Cat Gestation Period: How Long Is a Cat Pregnant?

How long is a cat pregnant?

A cat carries her kitten for an average of 64 days, or about 2 months. Counting from the breeding date, queening is normal anywhere from day 61 to day 67.

Key checkpoints across the 64-day cat gestation, measured in days from breeding:

Estimate your cat's queening date

Enter the breeding date for an estimated queening date at 64 days.

Open the full Cat gestation calculator

Cat gestation stages, month by month

Signs a cat is pregnant

• Nipples pinkening and enlarging from about day 18
• No return to heat after mating
• Brief appetite loss or vomiting in weeks three and four
• Ultrasound confirmation from about day 21

Signs of approaching queening

• Steady weight gain and a rounded abdomen from week five
• Nesting, restlessness, vocalising and refusing food in the final 24 hours
• Contact your vet if labour stalls, if the animal strains without progress, or if there is abnormal discharge before queening begins.

What affects cat gestation length

• Cats are induced ovulators: ovulation is triggered by mating, usually 24 to 50 hours afterwards, so the mating date is a closer anchor than in dogs but still not exact.
• A single litter can have more than one father if the queen mates with several toms during the same heat.
• Queens can come back into heat while still nursing, sometimes within a few weeks of giving birth.
• Around day 35 the abdomen enlarges noticeably, a change breeders often call pinking-up when it follows the nipple colour change at about day 18.

Cat gestation chart

Every fifth breeding date across the year with the matching queening date, calculated at 64 days. Find the row closest to the date the cat was served; because normal gestation spans 61 to 67 days, plan for a window of a few days either side. Filter by month, or print the chart for the barn wall or breeding record: navigation, buttons and adverts are hidden on paper.

Sources for cat gestation figures

Figures on this page are drawn from International Cat Care and published feline reproduction literature, and checked against the references below. Averages describe healthy animals under normal management; individual animals vary, and nothing here replaces advice from your vet.

• International Cat Care
• Merck Veterinary Manual — reproduction and pregnancy chapters by species