Alley Cat Allies

TNR Scenarios: Pregnant Cat

If you discover a cat is pregnant during Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) you have some choices to make.

You may choose to go ahead and spay her as planned. This can be a very difficult decision because spaying a pregnant cat would mean terminating her pregnancy. But remember, this may be the only opportunity you have to trap this cat and have her spayed, which will improve her life by protecting her from future health risks and the ongoing stresses of mating and pregnancy.

Another option is to allow the pregnant cat to stay in her outdoor home and monitor her until she has her kittens. When the kittens weigh two pounds or are eight weeks old, they can be spayed or neutered and returned outdoors with mom as part of TNR.

Depending on your time and resources, you can bring the kittens indoors once they are four weeks old and weaned from their mother to foster and socialize them for adoption. If the mother cat is also socialized and at home indoors, you can bring in the entire family and have them spayed or neutered and adopted as soon as they are ready.

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