Menu
If you are planning on breeding your Bengal cat or are simply curious, then you may wonder how long is a Bengal cat pregnant for. Bengal cats are pregnant for the same amount of time as other breeds of cats and dogs.
Before we go on, it’s important to note that unless you are planning on breeding your Bengal cat professionally and working on improving specific traits in the breed, it’s better to simply get your cat fixed.
In this post, we’re going to cover the following:
Here’s a really cool video where you can see the kittens in a pregnant Bengal cat moving!
Like other cats, Bengals are pregnant for an average of 63 from the time they are bred, but may give birth two days before or after their due date. Finding out when your Bengal cat is going to give birth is important so you can make sure that everything is ready for them and so you can be there to intervene if necessary.
Most Bengal cats won’t have a problem giving birth, but you should always make sure you’re there to keep an eye on things just in case. Bengal cats may have a problem giving birth if it’s their first time, if they only have 1 large kitten, or if they have a number of kittens. You should be ready to call your vet if you spot any problems during birth.
Even experienced breeders may have trouble determining for sure when a Bengal cat is pregnant. This is because the symptoms of early pregnancy in Bengals are similar to the signs of going into heat. You may think, then, that your Bengal is going back into heat and not actually pregnant.
One of the best ways to tell when a Bengal cat is pregnant is that their heat cycle is cut short. However, since heat cycles can vary in length, this can make it hard to know if your cat is simply having a shorter heat cycle or is actually pregnant. However, if they are bred during their first heat cycle of the season, then it will be easier to tell that they’re pregnant when they don’t go back into heat after a couple of weeks.
Another way to tell a Bengal cat is pregnant is by checking their nipples. Around the 21st day of pregnancy, they will go from their normal light pink color to a darker pink or even red color. Since the size of their nipples vary depending on whether or not they’ve had kittens before, it’s the color change that will usually be the best indicator of pregnancy.
Once your Bengal cat gets around the 30-day mark, you may notice that her stomach is starting to grow as the kittens start taking up more space in her uterus. If your cat is overweight, this may be harder to spot. At this point, by carefully feeling your cat’s belly, you may feel “something” inside, which would be the kittens.
However, the best and most sure way to know if your Bengal cat is pregnant is to take them to your veterinarian. He or she will be able to tell you for certain if your Bengal cat is pregnant, and if you have x-rays or an ultrasound done, they may even be able to tell you how many kittens to expect.
Your vet will also be able to give you valuable information about what you should be feeding your Bengal during her pregnancy. Most vets recommend keeping them on a high-quality cat food for the first part of their pregnancy, then slowly switching them over to a high-quality kitten food by the last week of pregnancy.
Kitten food has higher levels of protein and other vital nutrients that your cat will benefit from in the later stages of pregnancy and while nursing kittens. Switching them gradually, however, is important to keep them from having adverse reactions to sudden changes in food.
If you know the exact day that your Bengal cat was bred, then you can simply add 63 days to this. However, if you have an outdoor Bengal cat or an indoor one who disappeared for a few days while in heat, it can be harder to figure out exactly when they’re due.
For this reason, if you suspect your Bengal cat is unintentionally pregnant, then keep an eye on their nipples since the color change nearly always happens right around 3 weeks, or 21 days. When you see their nipples are darker, then you can add 42 days and get their approximate due date.
Once again, your veterinarian is going to be your best bet for determining an accurate due date as they will be able to use their expertise as well as imaging technology to find out how far along the pregnancy is.
If you’re worried about the accuracy of your Bengal’s due date, then you’ll need to watch for signs of nesting, which usually start between 12 and 48 hours before they go into labor. Nesting is when your Bengal begins looking for a quiet, warm, and dry place to give birth.
You may notice her looking around the house and going in and out of hiding places like closets and quiet areas of the house in her quest to find the perfect spot to give birth. To give yourself the best chance of knowing where she ends up for the actual birth, make sure you provide her with a box that she can easily get in and out of that’s in a quiet place and has several soft towels or blankets.
If you notice signs of nesting, then you’ll also need to start watching for signs of labor. These could include yowling, panting, and restlessness. As her time to give birth draws near, you may start to see clear or bloody discharge from her vulva. She may also be extremely affectionate, or could hide completely.
Here, you can see a Bengal cat that is in labor. She’s crying, and you can tell that she’s starting to have contractions as she’s showing signs of being very uncomfortable. Fortunately, she has a very supportive partner:
First of all, in order for a Bengal cat to get pregnant, she has to be sexually mature. While most female Bengal cats reach sexual maturity between 6 and 9 months of age, it’s not unheard of for them to blossom early and be able to get pregnant as early as 4 months. For this reason, many vets recommend getting cats spayed before 5 months.
Once a Bengal cat reaches sexual maturity, she will need to go into heat in order to get pregnant since this is when she is actually fertile and able to release eggs to be fertilized. Bengal cats are “seasonally polyestrous” which means they have several heat cycles during a certain season of the year. For most cats, this is in the spring and summer months when the days are longer.
Of course, a Bengal cat will need to have an encounter with a male cat in order to get pregnant, so if you don’t want your Bengal cat to have kittens, you will need to make sure you keep them inside while they are in heat. This can be difficult as they will instinctively want to get outside and search for male cats. However, since it takes less than a minute for a female cat to be impregnated, even a short time unsupervised outside can result in an unwanted pregnancy.
For Bengal cats, going into heat often is stressful on their body and can be quite annoying for owners as their cat acts completely differently and often urinates around the house. So, if you’re not going to be intentionally breeding your Bengal for the improvement of the breed, get them fixed and you won’t have to worry about heat cycles, unwanted pregnancies, or other health problems.
Resources
Affiliate Disclosure
BengalCatClub.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Additionally, BengalCatClub.com participates in various other affiliate programs. This means that when you purchase certain products through our recommendations, at no additional cost to you, we receive a monetary reward for referring you.
*Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc., or its affiliates.
