens to poor cats on a daily basis. It's like letting your child have baby after baby after baby. Abortion is best for the cat and best for the kittens, we don't need more unwanted cats in the world, kittens are cute cats are kicked out...


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## sequeena

From reading the other posts I would keep your cat inside until you can have her spayed or have a covered run for her to go outside in, that way you know that males can't get to her x


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## gemmaleigh66

may i first say i was not verbally abusing u and if you took my post as doing so i apologise! i have the upmost respect for what you do and i agree that irresponsible ownership causes terrible circumstances for both mums and kittens my response was so because the question was from when can cats get pregnant not that she was! and sometimes accidents do unfortunately happen and it is not always the owners fault most owners love their cats to bits and would hate for any of what you said to happen sadly you deal with the other end of the scale and this person was obviously seeking advice because he cares maybe he was asking so he knew when to take her to get spayed? again apologies you obviously do deal with awful situations and as you say see on a daily basis the devastating effects that come from early pregnancys i am too a firm beleiver that kittens should not have kittens for all the reasons you have stated! 
i am sorry to hear about your litter and i really do hope the little one left pulls through with your help! xx


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## sequeena

gemmaleigh66 said:


> may i first say i was not verbally abusing u and if you took my post as doing so i apologise! i have the upmost respect for what you do and i agree that irresponsible ownership causes terrible circumstances for both mums and kittens my response was so because the question was from when can cats get pregnant not that she was! and sometimes accidents do unfortunately happen and it is not always the owners fault most owners love their cats to bits and would hate for any of what you said to happen sadly you deal with the other end of the scale and this person was obviously seeking advice because he cares maybe he was asking so he knew when to take her to get spayed? again apologies you obviously do deal with awful situations and as you say see on a daily basis the devastating effects that come from early pregnancys i am too a firm beleiver that kittens should not have kittens for all the reasons you have stated!
> i am sorry to hear about your litter and i really do hope the little one left pulls through with your help! xx


I think BBM was trying to give a rounded view, offering advice if the cat were to get pregnant


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## gemmaleigh66

again apologies i know i spoke too soon i am not to bold as to admit when i am wrong


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## Guest

gemmaleigh66 said:


> may i first say i was not verbally abusing u and if you took my post as doing so i apologise! i have the upmost respect for what you do and i agree that irresponsible ownership causes terrible circumstances for both mums and kittens my response was so because the question was from when can cats get pregnant not that she was! and sometimes accidents do unfortunately happen and it is not always the owners fault most owners love their cats to bits and would hate for any of what you said to happen sadly you deal with the other end of the scale and this person was obviously seeking advice because he cares maybe he was asking so he knew when to take her to get spayed? again apologies you obviously do deal with awful situations and as you say see on a daily basis the devastating effects that come from early pregnancys i am too a firm beleiver that kittens should not have kittens for all the reasons you have stated!
> i am sorry to hear about your litter and i really do hope the little one left pulls through with your help! xx


i'm afraid your comments on the rep you left give a different view. However apology accepted.

I also believe that yes accidents happen, yet the most responsible thing if a kitten gets pregnant is for her to be speyed asap.

I agree the op asked a fairly basic question - yet the full picture deserves to be seen. There are some severe consequenses for kittens if they get pregnant not least the death of the much loved pet mum. There are reasons why it is reccomended to have your cat speyed at 6months old and early kitten pregnancy is one of the highest.


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## Carmela

Hi 

My kittens Alfie (13/02/09) and Millie (14/02/09) are getting "done" at 4.2 months...so roughly in 2-3 weeks. Alfie is quite active and tries jumping on Millie at every opportunity!!! Whereas Millie is more of a premature kitty...shes tiny for her age, and shes not interested at all. However incase she does get out *they are indoor cats* I want to get her done at the same time as Alfie!!! The vet took Alfie out of the carrier when Millie was still on the Vet table and tried it on infront of the Vet *to my horror*...the Vet then advised straight away that Alfie should be done immediatly as hes quite sexually mature!!! Ive noticed as he is getting older he is getting frustrated when Millie bites him to get him away from her. So for a peaceful home I have decided to just get them both done just to avoid any stress etc. I believe its up to the owners to decide what to do...however...my opinion is if your not intending on breeding to get it done asap as they make more loving pets!!!

Hope this helps!!

Ps/ I need some help...I dont know what to do with my pink slip from GCCF in change of ownership, and if I have to notify them of their spaying??? HELP!!! lol!


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## Eiserblew

billyboysmammy said:


> I also believe that yes accidents happen, yet the most responsible thing if a kitten gets pregnant is for her to be speyed asap.
> 
> I agree the op asked a fairly basic question - yet the full picture deserves to be seen. There are some severe consequenses for kittens if they get pregnant not least the death of the much loved pet mum. There are reasons why it is reccomended to have your cat speyed at 6months old and early kitten pregnancy is one of the highest.


I just wanted to comment that I used to have both feet in the 'OMG - you can't spay a pregnant girl' camp... until I became involved in a rescue one day.

A number of cats were handed over to a rescue by the person left in charge of their care. One of these girls was about 5 weeks pregnant, and the vet they were taken to decided in her case the best thing to do was to spay her. I was horrified. How could anyone do that to a pregnant girl? I personalised her emotions, and thought that she must be missing the babies. How terrible it must be for her.

A month or so later, I went with a friend who deals with rehoming to visit the vet and some of the rescuers who had rescued the cats and been involved in their care. The vet spoke to us about the girl who he'd had to spay. He said that if she'd continued with her pregnancy it would have put her at serious risk, plus the kittens were at risk. He said that in his opinion it was better to spay the girl and save her than risk the lives of all of them.

While I was there, we were due to pick up a kitten to take her to her new home. She was a sweet little girl. A little timid, but once you spent a little time talking to her and reassuring her she turned into a total fuss-monkey. She was about the size of my 4 or 5 month old kittens. I asked my friend how old she was. Apparently she was 7 months old. My friend then went on to tell me that she'd put on a lot of weight since she'd been rescued, and that she was the girl that had been spayed. All of a sudden all my earlier criticisms and thoughts about how 'evil' the vet must be disappeared. There was no way that poor girl, who would have gotten pregnant at 5 months, could have carried and cared for a litter of kittens. I got very emotional over that poor little scrap of a girl - pregnant because the owner (not the same person as the one who handed them in) didn't care.

My feet are now firmly in the 'spay whenever medically necessary' camp. There are instances where, in my opinion, it is the right thing to do.

People with kittens could try asking their vets about early neutering. Some will now neuter at around 3-4 months, providing the kitten is of a good size. My kittens leave me neutered - then no-one has to worry. Accidents can happen, even to the most careful of us!


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## Eiserblew

Carmela said:


> Ps/ I need some help...I dont know what to do with my pink slip from GCCF in change of ownership, and if I have to notify them of their spaying??? HELP!!! lol!


lol! It's okay - on the front of the pink slip at the bottom is a space for you to write your name on the left and sign on the right. On the back you write your name and address on the right, and sign the declaration on the left. Send it to the address on the back with the fee (I think it's £10 each, but I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong! It should say on the front of the pink slip). You don't need to tell the GCCF you've neutered them, but you might need to keep the receipt from the vet to show the breeder of the kittens, depending on what was written on your contract, if you have one!


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## gemmaleigh66

i think since participating in this chat my feet have crept into the other camp:blushing:


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## Guest

Eiserblew said:


> I just wanted to comment that I used to have both feet in the 'OMG - you can't spay a pregnant girl' camp... until I became involved in a rescue one day.
> 
> A number of cats were handed over to a rescue by the person left in charge of their care. One of these girls was about 5 weeks pregnant, and the vet they were taken to decided in her case the best thing to do was to spay her. I was horrified. How could anyone do that to a pregnant girl? I personalised her emotions, and thought that she must be missing the babies. How terrible it must be for her.
> 
> A month or so later, I went with a friend who deals with rehoming to visit the vet and some of the rescuers who had rescued the cats and been involved in their care. The vet spoke to us about the girl who he'd had to spay. He said that if she'd continued with her pregnancy it would have put her at serious risk, plus the kittens were at risk. He said that in his opinion it was better to spay the girl and save her than risk the lives of all of them.
> 
> While I was there, we were due to pick up a kitten to take her to her new home. She was a sweet little girl. A little timid, but once you spent a little time talking to her and reassuring her she turned into a total fuss-monkey. She was about the size of my 4 or 5 month old kittens. I asked my friend how old she was. Apparently she was 7 months old. My friend then went on to tell me that she'd put on a lot of weight since she'd been rescued, and that she was the girl that had been spayed. All of a sudden all my earlier criticisms and thoughts about how 'evil' the vet must be disappeared. There was no way that poor girl, who would have gotten pregnant at 5 months, could have carried and cared for a litter of kittens. I got very emotional over that poor little scrap of a girl - pregnant because the owner (not the same person as the one who handed them in) didn't care.
> 
> My feet are now firmly in the 'spay whenever medically necessary' camp. There are instances where, in my opinion, it is the right thing to do.
> 
> People with kittens could try asking their vets about early neutering. Some will now neuter at around 3-4 months, providing the kitten is of a good size. My kittens leave me neutered - then no-one has to worry. Accidents can happen, even to the most careful of us!


our vets do it on weight, if the kitten is 2lbs or over they will spey or neuter. Which in the case of most pet cats can be as early as 10-14 weeks! Its a good thing, and prevents so many unwanted kittens.

I too used to be in the "dont spey the pregnant cats" team, which is why i can understand the horror people feel. Seeing the other side of the coin though i am firmly in the spey whenever necessary brigade. Necessary doesnt always mean a pregnant cat, to me it all depends on the future health of mum and kits. I'm afraid another foster friend of mine has just had the unenviable task of taking another heavily pregnant girl to be speyed as she is positive for felv, fip and fiv. poor cat has enough to deal with.


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## Carmela

Thank you ever so much!!! I shall pay the £10 and get that done and any idea where I should send it??? Lol...

Ps/ I wont be telling my breeder NOTHING after selling her to me with Cat Flu..she clearly didnt care about her and I dont want her to have ANY involvement in my fur babies life!!! Regardless of what my contract says!!!! Thank you very very very much for the advice I was begining to panic lol!!!! 

Have you got kitties???


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## Guest

gemmaleigh66 said:


> i think since participating in this chat my feet have crept into the other camp:blushing:


bless ya, for the most part i am with you - most of the time there isnt a need for mum to be speyed. its just that sometimes whats best for mum and kittens has to be considered . Its one of the worst parts of my job and i cry every time, so its no easy thing to do, its hard.


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## Guest

right lol enough of a hijack pmsl! sorry OP 

_grovels on knees_


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## lizward

There are no circumstances other than serious risk to the life of the mother, or extreme welfare situations such as we do not get any more in this country, in which I would agree to spaying a visibly pregnant cat. I am well aware that some rescues have this as policy regardless of medical necessity. Such rescues will never have a penny out of me. This includes the RSPCA of course. 

Liz


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## Guest

gemmaleigh66 said:


> previous poster i dont think advising spaying early in the pregnancy is giving good advice have you seen the pictures of a cats womb thats been taken out with 3-4 kitten balls still in it? in other words advising abortion??
> cats can get pregnant from 5-6 mnths it is best to get spayed but if unfortunately kittens happen take your cat to the vet and seek advise from them they rarely would suggest this procedure!!!!


Firstly cats can and do get pregnant before the age of 5-6 months!!Whatabout the danger to the mother cat! or is this not to be taken into consideration? I am not professing to have a knowledge of cats - but where dogs are concerned they are given the anti mate injection up to six weeks after a miss mate!!! You are entitled to you're opinions - as is everyone on the forum - but sometimes we have to be cruel to be kind! Especially in this day and age!!!
My opinion!!! please don't knock it!
DT


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## gemmaleigh66

i did in later posts if u read apologise and accept reasons for this


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## Guest

gemmaleigh66 said:


> i did in later posts if u read apologise and accept reasons for this


lmao DT did it again 

Dont worry gemmaleigh - rona will be along later to tow her back into line  :001_rolleyes:


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## Guest

billyboysmammy said:


> lmao DT did it again
> 
> Dont worry gemmaleigh - rona will be along later to tow her back into line  :001_rolleyes:


Nah Rona's slipping!!! don't think she's up to the job any more! We are looking for an apprentice to take over the role!!
Any offers???
lol
DT


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## Guest

nah not me! i love it when you wade in with both feet in ya mouth


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## Eiserblew

billyboysmammy said:


> nah not me! i love it when you wade in with both feet in ya mouth


I thought DT only openned her mouth to change feet! lol! 

*runs for cover*


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## Guest

Eiserblew said:


> I thought DT only openned her mouth to change feet! lol!
> 
> *runs for cover*


lmao ive just spilled me coffee!

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol


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## Arranmf

billyboysmammy said:


> Yes many times......
> 
> Before you start the mad faces again, i will ask politely that you think about respect for others views. I disagree with yours however i respect that you are allowed your own opinion. I will however not accept being verbally abused on a forum from anyone.


No disrespect but I see no verbal abuse. Take a chill pill. I have a 5 month old kitten (Sponge) and she just recently started going out for short spells. Now all the local Toms are gathering in the back garden and she has been howling to get out in the early hours of the morning. I do fear the worst that she may have been impregnated but my vet wont spay her until 6 months. I took her mother (Lambie) to get done a couple of months ago and lo and behold she was pregnant again, with 9. The vet decided it was best all round to do a hysterectomy and while accepting his professional opinion, I didn't feel good about the situation. Then again, coping with 9 kittens would have been a struggle. Lambie had 6 in her previous litter but she coped admirably (I was driven up the wall). I kept the aforementioned Sponge and the other 5 all have good homes now. I really do wonder if the expression "breed like rabbits" should be changed to "breed like cats".


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## spid

just to say transfer fee is now £11 - if you don't get it right they will send it all back to you and you have to do it all again.


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