First Heat --How long does this last?

first time mama

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I have an 8 month old cat that has just gone into her first heat. We were planning to have her spayed in about 3 weeks (also have new kitten that needs to get spayed and were hoping to consolidate trips to the vet...). How long does this last? I know we have to get her spayed in between but am looking for some guidance on timing.
 

tnr1

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Originally Posted by first time mama

I have an 8 month old cat that has just gone into her first heat. We were planning to have her spayed in about 3 weeks (also have new kitten that needs to get spayed and were hoping to consolidate trips to the vet...). How long does this last? I know we have to get her spayed in between but am looking for some guidance on timing.
They didn't give a timeframe on this site:

http://cats.about.com/cs/pregnancybirth/ht/oestrus.htm

Katie
 

hissy

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It depends really. If there is a male cat nearby that is intact and not able to get to her physically, the heat can last longer. Estrus lasts from 4-6 days if she mates, and up to 10 days if she doesn't. It can reoccur about every two weeks.
 
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first time mama

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Where in the 4-6 days does the howling and walking around looking desperate come in? She's been acting wierd for the last week or so, but today is the first time she's started making alot of noise. We have an altered male that is trying to help...
 

hissy

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That I do not know. The females that I have that go into heat early get a quick visit to the vet to get spayed. I had one 5 month old girl that turned out to be pregnant when she went in to be spayed, her brothers had gotten to her. And I had no idea they could get pregnant that early.
 
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first time mama

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OMG! We've been putting this one off because we have another kitten. The vet told us that the kitten has to be six months old. We have had it marked on the calendar! The kitten is the result of the first (and last) litter of the most expensive stray cat on the planet. I can't go through that again
 

hissy

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Well it can happen. Kittens can be spayed earlier, some vets are doing this now and others won't. So maybe if you call around you will find one that does early spay.
 

lizch6699

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The first few times my kitty went into heat it wasn't full-blown. She rolled around a lot and called every once in a while. Now she goes into heat for around 6-8 days and then doesn't cycle again for about 7-10 days. And for her, the howling starts even before she goes into heat. Usually she'll call for 2 days before and I'll say to my boyfriend, "great here we go again" lol. The rubbing on things and acting desperate lasts throughout the whole cycle. Have fun! Lol
 

solaritybengals

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Meeka has different stages. I agree my girl will start calling a couple days before and will become intensely loving but her heat won't start for a couple days later. Then it lasted about 5 days on her first.
 

lizch6699

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Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

Ling Ling will be spayed end of this week (she's 8 months old). Two weeks ago she was in heat - for 3 days only!
I'm surprised she didn't go into heat until 8 months old! I think mine had her first cycle at about 5 months old.
 

jennyr

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Persil went into heat at 6 months, but it only lasted a few days, and was not too unbearable and then she was straight off to the vet. We had been putting it off to allow her to recover from surgery.
 

lisasha3

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I am absolutely baffled at how you guys can stand the "calling" as you call it!! (More like the ear piercing sound of a hurt wild animal..
)
I've got 4 females and made appointments to have them spayed as early as I thought safe (vet recommended) and have had 2 of the 4 still hit their first heat early. I'll tell you what...after about 2 hours of the screaming (not calling - SCREAMING
), I was on the phone with the vet asking how soon they could take her.
When asked when I wanted to come in - on both occassions I said "NOW would be good"....LOL
.
 

goldenkitty45

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Ling Ling was born in May - all of our kittens (barn) were born May/June and none of them came into heat first time till January/February. That's why we didn't catch them in time before they got pregnant - hard to catch cats in the barn in the winter with so many places to hide! lol

But when Ling's done, everyone will now be altered so no more kittens


And Ling's a strict indoor kitty now - we won't let her join the rest in the barn.



I bred rexes - had 2 breeding females - yeah it was annoying at times but I used to hold them for awhile and that made them happy.
 

juniperthetabby

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My kitty just turned four months old a couple days ago and started her first heat. The constant yowling drives me nuts! Her appointment to get spayed has been planned the week I got her and she started 3 days before. I'm not sure how long this will last but I bid you good luck! :vibes:
 

julesinspain

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We have an 11 month old rescue kitten she started to go into to heat about 4 or 5 days ago, however the strange thing is she has already been neutered at 6 months old! I've done some research andit seems that this can only occur if even a tiny bit of the reproductive organs are missed during the operation. Has anyone come across this before? Will she need another op or is there some sort of hormone treatment? We're taking her back to the same vets tomorrow, but would like a heads up on what to expect. We must have 7 or 8 toms circling the house & she's been more than happy to accommodate most of them until we caught her and brought her in, she settled eventually, but now our 5 year old castrated tom is even trying to mount her & this started her off again! At present the poor little thing is shut up in the bedroom. HELP!
 

jamie marie

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OMG, I am so with you! I have a 5 month old kitten I have been telling my girlfriend needs to be fixed ASAP BEFORE she came into her first heat. I am an old farm girl, who has grown up around pets my entire life. SHE is a city girl and doesn't always LISTEN to me when I try to tell her something. I SAID the yowling would drive us crazy and she wasn't going to LIKE it if we didn't get it taken care of and she kept putting it off, because she never thinks I really know this stuff. Well things have been pretty busy these past couple of weeks. My Dad has been sick with cancer and sadly; he passed on 10/10/15. Of course with my girlfriend at work 12 1/2 hours a day and me helping my 74 year old mother get thru the loss and service for my Father who was extremely well known and liked in our community; our pets were basically alone the bigger share of the time these past couple of weeks, and as my luck would go; the kitten is now in the, "up all night yowling phase" of heat, and our 2 year old fixed Male seems to want to help, but really doesn't, so NOW my girlfriend is NOT enjoying the consequences of not LISTENING to me and neither am I !!!! What makes it even MORE fun, is that it's now Friday, so it looks like it's going to be another fun filled weekend for ME before I can't do anything about it, and it looks like she could do this for MOST of it! This is ONE "I told ya so" that I'm really not getting much enjoyment from AT ALL!   
 

verlaud

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My kitten is a rescue who's estimated to be at 4 months old; she's just gone into her first heat before we could get her fixed :/ I texted my vet and I'm hoping something can be done, but she hasn't replied yet and to be honest I'm a little anxious here. The reduced appetite and increased vocalization/licking/other behavior has been happening for a few days, but I didn't realize what it was until today when the crawling and yowling started and everything clicked. I guess I didn't expect it since she is so young. My only other cat is a 5-year-old male, already fixed so he doesn't seem to be paying any extra attention to her except to position himself over her briefly during play. I'm trying to give her a lot of attention and distracting her with play because the yowling is pretty unbearable though. Kind of worried I won't get any sleep tonight :( I hope it doesn't last long. I'm glad to read about others' experiences, it makes me feel like I'm not alone in going through this!
 
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