Mary Allen
Your cat in heat, like any mammal, wants to ensure the reproduction of its kind. You can find out how to deal with it and help your darling here.
It’s a strange word for an animal’s readiness to mate: heat. Nevertheless, it describes quite well the – often strange for us – behavior the female cat suddenly exhibits: She rolls and rolls on the floor, utters unusual sounds, and seems unbalanced and dissatisfied.
Help your furball to get this time over with safely. Better yet, help him avoid that stressful time when kittens aren’t planned or desired.
Heat in cats: what does that actually mean?
The image of the “bitch in heat” is familiar to everyone in our everyday language. Only a few know what is meant by a “cat in heat”. Both pairs of terms mean the same thing: the female animal is driven by her hormones and her instinct to behave in a certain way. This serves to draw the attention of potential sexual partners.
The cat in heat signals that egg cells that are to be fertilized are maturing in its body. In this way, nature guarantees the preservation of the species.
The term itself comes from the behavior that catches the eye the most: Your kitty rolls back and forth on its back conspicuously often, sometimes for hours. In addition, there is a peculiar, sometimes pathetic screaming that you don’t otherwise know from her.
When does the cat go into heat for the first time?
At the onset of sexual maturity, you can observe this behavior for the first time. You cannot foresee exactly when that will happen. But for most cats, it is between the sixth and tenth months of life. Only early neutering could theoretically prevent this.
But age isn’t the only factor that decides when your kitty will hit puberty and get into heat. The breed is also important: some breeds of cats are capable of breeding earlier than others.
Another aspect concerns the lighting conditions: heat only occurs when it is light for at least half of the day. For this reason, cats in the northern hemisphere do not normally come into heat between September and March.
Fourth, the onset of sexual maturity depends on the weight of the female animal. Emaciated cats weighing less than 2.5 kg rarely come into heat: nature ensures that such animals do not have to take care of their offspring.
How often is the cat in heat?
Before cats came into human care and care and were therefore provided with optimal food and protection, they only came into heat twice a year at most. The breastfeeding of the young hormonally prevented the maturing of new egg cells and thus a renewed, too early pregnancy.
This is still the case for many cats in human care today. But one can no longer assume that this is the norm. In some cats, one heat can follow another until daylight decreases enough that hormone production is no longer sufficient for the maturation of new eggs.
The period of readiness to mate consists of several phases, but only one of them leads to a pregnancy. Watch your cat in heat closely if you want to prevent this, and then make sure that it has no contact with a tomcat during the “dangerous” time.
Duration: How long is the cat in heat?
To answer this question, we need to understand the phases of the feline cycle. Before heat sets in, the so-called pre-oestrus occurs. This only lasts a day or two.
Due to the longer exposure to sunlight from March onwards, several egg cells mature in the cat’s ovaries. She shows this by raising her bottom more and more often, rubbing on objects or people, and wagging her tail. In this first phase, some cats even mark objects in their home – a behavior that is otherwise only known by a tomcat.
The oestrus, which is called estrus in the technical jargon, follows the pre-oestrus. Now your furry friend can be ready for receptivity from 3 to 16 days. Up to twelve eggs can be fertilized. However, ovulation does not happen automatically but is triggered by the mating act. It is interesting here that the queen can mate with several males and thus the resulting offspring of a litter can have several fathers. In the case of fertilization, heat ends abruptly.
If there is no mating, inter-oestrus begins, also known as interestrus. This is a three to fourteen-day phase in which the hormone level drops, the cat’s organism calms down a bit, and can prepare for the next cycle.
In the ideal case for you and your animal, there will be no renewed willingness to conceive, but an estrus, a phase of rest. This lasts from one to several months, again depending on the time of year and the effect of light on the endocrine glands.
Overall, cats are in heat for about a week to a month.
Behavior: How does a cat in heat behave?
Your cat will behave in a more or less conspicuous manner depending on the phase of its cycle. When the cat is in heat, it usually shows quite typical behavior. A cat in the heat:
- marked,
- utters strange sounds
- is restless and seems tense,
- rolls and turns back and forth on his back,
- looking for a way out
- licks her external genitals,
- rubs her whole body on objects (goal: stop smelling),
- eats less,
- Shows willingness to mate by raising the rump and bending the tail.
Recognizing signs of heat in cats
When your kitten is about six months old, you should start watching him closely. The kitten in heat becomes much more cuddly. It often snuggles up to you and rubs against all sorts of objects in the apartment. It does this to release pheromones and thereby attract a hangover. When it starts to roll on the ground, the situation is clear: the first heat with pre-oestrus has begun.
Now you have to make the decision whether to opt for neutering before pregnancy occurs. Of course, you can also let your animal become pregnant under certain conditions. In both cases, it is best to seek expert advice from your veterinarian. He can tell you whether it makes sense to neuter your cat.
If neither is the case (neither a planned pregnancy nor planned neutering), you must be very careful that your cat does not escape from the apartment when the first signs of heat appear. The neighbor’s cat is waiting at the next corner, the scents and attractants can be smelled over long distances!
Alleviate heat in cats: you can do that
The most important thing is to avoid any contact with a hangover. This includes spatial isolation if you have a larger cat family, but also prevents visual contact. Balcony or terraces are taboo during this time, and the curtains or blinds are also closed. In this way, you reduce the brightness and thus the urge of the cat’s body to get or stay in the heat. This precautionary behavior is an essential part of caring for a cat in heat.
If you are a fan of homeopathy, get advice on this. Care for and calm animals in the heat with drops or globules. According to the guide, Bach flower mixtures such as emergency drops also have a positive effect on the care of some cats in heat.
Pheromone vaporizers, which electrically distribute soothing scents throughout the home, are said to have a distracting effect. Some cats are crazy about catnip and let it distract them from their condition for a while. Your veterinarian will certainly have useful tips for you here as well.
Soothe a cat in heat at night: Here’s how
According to the guide, a heating pad that he can lie on helps to care for the house tiger in heat. You can warm this up in the microwave and put it in the cat’s bed. Otherwise, you can try the various tips under the previous point to reduce heat in cats.
Not every method works when caring for a cat that is in heat. Just try several things. If it’s getting too stressful for you and your pet because it’s crying all night, neutering the cat is probably the most sensible solution. However, you should not have your cat neutered there without thorough advice from your veterinarian. Be sure to try first whether there is a gentler solution.
What is endurance?
We have described the three different phases of heat above. If your cat skips the fourth phase of the cycle, anoestrus, or the rest period, and immediately goes back to the first phase, permanent heat will ensue. As you can imagine, this is a very trying time for your cat’s body. Your organism constantly produces estrogens, which leads to a high level of stress.
A different but similar phenomenon occurs when a fertilized egg has not been able to implant itself in the cat’s uterus, but the cat’s body is producing a pregnancy-maintaining hormone. Then it can come to a false pregnancy. The activity of the mammary glands is stimulated and the cat shows all the signs of an expectant mother.
Is endurance a problem?
In general, only indoor cats are affected by permanent heat. Veterinary medicine believes that the reason is that they are not as exposed to the natural day-night rhythm of nature as cats that are outside or in the wild.
Of course, constant heat puts a strain on the queen – the constantly high hormone level does not allow for a rest phase. The animal never seems relaxed and visibly decreases over time. If your cat does not live alone but with other cats, tensions often arise within the group.
Many queens mark or even develop cysts on the ovaries. Your sex organs become more prone to tumors.
What helps against permanent heat?
You should take your pet to the vet if it is in constant heat. He can end heat hormonally (injections or the pill). However, due to the side effects, hormone administration is not a permanent solution.
Various supplementary feeds advertised on the internet for cats in heat do not help with care! Used as a treat, they only distract for a short time.
Does castration make sense?
Get advice on castration. In most cases, this is less stressful and more effective overall. Your vet can tell you when it makes sense to have your cat neutered. You can find more information about castration here.
We wish you and your cat all the best!