when can my cat have kittens?

Question

what age can my cat start having kittens?

Answer 1

Around 6 months, but having kittens that young can kill her, or permanently damage her health. She needs to be spayed, before she starts contributing to the millions of homeless pets that have to be euthanized every year due to careless breeding.

Answer 2

Your cat CAN have kittens as early as six or seven months of age. Whether she SHOULD is another matter.

Breeders usually say that a female cat should wait until she is at least one year old, preferrably one and a half, before she gets her first litter of kittens. (This, by the way, is also why they sometimes recommend that if you're getting one male and one female kitten, that you get the female approximately half a year before the male, so she has time to grow a little more before he grows enough to get interested in her that way.)

If you consider that the first year for a cat is approximately the same as 18 years for a human (give or take a year or two, depending on who you ask), it seems reasonable, yes? I doubt many would recommend you to have children before you're eighteen. (Preferrably I would see people be in their mid-twenties before getting children, but that might just be me.)

If you're planning on having kittens on your cat, I would suggest reading up a bit about what that entails, and what some of the hazards (pregnancy- and labour-wise) you need to look out for can be. Even if you don't have purebred cats, you still need to consider some things that could be a danger to both mother and kittens.
If you're not planning on having kittens and she's an outdoor cat, I would suggest spaying her around the time she should go into heat for the first time (see above). It not only stops the risk of you having a lot of kittens to suddenly care for and find homes for, it also decreases the risk for her to get a couple of diseases and infections. =)

Answer 3

A cat can come into heat at around 6 mths and until bred will continue to repeat the cycle aprox @ 3 wk intervals. Why do you want to breed her? Unless this is a show quality with bloodlines worth preserving it is best for her to be spayed. Cats will worrry any owner to death to get out, vocally, and some times aggressivly until breeding takes place. It she is an indoor cat the threat alone of her escape can cuase her to run the gambit for fleas, ticks, worms, being hit by a car, and a plethra of other dangers. An unspayed female also runs a serious risk for uterine infections and certain cancers that are almost unheard of in spayed animals. It is best for her health and for the overall cat population to have her spayed.

Answer 4

With the way the pet popultation is, the best thing you could do is have your cat spayed. If you couldn't find homes for all the kittens, what would you do then? Keep all of them? So many kittens wind up being strays or put in shelters because of irresponsible owners. It's also better for your cat's health to have her spayed.
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Answer 5

Never.
Do NOT allow your cat to have kittens, have her spayed as soon as possible. There are thousands of kittens who are abandoned to shelters, abandoned in dumpsters and drowned or poisoned every year. If you want a kitten, go to your local humane society.
Even if you think you can find homes for all the kittens, think of it this way: each home one of your needlessly born kittens goes into, is one less cat that is rescued from the humane society.
And anyway, at least one of the your kittens will probably end up in the humane society someday, anyway, when the owner moves, or develops allergies, or has a baby...

So please have your cat spayed. If you can't afford it, talk to your vet about payment plans or discounted operations.

If you need kittens in your life, consider fostering them for the humane society.

Answer 6

Female cats ( queens) reach sexual maturity between 7 and 12 months. With most breeds, only one litter of kittens a year is advisable, but Oriental types can give birth once every 7 to 8 months without suffering any ill - effects.

Answer 7

They will have their first "heat" cycle when they are as young as 6 months. They should wait until they are at least a year old before getting pregnant.

Maybe you should just get her spayed now and help prevent the HUGE population of unwanted cats. Everyone loves kittens, not so much the grown cats.

Answer 8

A kitten can go into heat as early as five months of age, more commonly at six to seven. If she were to get pregnant that would be comparable to a human getting pregnant at twelve years of age. The pregnancy will rob her of nutrition at a time when she is still growing herself.

Spaying is extremely important for her health now and in the future.

Answer 9

Well it varies, just like it does in humans. My cat had kittens when she was one and a half, which was a bit of a shock! Most female cats will behave differently when they are in 'season', so watch closely for any changes in behavior.

Answer 10

6 months +