A pet owner took her six-month-old cat to the veterinarian to be spayed, but learned she was pregnant during the appointment.
TikTok user Julia posted the video on her account @elliewiththebelly1 where it was viewed 1 million times. While some viewers found the surprise amusing, others were more critical and discussed the importance of getting pets spayed and neutered.
According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), there are medical benefits to spaying and neutering a pet, since it helps control the “pet homelessness crisis.” Spaying pets may also prevent uterine infections and breast tumors.
“Spaying your cat before her first heat offers the best protection from these diseases,” the organization said, adding that it’s typically safe for kittens to be spayed or neutered as young as eight weeks old.
“In an effort to avoid the start of urine spaying and eliminate the chance for pregnancy, it’s advisable to schedule the surgery before your own cat reaches five months of age,” officials with the ASPCA said.
Julia included a photo of her cat Ellie’s pregnancy at the end of the video.
“I guess this is her pregnancy announcement,” the video caption read.
One commenter congratulated Julia on the news that she will have “grandkittens,” while another shared their own surprise discovery at the vet.
“We took our 6/7 month old female kitty to get spayed and she was a he,” the viewer wrote. “Fooled us and both vets.”
Julia replied and said the same happened with another one of her cats.
“I thought she was a male,” she wrote. “She went from being named Luke to Lilly.”
Some viewers commented on the “smug” look on Ellie’s face that was first shown at the start of the video.
“Her smirk said it all,” a commenter wrote.
One commenter asked if Julia plans to spay her cat after she gives birth.
“She’s just a baby and I hope she doesn’t go through this again,” they wrote.
Julia replied that she does plan to have Ellie spayed and noted that her other pets have been spayed and neutered.
She wrote to Newsweek and said she did not know Ellie was pregnant.
“I had some family friends over one evening and she must have snuck out when someone was opening the door,” Julia explained. “I realized about 15 minutes or so she wasn’t around and she’s usually getting into something.”
Julia found Ellie outside on the porch and promptly brought her back inside.
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Others, however, were more critical in the comments section.
“Hope mom and kittens get fixed as soon as they can before being given away,” a viewer wrote. “Then it’ll just be a never ending cycle.”
“Irresponsible much?” another commenter wrote. “She’s a kitten herself wth.”
One commenter wrote, “Yikes how sad. Hope you spay her after and spay/neuter the kittens. Unfortunately this is why there’s thousands of homeless, dying, diseased cats.”
This cat’s pregnancy isn’t the only one that has gone viral. Newsweek previously reported that a couple’s photo of their “very pregnant” foster cat went viral on the subreddit “Aww.”
Cats have gone viral online for numerous other reasons, including one cat that has been conditioned to like water, as seen in several TikTok videos. Another video went viral on Reddit showing a cat “flopping” into her owner’s arms.
