She couldn’t figure out why her cat became unusually clingy — then came the shocking pregnancy result
Some pet stories feel almost too incredible to be true, yet they offer a glimpse into just how tuned-in animals can be. One Reddit user, u/Murmurmira, shared a moment from last year that left many readers both surprised and touched. It started with an unusual change in behavior from her cat, one that stood out because it went completely against her pet's usual nature. When the user noticed her cat was being surprisingly clingy, she didn't know it would be an indication of good news.
In her post, she described her cat as extremely shy and distant. “Usually she does not come near us because she's a scaredy cat,” she explained. But something shifted suddenly, the cat began curling up on her stomach and staying close. What made it even more unusual was that this same pattern had happened before. “With all three of my pregnancies, she started sleeping on my stomach at week three! So one week after conception, she can already smell it!” she wrote. The cat, who would never sit on anyone’s lap, seemed to break all her usual habits during these times.
The most recent time it happened, the couple hadn't been trying for a baby. So when the normally distant cat suddenly jumped into her lap and stayed there, it caught her attention right away. “This is literally what tipped us off this third time. The normally scaredy cat just flops into my lap,” she wrote. Trusting the odd behavior, she decided to get a blood test. Sure enough, she was four weeks pregnant. “Magic!” she added at the end. The story left many people amazed by the cat’s early reaction, and served as yet another example of how animals can sometimes detect changes ahead of humans.
In fact, pets are capable of detecting pregnancy in humans even before we do. According to the Gyn Women's Centre, cats can detect changes in hormones in your body through their sense of smell, which is far more sensitive than ours. When pregnancy begins, the body starts producing higher levels of hormones like estrogen, progesterone, and hCG, which can affect a woman's natural scent. Even though these changes may be small at first, cats can still notice the difference. They can sense a big change, like pregnancy, before the expecting mother even realizes it. Additionally, pregnancy causes the body to produce more heat, and since cats love to snuggle and seek attention, they can also feel this change.
Many Reddit users shared their personal experiences and commended the family cat in the comment section. u/willybusmc wrote, "My cat was the same! He was never a cuddler, but all of a sudden, he started cuddling my wife and lying on her lap/stomach, and shortly after we got the positive test." u/option_e_ shared, "One of our cats is like this too, she always preferred to lie [sic] on my husband’s lap but shortly after I got pregnant she started constantly wanting to cuddle up on my chest and face."