Can You Tell If a Spayed Female Cat Has Ever Had Kittens?

[RPM]

A friend of mine’s kitty was adopted from the local animal shelter when she was about 2-3 years old. She was in a cage by herself at the time. She had been spayed. She has been with my friend for about 2-3 years now.

The other day I was petting her and thought that her teats looked bigger and just more obvious than the teats of female cats I have had of about the same age. Not quite like a nursing female’s, but … anyway, I just wondered if she had had kittens when she arrived at the rescue.

I didn’t say anything to my friend as I didn’t want to upset her if she did not know; just thought I’d ask here if you can tell just by the teats if a cat has ever nursed kittens.

[alto]

I’d bring kitty for a vet check, just to rule out any problems.
Cats tend to have very “small” nipples/teats, and after weaning a litter, female cats return to a “normal profile” much more quickly than dogs.
Occasionally they will be more noticeable in a particular cat (even boys).

[RedMare01]

If she had a litter or was pregnant pretty recently, they would probably still be enlarged. My female cat was a stray that had had one litter and was pregnant again when I got her. I had a terminal spay done. Her nipples stayed noticeably enlarged for maybe two months post spay.

[arapaloosa_lady]

[QUOTE=RedMare01;7847931]
If she had a litter or was pregnant pretty recently, they would probably still be enlarged. My female cat was a stray that had had one litter and was pregnant again when I got her. I had a terminal spay done. Her nipples stayed noticeably enlarged for maybe two months post spay.[/QUOTE]

Terminal spay?? I thought that calling something a terminal surgery meant the patient wasn’t woken up from anesthesia. Like a terminal c-section.

[make_x_it_x_so]

[QUOTE=arapaloosa_lady;7848466]
Terminal spay?? I thought that calling something a terminal surgery meant the patient wasn’t woken up from anesthesia. Like a terminal c-section.[/QUOTE]

“Terminal spay” refers to a spay in which the queen is pregnant and the kittens are either non-viable or euthanized.