Could a male cat sense that my indoor female cat is in heat and just Tahoe up at my house/garden?

[Catcrazy85]

That should say turn up at my house/garden!

Sorry if this is a ridiculous question but genuinely wondering is this true? If my cat goes into heat, will I get all these male cats appearing in my garden or is that just a myth? My cat is an indoor cat only so not sure how male cats would be able to sense she is in heat through brick walls 😂

But some cats must be allowed to go through pregnancy and birth or they would die out after 24 years if all cats stopped having kittens.

There’s more than enough cats having kittens without human intervention and the odds of cats going extinct is close to non existent. They do not need irresponsible owners allowing them to breed too. There is a ridiculous number of unwanted and stray cats in the world and every kitten that’s bred unnecessarily contributes to the misery and deaths of these unwanted animals. (Not to mention risks becoming an unwanted and abandoned cat itself.)

@Bananalanacake yes that's what I was thinking, surely all the cats in the world will die out if they are all spayed as soon as possible

There are enough cats being irresponsibly bred to sell on dodgy websites and enough cats that irresponsible owners allow to become pregnant then dump to keep us in kittens. One of my fostered mums had her kittens under someone’s shed in March, one died very quickly then the shed’s owner found her and tried to help. We assume she had been thrown out when her “owners” found she was pregnant. When she had been trapped with her remaining two kittens one was given a 20% chance of surviving, she had been so cold and so hungry that she had really only been feeding one kitten. Between us we pulled him through. There are thousands of stories like this, don’t be a backstreet breeder.

@Catcrazy85 is your cat registered ? Do you show her ? There are plenty of people breeding pedigree cats ( too many actually) and plenty of feral cats to keep the species alive .

Get your cat neutered asap. She doesn’t need to have a litter. There’s no benefit in it for her, only risk and every kitten born means other unwanted cats are more likely to be euthanised. Also that kitten you give to what you think is a loving home could very well end up as an abandoned and unwanted/neglected stray. You have no control over its life once you pass it to the new owners.

Honestly. It should be mandatory to have pets neutered unless there is a medical reason that means it isn’t advisable.

Please don’t be silly. How could we ever get anywhere near a position where every single cat in the world, including feral cats and those living in extremely poor, badly-run countries, was spayed?

And if we ever get anywhere near that situation then maybe allowing a cat to have kittens will be less morally reprehensible. But there must be hundreds of thousands of unwanted cats and kittens in the UK alone, probably billions worldwide. At the moment every kitten born means another one will be homeless or euthanised. Even if the owners are planning to keep all the kittens. If they have space in their home for another four, six or even eight cats, then they should adopt some of the unwanted ones.

And OP, if you end up with another six cats say, and there are female, will you want them to experience one litter too? And then what about their kittens? Where will it end?

Have you any idea how far away we are from that situation? Obviously you haven't or you wouldn't even be considering this. The receptionists at our rescue spend all day repeating "I'm sorry we can't take in your cats/kittens - we are full". We get dozens of calls a day about kittens being born in gardens, factories, sheds etc etc. We can only help with a fraction of them as we, and all other rescues are overwhelmed. And this is the UK - a country that is supposedly animal welfare minded. Most other countries are millions of times worse. Why not do a little bit of research on the subject?

We did exactly this. The female cat went into the garden and sang loud yowly songs for two weeks and two gentlemen cats did show up and oblige. We had six kittens, 5 looked like one Dad and one looked like the other.

The only downside really was that the female cat went all funny after we then had her spayed. She was still suckling the kittens when she was spayed and she got really crabby and miserable and was like that for the rest of her life. I think postnatal medical care for cats is not really much better than for humans.

The kittens were very nice and we kept two.

So you’re condemning her to be painfully mated and giving birth. All because you think kittens are cute. 😞

Get her spayed. Why would you want her to have a litter?

There are no benefits to the cat at all from having a litter. If nothing else, mating is brutal and painful. Why would you put a loved pet through that?

Do you have £££s for an emergency overnight section if needed?
Could You take 4-6 weeks off work to 24hour bottle feed if Mums milk doesn’t come in/she dies/the kittens fail to feed themselves?
Have you had all the relevant blood tests etc carried out on potential mother?
Have you got the capability to look after potentially disabled kittens if something bad happens like CH?
Are you happy to see your cat mated and if so where is the male coming from? Will he have had the relevant tests carried out?
My daughter is a vet nurse and her hospital helps support rescue centre. The stories she tells me would break your heart. She has bottle fed too many kittens and lost to many to name.
I help with rescue and I would never let any of my animals breed.
And yes the males can tell when your girl is in season… think of the song ‘my milkshake brings all the boys to the yard’ and you will get the potential picture.
Having a cat in season is a huge pain, bum rubbed in your face day and night. Yowling, grumpy, feisty, trying to escape at every turn…..
It’s not something I would do for a pet I loved.

Every dog/cat I've ever had has been done. There's enough puppies and kittens looking for homes.

This Threads like tell me you live in a rough area without telling me you live in a rough area.

Theres no shortage of kittens in this world and the rescues have loads and older cats dumped when the cute wears off. There’s as many feral/dumped/lost cats in the UK as owned pets.

It’s such a 1970’s mentality too. How would going through unmediated child birth and painful mating enhance her life and if a kitten gets stuck can you afford an emergency vet because they tend to labour overnight too so you’d be up all night making sure they survive, then they’ve got be be weighed daily to check growth and treated for worms and paediatric flea sprays off the vets because if a kitten gets fleas it can easily be fatal then you’ve got to sell them to good homes and not give them away risking the dog fighting rings using them as bait for the dogs because they send women round to get free kittens for that.

Also mother cats don’t keep one kitten they start attacking them from 16 weeks to drive them away. It’s unusual for a mother/kitten pair to bond. We had a mother daughter pair by accident because the breeder threatened to put the mum down so we had her and they hated each other. Daughter was visibly pleased when mum died.

I think after reading these posts, I will just have her spayed. She's is almost 5 months old. I would like another cat but I'm sure I can get one from a rescue centre.
Here is a photo of her, she is my spoiled little princess 😻😺

@FormerlyPathologicallyHappy how is saying you would like your cat to have a litter of kittens equate to coming from a rough area? Weird logic and no I don't come from or live in a rough area

Thank you for reading & understanding. What a gorgeous little girl. I’m sure you can find a friend for her.

One of my cat's mothers was apparently stalked for three days by a tom that lived 10 miles away (in Wimbledon!).

Another friend had about 10 toms circling their house screeching the entire time their cat first came on heat!

She is lovely. Thankyou for listening to everyones advice.
If I was you I would get her neutered then rescue a younger male kitten. Tends to make it easier for them to bond

She’s so beautiful. What a sweet face. 😻

Thanks everyone, yes she is a total sweetheart and has a lovely temperament. I guess I didn't know the truth about mating and what having kittens is like for cats, I don't want to put her through that

Shes adorable and thank you for deciding to do the right thing for her. Neutering her really is in her best interests.

Well done making the right and best decision for her.

Please book her in for spaying asap because being in heat will be distressing for her, and some cats will take silly risks to get outside, where she's then at risk of catching transmittable diseases from, and being injured by, any toms that mate or attempt to mate her (as well as the risk of pregnancy of course).

Good decision @Catcrazy85 , lovely cat .