Do cats ALWAYS go into heat?

I was conversing with the owner of one of Elsa's kittens, which will be 11 months old in about a week. He mentioned that she has never gone into heat yet (not that that is what he was waiting for, but he did sort of forget because there wasn't that obnoxious impetus to get him to think about it.)

So my question is - are there cats that NEVER go into heat? Would that mean they wouldn't need the surgery? She is fairly petite, by the way. Thanks! Kim.

Bobber who we tried to breed unsuccessfully for several yrs would not "come into heat" on a regular basis-or at least show the symptoms of heat (the yowlling and the posturing behavior). I'm can't rememver how old she was when she 1st came into heat either. Last August we had her spayed and the vet out 3 grape sized tumors on her ovaries. They figured this was at least part of the problem. Then for 8 weeks after spaying her hormones had to re=adjust. She was awful-clingy, meowing constantly. She has since returned to herself.

Unfortunately, we didn't get Ophelia spayed until later... She was a late bloomer and didn't go into heat at all until she was at least 1 year old. She is also a very petite girl (and had a rough start to her life, which I'm sure didn't help). Just like people, some cats develop early and some develop late. Unless there is a physical deformity (i.e. she doesn't have ovaries), she will go into heat eventually.

Some cats also go into "silent heat". They are in heat, they just don't show the signs.

My vet also explained to me, when i was trying to descide when to spay Parrot, that they are more likely to go into heat during the summer, something about the heat and the hormones, so that might be a factor, but I was under the impression that all cats went into heat unless there was some reason for them not to.

-Jade

Interesting. Well, Ellie's mom, my Elsa, had many, many cysts on her ovaries when we went to get her spayed. She was going into heat about every 2 weeks, and it would last for a week. She was SO relieved and happy after her surgery!

She may have been in heat at least once - a "silent" heat. Ling Ling was just spayed recently and went into heat for 2 days about 2 weeks before she was spayed.

There are some breeds that might not go into heat till about a year - depending on when they were born. If the cat is 11 months now (February), I can almost guarentee that she will be in heat within the next month - its spring and that will trigger it.

The cat should be spayed to reduce the risk of cancers and other problems.

This is an old post but I thought I'd reply. My cat Reeses is about 14 or 15 months and is in heat right now. I emailed the previous owner who wasn't able to have her spayed (heck he couldn't even afford to have her vaccinated) and he said she had never gone into heat previously, atleast she didn't show the signs of it.

SO I'm hoping that that means that if she isn't just late, that for the most part she's quiet. I've seen a few other cats in heat and they were terrible. So far Reeses has been pretty mild. Not spraying, and not making much noise besides loud purring and the ocassional loud meowing. Really she's just doing the purring and rubbing up against everything...hasn't sprayed yet either which I'm hoping won't happen.

Right now she's pretty quiet, just lying under our bed. If she can stay like this until she gets spayed in 2 weeks or goes out of heat we'll be happy

I understand that the cat finally did go into heat at about 13 or 14 months. I'm proud to state that she is now spayed!