My unspayed cat: How do I know when she's ready to get pregnant?

Gorge is a very handsome boy! As I'm sure you've noticed, females display typical behaviors when they are in heat. These behaviors include being more physically affectionate, being more vocal, and lifting up on her back legs and moving her tail to one side when you rub her back by her tail. When you see those signs, put Gorge and her into a room together. She will allow him to mate with her if she is truly in heat. Please keep in mind, however, that mating her will not stop her from showing mating behaviors. Those will only pass if the mating results in a pregnancy, and even after she has kittens, she will go into heat again showing the same behaviors. The only way to truly stop her from having these behaviors is to have her spayed.

Although cats can get pregnant at seven months old or so I prefer to wait to breed them until they are mature at one year old. That way they are bigger and usually better mothers than if they give birth when they are still kittens themselves. If you want to have a certain breed of kittens then you can find purebred breeders who have male breeding cats. Unfortunately there are already too many kittens that don't find homes so if you want to raise kittens check with your local shelter or rescue group as they often have pregnant cats that need fostering. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Ginger.

She is still quite young. I would recommend not worrying about it yet and seeing what she does over the next few months. If she reaches two without wanting to mate, I'd recommend taking her to the vet for a check up. Good luck! She's beautiful.

The estrous cycle in cats has 4 stages: proestrus, estrus, interestrus, and anestrus. It is only in the second stage that the female is receptive to the male. This stage, estrus, typically lasts 4-6 days (up to 10). If your female is still in the first stage (proestrus) or has already passed out of the second stage of the cycle into the third stage (interestrus) she will not r be receptive to the male. If mating is attempted to early or late in the cycle, the queen will refuse to mate and often aggressively reject the male. A queen should be at least 12 to 18 months of age before a mating is attempted. At this age, she is physically and emotionally mature enough to successfully rear kittens. Breeding your cat is not a decision to make lightly. Spaying prevents unwanted pregnancies and eliminates the problems of cystic ovaries, false pregnancies, uterine infection, and irregular heat cycles. Spaying also reduces the frequency of mammary tumors. Female cats do not need a litter of kittens to be happy psychologically. Reputable breeders have their queens and toms health screened and genetically tested for deleterious health problems. As a breeder, you become responsible for the health of the queen throughout her pregnancy and kittening. You should be prepared to find high quality homes for each of the kittens and to take them back at any time, even years later should the need arise. Only if you are prepared to make a lifetime commitment to teh queen and all of her kittens should you consider breeding your queen.

It's possible for her to have her first heat cycle anytime after four months of age, but it normally occurs around six months. She would have to be in heat in order to accept the male and get pregnant, but you should be aware that this can happen anytime now. It's important to have her spayed prior to her coming into heat, because the procedure is more risky when they are in heat. They also tend to fight with other cats when they are in heat, which can increase their chances of getting serious infections and contracting FIV and/or FeLV. These diseases are vaccine-preventable, so it's important to also ask your vet about this vaccine if she will continue to have contact with feral cats. I hope that helps and all is well with Bella.

Cat should not be bred until they've reached full maturity - sometime between 18 months and 2 years of age. I would recommend that the two cats are of similar sizes as using a much larger male can result in kittens that are too large causing problems at birth. You should also have both cats examined by a veterinarian prior to breeding to ensure that they are both healthy and have a no apparent hereditary conditions that could be passed on to the kittens. Please also keep in mind that pregnancy and delivery can result in some complications sometimes even needing surgery and you should be prepared for these expenses.

It does sound and look like Eevee is in heat. Increased vocalization, ‘presenting’ her genitalia /arching her back, and often increased affection are typical signs of estrus/heat in cats which typically first starts after 6 months of age. Each heat cycle lasts around 5-6 days and unspayed cats typically come back into heat every 2-3 weeks. The ASPCA and many shelters offer low cost spay options such as mobile spay/neuter clinics that may be an option. If not, there is nothing that you need to do other than keep her away from intact male cats unless you want kittens in about 2 months’ time! Good luck!