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Have you ever wondered if your dog or cat is aware that it is pregnant?
Well, we have. So we have decided to investigate this, and here is what we found.
Do cats and dogs know they are pregnant?
The belly starts growing after 2-3 weeks, and the cat/dog will notice the change. The animal’s brain receives chemical stimuli and will become less active and more protective. A veterinarian can scan for puppies and kittens 2-3 weeks into the pregnancy.
Let’s look at some signs you can pay attention to if you want to know whether she is pregnant.
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Do Dogs Know They Are Pregnant?
To answer this question is actually quite difficult. We must start by defining what we mean when we say “know.”
Dogs do not know anything in the sense that humans know things. They are not self-aware like us, but that doesn’t mean they can’t sense a difference in their body during pregnancy.
All animals (dogs included) act on instincts.
So the question is when during the pregnancy will the dog to become aware that something is going on inside its body.
Hormones control animal behavior, and animals do not have periods like human females. This means that animals can get pregnant while they are already pregnant.
As we just mentioned, dogs respond to hormones which are chemical signals sent to the brain. The dog will become less active and take fewer risks whenever these hormones include pregnancy hormones.
How far into the pregnancy do dogs become aware they are pregnant?
The gestation period of dogs is quite different from that of humans.
Dogs are pregnant for around 2 months (63 days on average), so they have to find out pretty soon to take any actionaccording to the pregnancy.
Because of the short gestation period, the dog will grow up quickly and gain some weight. It will sometimes be visible already after a few weeks. The dog will probably be aware that it is carrying pups.
If you suspect she is pregnant or if you are in doubt, you should take it to the vet for a checkup. The veterinarian will be able to see the puppies with an ultrasound after 2-3 weeks.
That’s how fast they grow.
After the fourth week of the pregnancy, the vet can touch your dog’s belly and see whether puppies are on the way.
The little puppies will only be one inch long at this point, so you must be careful if you try to examine the dog yourself.
So now that we have taken a look at the gestation period of dogs, we can see that the dog will know after a few weeks. And so will you if you pay attention to the dog’s behavior.
Here are some signs to let you know the dog is pregnant:
- She might vomit and feel “morning sickness.”
- She is gaining weight.
- Nipples will start to grow.
- She is gaining an appetite.
- She is less active
- She is protective
When the dog becomes pregnant the first thing that happens is a 2-3 day maturation period. During these days, the fertilized egg will either start growing or die.
The progesterone levels will rise and reach a maximum after 10- 20 days.
After this period, the levels will decrease again.
So it’s a fair assumption, that the dog will become aware of her pregnancy after around 10 days because this is typically the point where the hormones start kicking in.
How to tell if my dog is pregnant or just fat
If you suspect your dog is pregnant, consider the signs above.
If you are still doubting whether the cat is just growing from eating or whether she is, in fact, pregnant… here’s what you can do.
You can take her to the veterinarian and have them take a blood sample. They will be able to check the hormone levels and tell you what is going on. But you must wait 3-4 weeks before the dog detects this hormone.
So it’s probably better to get the routine scan that the vet can do after 2 weeks.
Does A Cat Know It Is Pregnant?
How soon can cats sense pregnancy? Well, at some point it will know it’s pregnant but it’s hard to know exactly when it finds out.
Cats do know they are pregnant, eventually. They don’t take pregnancy tests, so they don’t know immediately. But they will know and take action to protect the outcome.
Cats are more controlled by chemicals and hormones than humans. They are primarily controlled by survival instincts and the urge to pass on the genes is strong in most animals. Cats included.
The cat is pregnant for the same amount of time as the dog. We are generally talking bout 63-66aboutgenres; it will be slightly longer. You should be able to notice a growing belly after a few weeks; after a month, you will be able to notice a big belly. At this point, the cat is half-term.
Which means she is halfway through her pregnancy.
When will my cat realize it is pregnant?
The cat will probably know it already after a week or two.
It’s hard to say how soon the chemical hormones start kicking in at a level that makes the cat aware of the pregnancy. However, it is not uncommon for the cat to become less active and even lazy after a few weeks into the pregnancy.
A few weeks into the pregnancy the cat will already start to gain weight and the hormones will be fussing around her brain and body. At this point, she will be pretty aware of the pregnancy.
But it is impossible to tell if the cats are mentally aware of the pregnancy. They might just be reacting to the chemical stimuli the hormones send to their brains.
Here are some signs to let you know the cat is pregnant
If you don’t know whether your cat is pregnant, you should take it to the veterinarian.
They will be able to tell you after a few weeks from scanning the cat’s belly. Here are some general signs you can pay attention to. They will help you find out whether is your queen is pregnant or she is having a worm (or something different).
- She starts vomiting in the mornings.
- The tummy is growing in size.
- She starts to eat more.
- Nipples will start to grow.
- She becomes less active
- She becomes more protective
- She becomes clingy and attention-seeking
How to tell if the cat is pregnant or just getting fat
It can sometimes be hard to distinguish between a pregnancy and a cat gaining weight.
If your cat is gaining weight quickly, you must take it to the veterinarian. It might have caught a worm, or it might be pregnant.
You can also check the nipples of the cat. If the cat is pregnant, the nipples will become pinker and bigger. You should also pay attention to the other signs mentioned above. One of the first signs to appear is the morning vomiting.
If you notice morning sickness, it’s a good sign that your cat is pregnant and not just fat.
Dog Pregnancy Tests
As mentioned above, you can take the dog to the veterinarian after two weeks. At this point, the vet can scan your dog with an ultrasound to seepuppiessare ppuppiesareasIf you cannot wait for long, here’s an alternative. It might also be that you do not have access to a veterinarian in your area.
There are pregnancy test kits around.
They will typically need you to take a blood drip from the animal to test it. This test will typically detect the hormone called relaxin. This hormone doesn’t kick in before it has been three weeks, so it’s not the fastest way to test your dog.
So, we do not recommend giving a dog a pregnancy test.
Just wait some time. After a few weeks, you can see the belly start growing. And pay attention to the other signs as morning vomiting etc.
Cat Pregnancy Test
The cat will also raise the level of relaxation whenever she’s pregnant. It works the same way as the dog pregnancy test.
But just as with dogs, we do not recommend doing these tests on your cat. You should take her to the veterinarian instead. They will be able to tell you after a few weeks whether she’s the cat is pregnant or not.
This is also a quicker way to know what is going on.
With these so-called pregnancy tests, you have to wait till the 3rd or 4th week and at this point, you should be able to notice the change anyway.