Abnormal things going on around here....

[crazycatdogmom-4]

Alright guys, buckle up because this one has me completely stumped. I have 3 cats, 2 male and 1 female. My oldest male (12-14) was a rescue with little information on his first few years of life, but it was pretty obvious that it was bad. When he became part of my family, I was under the impression that he was neutered. As he aged (before the female arrived) he began howling down the hallway at night, spraying when accidentally locked in a room, then the spraying escalated to anywhere anytime! Just about every corner of my house. My female is roughly 9 months old and I rescued her from under a shed when she was 2-3 months. I’ve never owned a female cat before, so when she started acting funny I googled my way into finding out that she was in heat. Since that moment her and my old male have been absolutely inseparable!! Cuddling, cleaning, constantly together. I hadn’t spayed her yet because I knew that both of my boys were neutered. I do plan to spay her ASAP! Her second heat cycle only lasted 2 days..strange. Then she began reeeeeallllly opening up to everybody. What once was a skiddish girl had now become affectionate towards humans and even more so to the old cat. Fast forward to now, about 4-5 weeks later, and this girl has suddenly gotten FAT but just in her belly. We figured she just was being a good hog... but then.. the unthinkable happened.. I. CAUGHT. MY. MALE. DOING. THE. DEAD. is this even possible?????? I understand that if she’s already pregnant this act is obviously not going to do anything. She has been an inside cat with NO access to outdoors forever. I have researched so much and found very little answers. Could it be false pregnancy? Maybe. But could my male cat possibly have unilateral cryptorchidism in which the vet who performed the neuter couldn’t find the testicle and probably didn’t care to extensively search for it due to cost & him being a homeless shelter cat? Could it have remained in the abdomen all this time and possibly triggered by the female in heat? Maybe it dropped and now he’s fertile and I have kittens on the way??? Who knows....but wow this has been a crazy event in my household.

[Ruth B]

Oh dear this isn't sounding good.

A neutered male can certainly go through the motions, but as they say, fires blanks. I'm not certain, but I would have thought that if he hadn't been neutered properly then it is possible he could get her pregnant.

I'm no expert, I've always had cats that have come ready neutered or spayed from a shelter, but I would have thought that while a phantom pregnancy is possible it is unlikely. As for doing him having his way with her several weeks later it could be her hormones are still active and he is picking up enough signals to keep trying.

My best advice would normally to see your vet as soon as possible and get both cats examined, however in the current situation things might be different. Ring the vets and discuss options, they might be able to do a video call to examine both your cats, or it might be you can arrange to leave them at the surgery to be examined and then the vet can call you with the diagnosis, most vets, assuming you are in the UK are still working but dealing less with routine work and keeping contact to a minimum, it could even be that you can drop them off they can call you to discuss any surgery or tests and then you pick them up afterwards.

Hopefully someone with more knowledge of pregnant and mating cats will be along to give more advice.

[booktigger]

Unusual situation, cats are induced ovulators though, so only mate when in season. It would have to be a rubbish vet who wouldn't deal with an undefended testicle just because of him being a rescue, as there are health risks to leaving them. You would know though, they still have strong smelling urine like an unneutered Tom

[fjm]

I would get her seen by your vet. Either she is pregnant, in which case you need to make the decision whether to have her spayed immediately if it is possible, or go ahead with the litter, or she is not, in which case there may be another reason for the sudden plumpness. If she is pregnant, and has really never been outside (is it possible she got out briefly when someone else was in charge?), then one of the two males must be fertile, and you can get that sorted pretty quickly. I think most vets would accept this as an emergency of sorts, especially a vet who already knows you and the cats.

[crazycatdogmom-4]

Unusual situation, cats are induced ovulators though, so only mate when in season. It would have to be a rubbish vet who wouldn't deal with an undefended testicle just because of him being a rescue, as there are health risks to leaving them. You would know though, they still have strong smelling urine like an unneutered Tom

I’ve had major issues with him spraying all over and it is STRONG. You can smell it as soon as you enter a room. It fills the entire room and then your searching for the urine... I’ve read that neutered males do not have a strong smelling urine... goodness this is just crazy!!