# Do Cats get stretch marks?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cats-get-stretch-marks/170669>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 23, 2003, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cats-get-stretch-marks/170669 "2003-04-23T19:45:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![gypsymoth3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85e7bf/32.png) [@gypsymoth3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gypsymoth3)\
**Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cats-get-stretch-marks/170669/1 "2003-04-23T19:45:20Z")

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do cats get stretch marks from being pregnant like most humans do?

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**Author:** ![phraser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a88e4f/32.png) [@phraser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phraser)\
**Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cats-get-stretch-marks/170669/2 "2003-04-24T07:35:05Z")

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Not AFAIK. This is probably because cats have more loose skin than humans do, and the skin isn’t as tightly connected to the underlying tissue, and the connections that exist are more elastic (I mean, if you grab your pet cat, you can pick up a whole handful of loose skin from pretty much anywhere on the body without upsetting the cat… then try to do that on a human and watch the result 😃 )

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**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\
**Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cats-get-stretch-marks/170669/3 "2003-04-24T07:39:18Z")

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I don’t know what kind of cat you own but if I tried that with my little buddy, I’d wind up with claw marks down my arm and a bitten hand, **Phraser**. 😛

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**Author:** ![phraser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a88e4f/32.png) [@phraser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phraser)\
**Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cats-get-stretch-marks/170669/4 "2003-04-24T07:53:09Z")

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My cat is a burmese, and she’s not _that_ placid… i suggest you try the scruff of the neck if your buddy isn’t used to the idea 😉

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**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\
**Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cats-get-stretch-marks/170669/5 "2003-04-24T11:53:19Z")

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**phaser** IIRC too, unlike humans who can gains several pounds, lose several pounds and the skin will eventually stratch back to fit the smaller frame – cat’s have no such mechanism.

Example: My friend adopted a _grossly obese_ cat, he shed several pound to be much healthier and his loose tummy skin came very close to dragging on the ground until the day he died and a grand old age.

I’d WAG that this would affect the stretch mark efect too.

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**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\
**Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cats-get-stretch-marks/170669/6 "2003-04-24T14:15:37Z")

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I would just add that “stretch marks” are thought to be caused by hormone activity as opposed to “stretching” of skin. Google [stretch marks hormones] for more info if you’re interested. A Google search of [stretch marks cats] returned no useful information, any other animals get them ever.