Expert: Ali - 3/27/2009

Question
So i know iam suppost to get my cat spayed and all that but here it is, my 10 month old cat has recently started going outside, for about 4 months now, never had a problem with tom cats before but today when i called my cat in after letting her out to do her buisness i opend my door and to my suprise she had another cat with her, just about to walk in through my back door. For a few minutes i was in shock but then whent to see if he was still there, he was sum way up the garden by this time, i turned to my left and two other cats where sitting on my fence, i let my dogs out to scare them off but it didnt work. Its getting kind of scary now, these cats are stalking my house, obviously i keep letting the dogs out but theyr hiding in an old sofa thats waiting to be taken to a dump site. But the real question is could my cat be pregnant? The area around her nipples has swollen and she definatley has a more rounded tummy but i was under the impression that male cats dont mate with pregnant cats? Or do they? My cat was showing all the flirty signs and wanting to go back out tonight i didnt leu her tho, she is now locked up in her own bedroom. Yes my cat has her own bedroom. I did want to breed her once before i get her done though. I know who the owner of the cats are and he is a very unaproachable fella but i cant afford to neuture the neighborhood cat population. But i also dont want my cat stuck indoors and have to go back to using a litter tray. These tom cats make me feel like that movie with all those birds in it. Its scarx

Answer
Paigen,

Unfortunately due to the fact that your female cat has reached sexual maturity it's possible that the reason the tom cats are hanging around is because she's in season or about to go into season. Tom cats wouldn't normally be hanging around your home if this little girl is pregnant and you did mention that she's acting as though she might be in heat. There isn't really any way to stop the toms from hanging around other than to have your female cat spayed. Once your cat is spayed the boys won't have any reason to hang about.

There is a serious problem worldwide with pet overpopulation. In many areas animal shelters and rescue organizations are forced to euthanize healthy, adoptable animals due to time and space constraints. Unfortunately euthanasia has become the answer for organizations committed to finding permanent homes for unwanted animals because the sad reality is that the majority of the time organizations aren't able to provide unwanted pets with unlimited time resources or finances. It's quite a common misconception that female cats should be allowed to have one litter prior to being spayed. Allowing a cat to become pregnant carries risks just as it does for human beings, in the event that there are medical complications during the pregnancy or delivery vet bills can quickly soar out of reach. Caring for a cat throughout her pregnancy and ensuring that the little ones get all that they need to grow healthy and strong after they're born is much more expensive than spaying your cat. There are also several medical and behavioral benefits to spaying and neutering cats. Sterilizing cats prevents many common behavioral issues including using urine or feces to mark territory, fighting, wandering and aggression. The medical benefits to surgical sterilization include a substantially reduced risk of prostate and breast cancers, prevention of uterine, ovarian or testicular cancers and certain infections of the reproductive tract in cats of either sex. Female cats that haven't been spayed can develop a serious infection called pyometra, this infection causes the uterine horns to fill with pus, if the womb ruptures it spreads infection throughout the abdomen and is likely to be fatal.