Natural Care for Cats in Heat

Owning a cat is a big responsibility. As part of the responsibility, you will have to keep reproductive health in mind as well. Female cats, known as queens, come into heat several times a year, and some female cats may seem like they are constantly in heat. During estrus, queens can be loud, clingy and overly affectionate. They may spray around your home. Knowing what to do when your cat comes into estrus is important.

  1. Spaying

    • The best solution for dealing with a cat in estrus is to get her spayed. Spaying involves removing a cat̵7;s uterus and ovaries in order to keep her from coming into estrus and breeding. Breeding cats should be left to professional breeders, so if your cat is just a house pet, spaying should be done as soon as possible. Getting your cat spayed will ease the discomfort of estrus as well as prevent future health problems that come from not being spayed, such as cancer. The sooner that you get your cat spayed, the better.

    Comforting Your Cat

    • Keeping your cat happy and comfortable during estrus will help her out a lot. When your cat is in heat, make sure to keep her inside at all times. This will prevent any accidental breeding from happening. Since cats in heat may have an excess of energy, try playing with her as much as possible to potentially make her too tired to be overly annoying. Break out extra cat toys and put them to use. Some people turn to cat diapers to keep cats from spraying around the house while in heat, as well as preventing accidental impregnation.

    Animal Hormones

    • During estrus, you can take your cat in to the veterinarian to receive hormone injections. These hormone injections are designed to stop your cat̵7;s heat cycle. This is a handy method to use if you are a breeder and don̵7;t want to breed your cat for that particular estrus cycle. You can talk with your veterinarian about this option.

    Breeding

    • Sometimes, the only way a female cat can be comforted while in estrus is to be bred with a male cat. Breeding should only be done by professionals, for pedigree purposes. If your cat is for the purpose of breeding, you̵7;ll need to arrange something between yourself and another breeder. Make sure that the male cat is one that the female will want to breed with. Take your cat to the male, rather than bring the male to your female, as females can become territorial during estrus and mating may not happen.