I am still fretting about when to neuter my now 4 month old kittens. I can almost hear the pitter patter of tiny paws, in my mind at least.

How can I recognise, that a female kitten has reached sexual maturity? What are the first signs of her coming on heat?

A female in heat will usually become very affectionate and very vocal. She may also begin peeing everywhere. If there´s a male around, she´ll approach him and lower herself on her front paws and present her rear end in the air with her tail to one side. Not too subtle!!

I had a five-month old kitten who got pregnant the first time she was with a tom. I couldn´t understand why, as she had never shown any signs of heat. Since then, I´ve learned that some females have a "silent heat" when they are ready and willing to mate but don´t display any of the signs of being in heat.

I think I will give them another 2 weeks and then take Tondo for his snip.

I just want to mention that I wasn´t being irresponsible with my kitten. I wasn´t in Canada and I took her for what I thought would be a pre-spay exam. The vet said in his country they didn´t spay or neuter and he told me he would give her contraceptive shots, but that she was too young and he wanted to wait one more month. The very next day, I arrived home from work to find that the landlady had let her out of my room because she was meowing. When I went to the back yard to bring her in, I discovered the tom having his way with her.

Oh dear, nature will have it´s way I once found my young cat in the garden rolling around with a tom 2x her size Needless to say, she had kittens later I did not matter at the time, as I had wanted kittens, just was surprised, she had them so young at about 6 months

Im tossing up when to get raanii speyed. Shes inside full time with pickles a 2yr old desexed male.
Im hoping that her comming into heat does not upset my boy cat. and theres always the chance that she will escape outside and get pregnant. shes 3 and a half months old.
Shes prob to young yet but im not taking the risk!!!

She will not get pregnant at 3 and a half months.

I was just about to start a thread on this until I noticed this one.
When Cat Protection took our foster cat Arwyn to the vet last week he wasn´t able to tell if she´s been spayed or not, so rather than put her through a possibly unnecessary operation, he said to just wait until she comes into season and then book her in. I´m really worried that we won´t even notice though.

How often do cats come into season? We´re keeping her in until we know one way or another, but she won´t put up with that forever having previously been an outdoor cat. Obviously I don´t want to let her out too soon either though, only to find she wasn´t spayed.

There´s a blood test that indicates whether or not a cat (or dog) has been spayed. It´s called an LH test and measures the luteinizing hormone (LH) in the blood. It´s very surprising that neither Cat Protection nor the vet were aware of this test, but perhaps it´s not available in Britain. Another possibility is having the vet shave Arwyn´s tummy to see if she has a scar.

The following quote is from Purina´s website: "Heat lasts for about 5 to 8 days, although it can be as short as 3 days or as long as 20 days. If a cat does not get to mate during the heat stage, the heat stage comes to an end and the “diestrus” stage begins. Diestrus is a brief period between cycles; it typically lasts from 2 to 14 days, but can last as long as 30 days."

It´s also unusual that the vet didn´t mention that some cats have "silent heats" where they display none of the symptoms of heat. It sounds very risky to let Arwyn go outside while waiting for her cycle to start.

I was amazed to be honest because you´d assume Cat Protection would know of methods to check for spaying. I think they´ve probably taken less interest in Arwyn than some of the other cats they have under their care though, because we´d already agreed to foster, then adopt her. I did feel it was pretty reckless advice though. I wasn´t at the vet´s with her so I wasn´t able to ask any questions. We planned to take her to our own vet on the Monday after finding her, but Cat Protection insisted they collect her and take her to their regular vet for the initial check up and scan for microchip.

I have her booked in to see my own vet next week to get her belly and back end shaved (she´s terribly matted underneath and won´t let me near to do anything with it myself) so I´ll ask them to check for a scar at the same time. I´ll mention the LH test too and see if that can be done if they can´t see a scar.

I´d better add, I have no plans to let her outside until we know she´s definitely been spayed, or get her spayed ourselves. I just wasn´t sure how long we´d possibly have to wait to feel safe if taking the ´wait for a season´ advice.

Thanks for the information.

Is peeing everywhere a sign of heat for a 10 month old cat who´s always been litter trained?

Kazzykat, if you´re talking about gorgeous Blago he´s a male and males don´t go into heat. He could be starting to mark his territory which male cats often do as they reach sexual maturity. Peeing outside the box could also be the symptom of a condition such as a urinary tract infection which can be very serious. It´s best to have a vet check him as soon as possible to rule out any physical problem. If he´s not neutered yet, having him neutered might solve the spraying (territorial peeing), if this is in fact why he´s going outside the box.

Hi marcatmm, thanks for the advice. Yesterday, Blago just started peeing everywhere which is rather unusual. Yes, I think whatever it might be it´s best that I have him checked by the vet. Thanks.

Oldwoman, the shelter here spays and neuters kittens when they reach 1000 grams (a kilogram - about 2 1/2 pounds) and that seems to be at around 2 months. So 4 months old shouldn´t be a problem. Because our indoor cats are likely to live for minimum of 15-16 years (or longer if they´re in good health) I think spaying and neutering at an early age is a good idea. Who knows what may happen to us, or what may become of them during their lifetime and desexing an older cat can have it´s complications. Plus, desexed cats have a lower risk of some cancers (see: http://www.cat-world.com.au/catworlddesexing.htm) And cats in heat (silent or not) can become extremely good escape artists when nature is calling. Cats who´s heat is not so silent are well nigh intolerable.

Sophie was a year old when I adopted her. Because she´s generally so silent the only way I knew she was in heat was that she meowed a bit and lifted her tail and backed up against my leg from time to time (yick). Like Marcatmm says...not too subtle.

Daftdog, Like Arwyn, Sophie was a outdoor cat (a stray). She has absolutely no desire to go outside now at all. Even when I´ve lived in places and given her the option, she will sit outside for a few minutes, then come right back in. Life as a stray for a year was quite enough for her. She´s perfectly happy being indoors only. You might want to just let Arwyn let you know herself if she wants to go out, and if not, give her lots of stuff to climb on and play with indoors and she may just be content.

5 Signs your cat is on Heat
> More vocal (talkative) than usual
> Crouching with their bottom end up in the air
> Rolling around on the floor
> Some may urinate more frequently
> Some are more affectionate where as others may become more aggressive, depending on their personality.

Trust me oldwoman, you´ll know when she´s on heat. Your neighbours will as well.