“Heat” (or estrus) is the period when a female cat is ready to mate. As in other mammals, heat cycles begin once a cat reaches sexual maturity. In this article, you’ll learn everything about cats in heat and how best to handle it.
When Do Cats Go into Heat?
Most female cats have their first heat at around 5–9 months of age, though it can happen as early as 4 months or as late as a year or more. A cat’s body isn’t fully mature for having kittens until later, at about 12–18 months, so an early pregnancy is hard on a young cat.
The age of the first heat and how often heats happen depend on many factors, including breed, body weight, the time of year and whether there are male cats nearby. Oriental breeds such as the Siamese and the Oriental Shorthair often mature early and may cycle more often, while breeds like the Persian, the British Shorthair and the Scottish Straight often mature later.
How Long Does a Cat’s Heat Last?
A single heat usually lasts about 4 to 7 days, though it can range from a couple of days to almost 3 weeks.
How Often Do Cats Go into Heat?
Cats are “seasonally polyestrous,” which means they have repeated heat cycles during the breeding season. If a cat doesn’t mate, she can come back into heat every 2–3 weeks until she’s spayed or becomes pregnant.
Heat cycles are triggered by day length. In the Northern Hemisphere, outdoor cats usually cycle from about late winter through early fall (roughly February to September), with a lull in the shortest days of winter. Indoor cats living under artificial light, however, can go into heat at any time of year.
Signs That Your Cat Is in Heat
It’s usually easy to tell when a cat is in heat. Watch for these signs:
- Loud, persistent yowling or calling, often at night. This is how she calls male cats, and it can sound surprisingly like a cat in pain.
- Being extra affectionate: rubbing against furniture, people and everything else, and rolling around on the floor. (Some cats become irritable or aggressive instead.)
- The mating posture: she crouches with her front end down and rear end up, treads with her back legs and moves her tail to the side, especially when you stroke her lower back.
- Trying to escape outdoors through any door or window.
- Licking her genital area more often. Unlike dogs, cats usually have little or no visible discharge or bleeding.
- Peeing more often, and in some cats, spraying urine on walls or furniture to advertise that she’s ready to mate.
- A temporary loss of appetite in some cats.
The Stages of a Cat’s Heat Cycle
A cat’s reproductive cycle has several stages:
Proestrus lasts about 1–2 days. During this stage, the cat is still fairly calm. She may be a little more affectionate than usual and may rub against things or make soft calling sounds, and her appetite stays normal or even increases. But she won’t let a male near her yet. Many owners don’t notice this stage at all.
Estrus is the heat itself and usually lasts about a week (it can range from 2 to 19 days). This is when the cat wants to mate: she becomes especially affectionate, rolls around, yowls loudly and adopts the mating posture. If you stroke her lower back, she’ll raise her rear end and move her tail to the side. This is perfectly normal behavior. Cats are “induced ovulators,” which means mating itself triggers the release of eggs, so a cat that mates is very likely to get pregnant.
Interestrus is the short break between heats, about 1–3 weeks, if the cat didn’t mate. She calms down, and then the cycle starts again.
Diestrus happens if the cat ovulated. If she’s pregnant, she’ll give birth about 63–65 days later. If she ovulated but isn’t pregnant, she may have a false pregnancy (pseudopregnancy), with some signs of pregnancy but no kittens; it usually passes in about 5–6 weeks.
Anestrus is the resting period during the short days of winter, when the cat doesn’t cycle at all.
How to Help a Cat in Heat
The idea that you should leave a cat in heat alone isn’t quite right.
On the contrary, give her more affection and attention: pick her up, talk to her, pet her and brush her. These simple things can relieve some tension and help calm her down. Active play can also distract her a bit from her overwhelming urge to mate, so play with her energetically to help her burn off some of that pent-up energy.
Other things that may help:
- Keep her indoors and make sure all doors and windows are closed: a cat in heat can be an escape artist.
- Keep her away from male cats, including looking at them through the window.
- Offer a warm spot, such as a heated pet bed or a warm towel; many cats in heat find warmth soothing.
- Use a synthetic feline pheromone diffuser (such as Feliway), which may help reduce stress.
- Keep the litter box extra clean, which can help discourage spraying.
- Ask your vet about calming supplements made for cats; follow the label directions.
What you should never do: yell at her, punish her, lock her in a small space or try to “cool her down” with a cold shower. And never give her human medications, including antihistamines or sedatives, unless your vet prescribes them: many human drugs are dangerous for cats.
Medications to Stop Heat
Hormonal medications that suppress heat in cats do exist, but in the US and the UK they’re rarely used, and vets strongly advise against them except in very special cases (for example, a breeding cat that needs to delay a heat). These drugs, mostly progestins, are linked to serious side effects, including uterine infections (pyometra), mammary tumors, diabetes and other problems, and they must never be given without a vet’s supervision.
Hormonal drugs are not a substitute for spaying and should never be used regularly.
If your cat isn’t going to be used for breeding, the safest and most effective solution is spaying.
Why You Should Spay Your Cat
Many owners of unspayed cats describe the same story: a cat that’s smart and sweet the rest of the time, but during each heat yowls all night for days on end, pees on beds and furniture, and sometimes vomits or stops eating, keeping the whole family awake and leaving everyone exhausted. Some owners give their cats hormonal pills for years to avoid it, which puts the cat at serious risk.
You don’t have to go through that. Spaying (removing the ovaries, and often the uterus) ends heat cycles for good and has big health benefits: it eliminates the risk of pyometra, a life-threatening uterine infection, and greatly reduces the risk of mammary cancer, especially when done before the first heat. It also prevents unwanted litters, which helps reduce the number of homeless cats.
Many vets in the US and the UK now recommend spaying at about 4–5 months of age, before the first heat. Cats can also be spayed during heat in many cases, though some vets prefer to wait until it’s over; ask your vet.
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