# Pregnant Kittie With Small Hernia



## Tishtash451 (May 2, 2011)

Hi, I have a 15 month old cat called Tilly who is 7 weeks pregnant. She is doing really well and is a healthy cat. She has a very small hernia where her belly button is, which was picked up by a vet when she was a kitten. We were informed by the vet that this was fine and that it could be repaired when she was spayed. Does anyone know if this will cause any problems for her when she is giving birth? I have spoken to an 'on line vet' who has stated that it should not cause any problems. Has anyone else had this problem? Just being an over cautious/stressed/worried owner etc. as this is her first litter.:blink:


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## Amethyst (Jun 16, 2010)

Make an appointment with your own vet. Cat needs to be examined.


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## celicababe1986 (Jun 22, 2009)

has your vet not examined her since being pregnant. If not its time to make that appointment. good luck


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## gloworm*mushroom (Mar 4, 2011)

Are hernias painful in kitties like they can be with humans?

Can I ask why you didnt get her spayed and her hernia fixed as soon as you could?


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## gskinner123 (Mar 10, 2010)

Ideally, a cat with an umbilical hernia should not be bred from. But as you're already there...

An umbilical hernia is classed as a mid-line defect. Generally speaking, at its most limited expression, its just a small bump where the belly button would be which is a result of incomplete closure of the musculature, etc, along the cat's midline/underneath which allows, again just talking about an 'at best' scenario, the underlying fatty tissue to protrude through the 'hole' which is the bump you can feel. At worst... well, I won't go there as it's very unpleasant.

The reason vets advise against a cat with a hernia becoming pregnant is obviously that the weight of a pregnancy places strain on the 'opening' with, rarely, dire consequences for the pregnant cat.

Most, and arguably all, umbilical hernias are genetic/hereditary in origin so as well as keeping a very close eye on your girl's tummy as her pregnancy continues, the kittens should be carefully checked at all stages of their development for the same thing and obviously make the new owners aware that any hernias will need repairing in the future.

She will "probably" be okay. I certainly hope so.


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## Tishtash451 (May 2, 2011)

Thanks for all your replies. I have now booked an appt at the vets to get her checked out. I have been checking her tummy daily and the hernia is very difficult to find as it is very small. 

The father, my other cat, Alfie, was castrated 7 weeks ago as we thought once he was done, we could then get Tilly spayed the following month and there would be no chance of her getting pregnant. 

Unfortunately they both beat us to it. As Tilly had showed no signs of coming into heat we thought we had prevented the issue. However the vet explained that as Tilly has a male cat 'on tap' (both are currently indoor cats) she would not necessarily show any signs of being in heat which I have to admit was new to me. We didn't even see them 'together' so didn't even realise anything had gone on!


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## gskinner123 (Mar 10, 2010)

It's a great shame she's pregnant but what's done can't be undone.

You may find that the hernia 'grows' as her belly becomes bigger/heavier as a result of the weight pushing more fatty tissue through the opening. I know tiny umbilical hernias can be difficult to find and can go completely unnoticed as they're sometimes 'there' and sometimes not, depending upon the posture of the cat at the time you're touching/strooking their tummy. That's speaking from bitter experience when I found an umbilical hernia on one of my heavily pregnant cats. Very fortunately, she was fine with her pregnancy but two of her kittens had small umbilical hernias and a third had a more extreme and most unpleasant expression of exactly the same thing.


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## colliemerles (Nov 2, 2007)

_i would get her checked by your vet, they can keep an eye on her if need be, i do hope shes ok, and it doesnt cause her any problems with being pregnant,keep us posted._


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## Aurelia (Apr 29, 2010)

gskinner123 said:


> Ideally, a cat with an umbilical hernia should not be bred from. But as you're already there...
> 
> An umbilical hernia is classed as a mid-line defect. Generally speaking, at its most limited expression, its just a small bump where the belly button would be which is a result of incomplete closure of the musculature, etc, along the cat's midline/underneath which allows, again just talking about an 'at best' scenario, the underlying fatty tissue to protrude through the 'hole' which is the bump you can feel. At worst... well, I won't go there as it's very unpleasant.
> 
> ...


+



gskinner123 said:


> It's a great shame she's pregnant but what's done can't be undone.
> 
> You may find that the hernia 'grows' as her belly becomes bigger/heavier as a result of the weight pushing more fatty tissue through the opening. I know tiny umbilical hernias can be difficult to find and can go completely unnoticed as they're sometimes 'there' and sometimes not, depending upon the posture of the cat at the time you're touching/strooking their tummy. That's speaking from bitter experience when I found an umbilical hernia on one of my heavily pregnant cats. Very fortunately, she was fine with her pregnancy but two of her kittens had small umbilical hernias and a third had a more extreme and most unpleasant expression of exactly the same thing.


This lovely lady beat me to it, so just quoting to agree.

Plus OP, could I make a suggestion/request? Can you make sure you get all hernias fixed and get the little ones nuetured before they go to new homes. Hopefully put an end to the cycle.

You might not be able to put the mistake of breeding your cats right, but you can at least prevent it from happening again ... as well as preventing an hereditary condition from being passed on once again too.


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## lizward (Feb 29, 2008)

Tishtash451 said:


> Hi, I have a 15 month old cat called Tilly who is 7 weeks pregnant. She is doing really well and is a healthy cat. She has a very small hernia where her belly button is, which was picked up by a vet when she was a kitten. We were informed by the vet that this was fine and that it could be repaired when she was spayed. Does anyone know if this will cause any problems for her when she is giving birth? I have spoken to an 'on line vet' who has stated that it should not cause any problems. Has anyone else had this problem? Just being an over cautious/stressed/worried owner etc. as this is her first litter.:blink:


I had this problem and the cat was fine.

Liz


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## Aurelia (Apr 29, 2010)

lizward said:


> I had this problem and the cat was fine.
> 
> Liz


But it could just as easily not be fine right Liz?


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## Amethyst (Jun 16, 2010)

Aurelia said:


> But it could just as easily not be fine right Liz?


I don't know if I am allowed to ask ... but rather than start a new thread ... GENERALISING ... is it acceptable to breed from a cat, I mean a planned mating, with an umbilical hernia?

I remember taking a pup in years ago for vax and vet saying we shouldn't breed form her ... not that we planned to. Is it different for cats?


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## Aurelia (Apr 29, 2010)

In short ... NO. Hence my suggestion above to the OP


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## catsmum (Feb 4, 2011)

Amethyst said:


> I don't know if I am allowed to ask ... but rather than start a new thread ... GENERALISING ... is it acceptable to breed from a cat, I mean a planned mating, with an umbilical hernia?


i wouldnt, no

dont know what more i am allowed to say

hope that helped

not acceptable for me


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## Taylorbaby (Jan 10, 2009)

blimey thats awful, gskinner, what alot of problems, would have just neutered her myself, I hope that the birth goes well and none of the kittens have it or are ill


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## lizward (Feb 29, 2008)

Aurelia said:


> But it could just as easily not be fine right Liz?


I don't know, I haven't researched it.

Liz


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## gskinner123 (Mar 10, 2010)

Taylorbaby said:


> blimey thats awful, gskinner, what alot of problems, would have just neutered her myself, I hope that the birth goes well and none of the kittens have it or are ill


She was spayed, having had just that one litter. I only discovered the hernia when she was six weeks pregnant. It happened about 12 years ago 

And just to agree with most of the others here, out of choice, I'd never breed from a female with a hernia nor with a cat from a line of breeding where hernias were known to be a problem. I do think that most are hereditary in nature.


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