How Cats Breed
When a female cat goes into heat, she will seek out a male to breed with. Upon mating, the barbs on a male cat’s penis stimulate the female cat to ovulate. Females remain in heat on average between 4 and 10 days, and they will continue breeding until their hormones signal that they have conceived. Then their body will put off a scent to let the male know she is pregnant, and she will no longer accept attempts to mate.
A feline pregnancy term lasts about 63 to 65 days. They can go into labor as much as five days early or five days late and still deliver normally. After the first mating, it takes two or three days for the sperm and egg to meet in the uterus. Fertilization occurs shortly after, and the fertilized egg migrates to the uterus where it becomes a blastocyte and implants into the uterine wall. Each fertilized egg follows in sequence, spacing out as they migrate.
The First Two Weeks of Feline Pregnancy
By twelve to fourteen days, the blastocytes are in place and become embryos. During weeks three and four in the womb, the embryos develop their organs. This is also when the queen will start to show outward signs of being pregnant. Her nipples will be bright pink at around three weeks old, and she may have morning sickness and sleep a lot.
Weeks 3 and 4 of Feline Pregnancy
By the end of the first month, a vet can feel the kittens and can probably tell you how many your queen will have. The kittens are tiny now, but they are fully developed. Within the next couple of days, your cat will start to gain weight, and her tummy will begin to grow larger.
Weeks 6 and 7 of Feline Pregnancy
By six weeks along, you should be able to feel the kittens easily! You may notice that your cat’s breasts are beginning to get larger, and she will get restless and start searching out places to nest. At around 6 ½ weeks, you’ll begin to see kittens move if you watch closely.
By seven weeks, your queen will be large enough that she’s having trouble grooming, and by day 60, her milk will start coming in. You should be able to express a little bit.
Time for Your Cat to Deliver
A queen’s temperature drops within 12 to 24 hours of her delivery time, but she might feel warm to the touch. She might have a little discharge during this time, and she will lose her mucus plug, which looks like a small bit of clear, yellowish or blood- tinged mucus. You might find this on her fur, but you might never see it at all.
If all goes well, your cat will deliver somewhere between day 59 and day 70.
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