Spring is in the air, and that means that a lot of kittens will be born!
Spring marks the start of the “kitten season”. The kitten season starts in January but varies depending on temperature and the number of daylight hours; it tends to cover the warmest months of the year, usually from March to October.
As early as four months to six months of age is when the female cat is sexually mature. At this time, you may start seeing hormonally-driven behavior problems. Some signs of a cat in heat are: feline will become very affectionate, even demanding around on the floor and persistently rub against people or furniture and urine marking and spraying. Also, female cats will yowl to attract feline suitors, mostly at nighttime. Also, she may become restless and demonstrate less interest in food. However, female cats’ heat is not always noticeable, and cats may be fertile before owners can see obvious signs.
When cats are in heat it means that she will be ready to mate and it can last for 7 to 10 days, but if the female cat doesn’t mate during this time, she will be back into heat every two or three weeks. Indoor cats can be in heat more often.
Spaying a cat is very important since a female cat’s pregnancy cycle lasts about two months, and each pregnancy produces a minimum of four cats. Many of these kittens would end up in a shelter compounding a large part of the millions of cats going into animal shelters each year.
Spaying can avoid disease and infection since intact cats can develop a life-threatening illness such as pyometra or develop malignant mammary tumors. So, don’t forget to spay your female cat and help to lessen kitten overpopulation this spring season!
