1) What is "in heat"?
The fertile period of a female cat's reproductive cycle (the mating
period) is called estrus, commonly referred to as "heat or
being "in season". It's equivalent to human menstruation.
2) When does a cat come
into heat?
The average female cat has her first cycle at about 6 months
of age.
3) What are the symptoms?
Females bleed from the vagina sometimes with swelling of the
vulva and increased urination. Cats bleed less than dogs, and rarely
will you see any signs of it.
Cats in heat will be more affectionate & more vocal. They will
roll around on the ground and rub up against you incessantly. Other
than behavioral changes, the most noticeable symptom may be male
cats hanging around your house.
4) How long are cats in
heat?
They may stay in heat from a few days up to 3 weeks. How long
depends on many variables such as genetics, environment and cat
health & age.
5) How often will she be
in heat?
Cats go into heat most often in spring & fall. During this
period a cat can perpetually go in & out of heat until she is
bred or spayed, usually about every other week.
6) Can she get pregnant
her first cycle?
Yes. However, most breeders generally would not breed a cat
that early. After the cat has reached a year old and gone through
a few heats is the best time. They are physically & emotionally
mature enough to handle motherhood.
7) What age can I have my
cat spayed?
People used to be told to let their cat go through at least
one cycle or let them have one litter. Today, veterinarians are
doing it much earlier. Some spay as early as 5-6 weeks of age! The
most common age is at 6 months.
Cats can be spayed at any time during their life with the only concern
being the natural risks involved with surgery on an aging cat.
8) Can I have her spayed
while she's in heat?
it's a bit more complicated and most vets prefer to wait between
heat cycles.. Just check your vet's policy on this. They probably
can, but might charge a bit more as the risk of bleeding complications
is a little higher during the heat cycle.
9) My cat just had kittens.
When can she be spayed? Spay your cat about 2 weeks after the
kittens have been weaned.
10) How will the surgery
affect my cat? Cats that have not been spayed find the whole
estrus cycle uncomfortable. They are in a perpetual state of hormonal
flux, which can lead to irritability. Having her spayed will alleviate
some of these symptoms. Some cats might gain a little weight after
the procedure as the heat cycle tends to curb their appetite.
On the other hand, if you have an indoor cat then no you should not have your pet spayed/neutered. Why would you mutilate your cat like that? You can't say it's birth control if it's an indoor cat. Who's going to get her pregnant? You??
Be realistic, people. A cat is an intelligent living being. Your pet is your baby. It's your child. She meows a lot? So what? She's horny, and she's an animal. Deal with it. If you give her attention while she's doing it, then you're instilling a bad behavior that has nothing to do with her reproductive cycle. A cat will always want your attention, they are centers of attention! If you pet your cat and try to calm her down when she's meowing, this will only encourage her to meow again when she wants your attention next time. If you yell at her, it's twice the encouragement because you're more energetic about the attention you give her! She doesn't understand what you're yelling about, she just knows 'meow' = attention.
And if you think getting your INDOOR cat spayed/neutered is the way to go, think again! She will still go in heat even if spayed. Does a woman who's tubes are tied stop getting horny? I think not.
And to get your male cat to stop spraying indoors, get cat pheromones. Consult your vet about them. You know how cats rub their cheeks on everything? That's where cat pheromones come from and they're spreading them. A male cat will spray if his scent is not present. If you spray cat pheromones around your place at about cat's eye level (get full instructions from vet) then he will stop spraying!
Seriously, use this method of mutilating a cat ONLY as a last resort! If your cat goes outside, then you don't have a choice. You ALWAYS have a choice not to neuter your cat! But an outdoor female cat should be spayed.
And for the love of all that's holy, do NOT get your cats declawed! Or if you're that cruel and will do it anyway, then do NOT put them outside! How do you expect it to defend itself?
I am a mother of two kittens. The mother was a stray and she had a litter of four in the parking lot of where I work. She was taking good care of them but the actual animal control came. They were going to take the kittens and 'put them down'. I took two and my co-worker took the other two.
THERE IS NO MORE ROOM IN NON-KILL SHELTERS!!! There are TOO many pets and not enough KIND people to take them in.
My kittens are the sweetest, most gentle cats I had EVER seen. But they would have been killed because STUPID PEOPLE REFUSE TO SPAY AND NEUTER THEIR PETS. and SELFISH PEOPLE TURN THE OTHER WAY WHEN THEY SEE SOMETHING THEY CAN EASILY CHANGE.
If you have stray in your community, GET THEM FIXED IF YOU CAN OR LIVE WITH THE FACT THAT THEIR KITTENS ARE DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU.
I was recently in Cairo, one of the first places where humans and cats started to 'cohabit.' Every morning, the air is filled with the Muslim call to prayer, every evening, with the feline call to mate. There are street cats everywhere- dirty, skinny and into garbage, darting in between traffic. I saw several dead kittens on the sidewalks or gutters every day, some from cars and some apparently killed by adult males. I saw no cat that looked older than 3 or 4 years.
Frequent unmated heat cycles take a physical toll on females- they're not just 'frisky,' they're hijacked by an overwhelming reproductive cycle. Allowing them to reproduce several times a year depletes the mother's health and produces kittens that are likely to end up euthanized. The humane option is to spay the female.
cats are not your bloody toys to do what you want there living things!!!!
give them a life and stop thinking of yourselves!
Nature is not kind and many live a short, hard life. Please. IF you don't have pre-arranged homes for kittens then please don't let your baby have them. Spay and neutering is not some diabolical conspiracy against cats. It just cuts the numbers down so there is a better chance of some them getting a good, loving home.
.....and for anyone poo-pooing me I will state for the record that I don't see cats as "just animals". They are personalities with all range of emotions. Go to an SPCA and watch them telling you they don't belong there. What them turn their backs to you when you don't choose them.
Think about it.
2. No person in their right mind should let a 6 month KITTEN get pregnant. That\'s an equivilant of a 13 year old girl. Use your heads!
3. Mama cats go through a lot of wear and tear raising babies non-stop. To all you folks that complain of the noise and the howling of your baby in heat, I say \" Deal with it.\" You are trying to be kind but it\'s a hardship to the cat. Please get her spayed. She will be so much more comfortable. As for being in pain with all her vocalizations.....it\'s no different than humans in the bedroom. She\'s frustrated and she wants it!
Who are we to say?
Well, since I help rescue cats and kittens who would otherwise be killed at the shelter (to the tune of over 100 per day, just locally) I think **I** can say there is an overpopulation problem.
Statements like that are made out of ignorance of what's really going on out there. Its so easy to theorize and make stuff up from the comforts of home. Get out there and help, and you might learn that....yes....there is a real cat overpopulation problem.
Its kitten season here in the Northeast, and healthy baby kittens are being killed simply because there is no place to put them. Its so bad this year that the local shelter system is trying to put together a temporary holding place for the excess cats coming in. If they can't, they'll be forced to kill cats within hours of being dropped off, rather than waiting for them to go on the adoption floor.
Yeah, I think some of us who deal with the realities of this can safely say there is an overpopulation problem.
The spay and neuter campaigns have made a huge difference in the dog populations, particularly on the east coast and in the south. Its still a problem, but nothing like what it was even 15 years ago. Unfortunately, these campaigns never took off with cat people in the same way. Its time cat folks stand up and take responsibility for all the cats being euthanized every day in shelters around the country. Its working for dogs, it can work for cats.
Urinary tract infections are just a small part of the myriad of illnesses continuous heat can cause in a female cat.
PLEASE!!!!!!! Get your cat spayed.
Also just like every person, every cat is different. Some cats might mate with others when let outside, but my brotheres cat is so independent and so uptight she would never let another cat come within 10 ft of her. ( she's in love with the dog) so moral of the story is who are we to say there is overpopulation with certain animals when the human race can't even control there own population? Oh yeh and this goes to the lady who lock her cat in a cage and let other cats spray on her you are one f*** up individual who should never be allowed to care of other creatures because obviuosly you don't know how. And people dont let the so called vet's brainwashing you to thinking that if your animal dosen't get a certain shot or not getting the animal fixed will cause some illness, this is untrue.
You can't compare cats in heat, spaying/neutering and breeding to what humans go through. Humans don't feel the urge to procreate and have a DOZEN babies every year. I have a cat, who not even two months ago, had two kittens (I didn't know she wasn't spayed. I took her in from the cold). Now she's back IN HEAT, ready to make more. Actually, we both got lucky that she 'only' had two. It could've been a REAL litter of 5 or more. I believe she's only about 9 months old or so. I don't know about you, but I can't think of any women that I know that wants to get pregnant again TWO MONTHS after giving birth. In nature, there's 0 accountability. Cats and dogs aren't thinking about the CONSEQUENCES of getting pregnant and the lifelong burden of raising the offspring. Without human interaction, the world would be flooded with animals of all kinds. Sure, animals have been breeding throughout history, well before man started intervening. The flip side of that is that there were (are) natural enemies out there. Weather, predators, too large of a litter for mom to support, competing sires who killed offspring that's not theirs, environment, and germs are among many things that kept animal population down without human involvement.
Human 'spaying' is women simply KNOWING that they can't just go around getting pregnant without any regard. Human 'spaying' is condoms, birth control, and abstinence.
You think your actions were correct and you did the right thing? you have lost your mind you cruel, ignorant, woman. My 6m old female is in heat right now and we deal with it fine... why dont you try to potty train your animals so they dont pee all over your house, that probably already smells like a toilet
People who work with cats in shelters and animal control centers are aware of the significant problems resulting from overpopulation. Please do not take offence, but your personal experiences have made you biased, reasonably. But it is unreasonable to assume that these instances are proof that spaying and neutering not only does not prevent cancer, but causes it: that would be unfounded.
Additionally, your comparison between cats and humans in the arena of fixing, or in most arenas, is not apt. I would note that a woman does not become relentlessly determined to procreate every year. In the face of human overpopulation, is it not reasonable to consider a smaller family ideal? In this way, we have the choice to control our reproduction. A cat does not.
Thank you.
You should not be breeding them if they are not pure bred with breeding rights and papers.
Yes I agree its irresponsible to allow unneutered females and as much so male moggies to mate freely. After all if every male was done we d have every few unwanted kittens and feline leukemia scares.
But is she in pain??? No more than a randy teenager. Its natures way of a cat saying 'Hello boys, Im ready and waiting,
So yes its awful for the owner and many lost nights sleep, but if your planning on breeding its all part of the package And if you cant bear it and are not then get down that vets asap. As your little *peace* is one hell of a fertile myrtle..
Ps AS an extra outdoor toms must must be neutered . When my maine coon females in season a whole array of unneutered moggy toms sit howl / spray round my garden. Fortunatley I have a 7kg neutered male coon to fend em off!!!
.............MAD
ISNT IT??
And who in their right mind would want their cat to go through a season, howling and groaning and appearing really uncomfortable for five days and let them go through many seasons...
L x
You people are not loving and caring. You are heartless and cruel.:-(
You complain about what misery your cat is putting you through when she is in heat. WHAT THE HECK DO YOU THINK SHE IS GOING THROUGH??!!!>-( If you honestly cared at all you would never force your animal to endure that.
I cannot believe that anyone would think that if they have a litter they are better cats. Let me tell you, you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. My God do you know hat it takes from a cat to get pregnant, birth and maintain a litter? DO YOU HAVE ANY CLUE? There are literally millions of unwanted cats in the US alone, and you wish to add to this number by purposely mating your cat, or not getting it spayed?
SPAYING IS THE ONLY HUMANE, LOVING AND DECENT OPTION THERE IS!!1
kittens can go into heat as early as 4 months but the norm is 6 months.
im not a cat but "being in heat" is the same as a girl on her period. your cramps are annoying and sometimes mildly painful but you survive. the meowing and howling is to attract a male. you cant really DO anything about it.
before i got my cat i called an talked to several veterinary offices as well as researching on line. It is best to get them spayed around 2 months or before their first cylce.
cut down on the pet population! spay or neuter your pet! thank you bob barker :-)
The way to prevent your cat from going into heat is to spay. Most humane societies in your area provide clinics providing the service at a relatively low costs.
www.hsus.org/
So is my cat really going into heat or not.
That's all I want to know.
She looks like a kitten still, shes still very small,but I don't know how old she is.
Please, help me!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Whining and sticking her but in the air!
Its obvious shes on heat and shes about 4 monthes old.
The vet says she's too young
What do you think?
how do i stop it>-(
They can be done at two pound. The sooner the better. It's irresponsible to do anything else.
Is there anything i can do to help my cat?
She is very loud and very annoying and spaying ISNOT an option..
HELP
thank you
is it possible for her to go into heat right now.today she's being very affectionate.plus i'm worried about the kitten.he's 5 to 6 weeks old,will she still nurse him?
I had called 2 weeks ago for a spaying appointment, but now if she is going into heat we will have to wait until that is over. I just wish the vet had had an appointment earlier.
I gave my cat rescue remedy to help cool her out a bit. Now she is sleeping.
There is nothing you can do except live through the heat and then have her spayed. Not good to have them spaying while they are in heat -- that can cause complications.
Just keep the doors locked and get industrial ear plugs for the meowing. The noise will pass -- takes anywhere from 5-14 days for a cat to go out of heat once they are in it.
I feel so bad for her and my male cats who have been Neutered are getting annoyed with her bothering them.
Please help...I want to do something to help her.
She wants to go outside. She seems young, is very affectionate and is licking herself. Could she be in heat?
thank you
Call the vet that performed the spaying. They should help.