Kitten in heat

[somethingelsethere]

Hello!
So I have 2 kittens, bought from the same litter.
They are 10 months old.
I think both are in heat this week, based on a massive change in their behaviour.
They are not spayed. And I wanted them both to have a litter.
But not this young 😩 now I feel awful and scared for them if they have got pregnant, as they're just too young. Now contemplating just getting them spayed and not having any litters as I don't want them getting pregnant too young 😩
When will I be able to tell if they have got pregnant? What are the first signs?
Has anyone had a cat have kittens this young?
I haven't seen any Toms about and don't think there are any that local to us, so they may not have been mated anyway. 🤞😴

Cats do go into season, we rescued an ex-Queen and had to let her have a season before the vet would spay her.

Our neutered male found it all very confusing and got swiped more than once.

I definitely don't want to have a litter to make money from them.
I paid a lot myself for these cats but would give the kittens on the family and pay for vaccinations and flea worm treatments myself

@gettingfedupagain

Cats don't go on heat.

Cats ovulate AFTER sex.

They are probably pregnant.

They do go into heat and can do so as early as 4 months

I just thought it was nature

Fucks sake. I bet your family won't have any resulting kittens spayed or neutered either.

The vet has said we can discuss spaying on a future appointment and their next one is at a year old so I'm assuming this is when they'd recommend them to be done

They should be done as soon as they're mature enough.

Cata should be spayed/neutered around 4 months old. My 2 boys were done at just over 4 months

6 months is recommended here....however in the US they neuter at 12 weeks!

Mine were already neutered when rescued. My friends have two rescued kittens who were done at 4 months.

@ChampagneCommunist

I am quite surprised at all the replies. All my cats over the past 20 years or so have had a litter and been good mothers.

No problems finding homes, more people want cats that there are kitten available.

Maybe it's just my area?

Must just be your area; there are quite a few cat rescue volunteers on this board and all say the same thing - too many cats for homes that want them. There is no benefit whatsoever to the cat to have a litter, and they don't yearn for offspring emotionally the way humans do. And as a pp said, mating tends to be a very unpleasant experience for a queen, especially an immature young one.

The OP's kittens will be giving birth at the height of kitten season too, when all the rescues will be overwhelmed with kittens born to un-neutered strays, or "accidental" litters brought in by owners who never bothered to get their cat spayed and can't cope.

@Youngatheart00

6 months is recommended here....however in the US they neuter at 12 weeks!

No. From 4 months is recommended here and across Europe. That's the recommendation based on evidence at least.

There are enough stray and unwanted cats in the world - why add to those numbers?

@somethingelsethere please book them in for spaying

@Youngatheart00

6 months is recommended here....however in the US they neuter at 12 weeks!

If you mean in the UK then its 4 months that's recommended although some vets still say 6 months. I had to find an alternative vet to do mine at 4 months

icatcare.org/advice/neutering-your-cat/

Neutering at 4 months is the usual now, sometimes sooner. No need to wait until 12 months.
As responsible humans, we can stop the over population of cats by neutering. If family want cats perhaps they can go to the local rescue.

@Soubriquet

Why would you want them have a litter?!

What good reason can you say for bringing new kittens in the world?!

Seriously?!

Get them spayed

I would quote this 100 times if I could.

And my boy was fixed at 4 months. Regular vet.

www.cats.org.uk/what-we-do/neutering/find-a-vet

This link gives info on vets that will do early neutering/spaying. I used it for my cats

They will have already mated if they are not spayed and have been out. We had an female cat that hadn't been spayed in the tree at the bottom of our garden a couple of weeks back - I know the cat has an owner so I don't think there is anything I can do. Every single tom I have ever seen passing by was in our garden at one point over the weekend, harrasing the cat and trying to mate despite me scaring them off multiple times. My own cats, (both done) didn't even want to go out as there were so many other cats about.

You can still get them booked in to be spayed.

If your family are looking for cats OP then you should speak to them and see if they could adopt from a local charity instead. I'll say it again, please get them spayed.

I will call the vet in the morning and ask for their advice.
Thank you for all of your replies

Please get her spayed!

Please neuter. If you paid a lot, I assume they're pedigree cats but you have no breeding rights.

Unless you're ready to bottle feed and toilet them every two hours, prepared for an emergency C-section you should neuter them.

So you have been letting them out?and your vet never at any point suggested having them done?

You need a new vet. These cats should have been spayed months ago.

Research your animal and what this means for them? Something you should have done before getting them.

Our vets won't neuter or spay until six months old. Both my female and male cats had to wait until then.

Advice will be to neuter at 2 kg...
Your vet will not advise you to breed your dkittens at any age op...
Fact.