when not 2 spay a pregnant cat?

Question

I have a 1 year old cat that is pregnant with her 2nd litter and i think she'll be due in a couple weeks...i wanted 2 kno if i could still spay her even though she is almost due? Would it be a dangerous procedure for her?

--and for all the people out there who think i'm cruel for spaying her while she's pregnant..can you please keep the negativity to yourself....i have kept her 1st litter of 4 and i have 3 other cats that i took in when they were little so it would be hard for me to give up her 2nd litter knowing the fact that i might not be able to find a home for all and i would just worry too much about them getting put to sleep if anything, so i really feel i have no options......please help!!!

-stressed

Answer 1

hi. i am a nurse and spaying while pregnant can be an option. depending on how pregnant she is?
if in the first stage i.e first few weeks of pregnancy the procedure can be done with smaller risk to the female cat. obviously the kittens will die.
if in later stages the procedure can be more dangerous and the kittens will need to be euthanased.

the main concern with spaying while pregnant is the risk of hemorrhage (bleeding) from the more pronounced blood vessels around the uterus.
the animal will also suffer from a sudden change in hormones which were once to do with pregnancy. they feel a little confused for a while but are usually fine.
this is a huge world wide problem with cats and abuse from the crowd does not help.
if you decided to keep the kittens, we usually spay the female once the kittens have stopped suckling and are weaned fully. keeping the female cat indoors away from males will also help to prevent further pregnancy.

if you go with spaying i would recommend intravenous fluid therapy as a must during the general aneasthetic.

qualified veterinary nurse UK

Answer 2

I'm just wondering one thing.... You say you don't want to have the kittens be killed, but is aborting the kittens really such a better option? Yes, I know that it can be difficult to find homes for kittens, even if kittens have a higher "success rate" of finding homes than older cats (unfortunately, most of those homes seem to just want a kitten, and might un-home the cat once it's "too old"), but you can always start finding a no-kill shelter already to make sure that you know what to do with the kittens once they are old enough to leave their mum. And please wait with having her spayed until the kittens are weaned off.

Are the kittens off the first litter neutered? What about the other three cats? Maybe you should also work against having more accidental litters by making sure they're neutered? ^^

As a side note, I think that one year is a bit too young to have her second litter O.o But then again, I'm against teenage pregnancies among humans, too. Just because a girl enters puberty at fourteen or fifteen (approximately the same as a 1-year-old cat), you wouldn't expect her to have kids would you? ^^; Most breeders would suggest that a cat not have their first litter until they're at least one year old, preferrably one and a half, and that she doesn't get pregnant the first time she's in heat.

I'm not trying to be offensive with this comment/reply; it's simply my view on the matter =)

Answer 3

No vet will spay her while she's pregnant. They'll either have to abort the kittens first or wait until she delivers them then spay her.
You can keep the kittens and find a new home for them on your own. Put up posters at the vets office, at the grocery stores or take an add in the paper. But you're in luck, most kittens can find a home quickly since they're 'kittens', it's the adults that have the problem. Everyone wants a 'kitty' but not as many want a 'cat'.

Answer 4

I think this "warning" is from the 1950's or something when people fed cats raw meat from the butcher and they were generally feral enough to catch AND EAT mice and other pests. That's not to say it's not a real danger, but you should be getting better advice these days than "Get some one else to take care of your cat or get rid of it." Wear gloves and a mask when you change the litter box, and tie each day's worth of waste up in it's own grocery bag. There's no reason to get rid of your kitten either before or after the baby is born. If you also stay on top of the litter, as in clean the box every day, the risk of exposure is extremely slight because it takes a few days for any eggs in the feces to hatch into larvae that can infect you. The humane society link below explains the toxoplasmosis cycle and how that really applies to pregnancy very well. Good luck!

Answer 5

Call the vet...most often they'll abort up to a month into the pregnancy, but it just depends on the place and who's doing the procedure. Honestly, I don't think you're wrong to be considering it as the animal population is way out of control and so many animals are being put to sleep every day, but you should also discuss the risks to your cat because she is in a vulnerable state.

Answer 6

A pregnant cat can be spayed, and yes there is a risk but there is still a risk even if she isn't pregnant.
If your vet does spay her while pregnant, she may have a couple more stitches but for the most part it will be the same as if she wasn't pregnant.

But I can only commment on what I experienced with one of my own cats that I had spayed while she was pregnant.

Answer 7

you would probably have a very hard time finding a vet who would spay a pregnant cat. In the future spay/neuter before they go into heat the first time. I do applaud that you took the responsibility to keep the 1st litter

Answer 8

You are doing the right thing to have her spayed before she gives birth...Kudos to you!!! I rescue homeless cats and have them spayed all the time when they are pregnant.
There are too many cats/kittens that are being killed daily because there are not enough homes and because you are being responsible and doing this more kitties will find homes and not be killed. So you are actually saving lives by doing this.

Answer 9

The only way a Vet will spay her sense she is almost due is abortion. and the kittens sound like they are old enough to maybe make it on their own. If she can deliver let her have her kittens then ask the vet when she can be spayed (hysterectomy)Spaying is removal of the uterus.

Answer 10

If she is that far along it may be too late to have her spayed. Talk to your vet now and seek advice on where you can put the kittens up for adoption. Plus make you appointment to have her spayed after her babies are born.