Limiting Breeding

I am not a breeder and have no interest in breeding but I have what is probably a really dumb question but it's something that I wanted to know for a while. How do you keep a cat from staying in heat and I have my pet female cat spayed this is just idle curiosity. I know with dogs it's just twice a year with most breeds and some of the breeds from very harsh climates it's just once a year but it's my understanding that cats can pretty much stay in heat. Thanks for your time with a completely dumb and unimportant question.

Originally Posted by Denice

I am not a breeder and have no interest in breeding but I have what is probably a really dumb question but it's something that I wanted to know for a while. How do you keep a cat from staying in heat and I have my pet female cat spayed this is just idle curiosity. I know with dogs it's just twice a year with most breeds and some of the breeds from very harsh climates it's just once a year but it's my understanding that cats can pretty much stay in heat. Thanks for your time with a completely dumb and unimportant question.

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Denise...there are no dumb questions. This is actually a very good question and I'm sure many people who aren't breeders have this exact same question. I am not a breeder either...but I'm sure that your question will be answered shortly.

Katie

I was a rex breeder - only had one or two females at a time. I must be one of the lucky ones as my females took a break of coming into heat in the fall/winter. They were mainly calling in the spring and were bred then. So they had their litter in late spring or early summer.

And they didn't come immediately back into heat like the majority of females.

Good question as I don't know how I would have handled a female that was in/out of heat a lot as I didn't want to breed more then a litter a year (per female)

There really isn't anything you can do. Some people say keeping the house cooler and lights lower will simulate winter conditions, but houses are pretty warm regardless! I have found my girl will come into heat every 5 weeks. I have no idea what it will be like once the kittens arrive. I know a Maine Coon breeder whose cat came into heat 3 times by the time her kittens were 3 months old.

Theres a pill in Europe you can use but I find that way to risky to even consider. You can also get a neutered/sterile male to try and breed with the girl to make her think she is pregnant.

I've been lucky since both my females have taken breaks during the late summer and the whole autumn. Many femalse don't though and many breeders here in Sweden give their females birth control pills. I don't. I did give my first female the pill, everyone else did so how bad could it be . She got the worst temper from the pills so I stopped giving them to her and giving these hormones for a long time increase the risk for mammary cancer.

As already mentioned, you can keep a sterilized male that breeds the females or you can use a sterile cotton stick (I don't know what you call it in English, one of these sticks you can but shouldn't clean your ears with) to induce ovulation. There's also an acupressure method that can induce ovulation... I'm practising on that one.

You can let the female have "empty" heats, but that increases the risk for pyometra so it's not very good and another option is of course to have the female bred every heat... that's usually not a good idea either.

Originally Posted by Sol

I've been lucky since both my females have taken breaks during the late summer and the whole autumn. Many femalse don't though and many breeders here in Sweden give their females birth control pills. I don't. I did give my first female the pill, everyone else did so how bad could it be

. She got the worst temper from the pills so I stopped giving them to her and giving these hormones for a long time increase the risk for mammary cancer.

As already mentioned, you can keep a sterilized male that breeds the females or you can use a sterile cotton stick (I don't know what you call it in English, one of these sticks you can but shouldn't clean your ears with) to induce ovulation. There's also an acupressure method that can induce ovulation... I'm practising on that one.

You can let the female have "empty" heats, but that increases the risk for pyometra so it's not very good and another option is of course to have the female bred every heat... that's usually not a good idea either.

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I think your thinking of "Q tips" . To stimulate a female with a q tip is called Q tipping (at least that's what i hear it is called). I don't know though if I can stomach Q tipping my cat in heat. It won't make her go out of heat right away but it will cause her to ovulate and it will be longer till she goes into heat again.

My cats come into heat year round but are ok while they are nursing kittens and none so far have had loud or obnoxious heats.

Persians don't breed/call all year round, so we're lucky. But I've just had my last litter anyway.

I have also heard of "q tipping", but I think there is a risk to hitting the cervix, or causing infection, so it is probably something your vet should do. I have queens who go through heats quicker than others. I only let them go through a few heats before breeding again, I don't want to risk pyometra. I have a few who have kittens once a year, but most of my queens average every 8 months. I have one retired queen, who had very frequent, hard heat cycles, that we retired her.
I have read about using the vasectomized males, to bring the queen out of estrus. The male should have been a proven breeder before. I don't know of the health risks to the male after vasectomy.
It sounds like the "accupressure" technique is the safest route, but not something that sounds very appealing to the queen or the person having to apply it. It is also what I am practicing, and it is working very well for me, although I still worry about the risk of pyometra.
The medications used to prevent or terminate estrus sound to be effective, but can have many negative side effects with long time use.
I would like to know if reducing the light is effective, or if this is more of a myth. My cats continue with heat cycles in winter, although we have had a very mild winter.

One of my breeder friends who breeds Burmese/Mandalays/Burmillas has a vasectomised stud who always "does the trick"

Originally Posted by WellingtonCats

One of my breeder friends who breeds Burmese/Mandalays/Burmillas has a vasectomised stud who always "does the trick"

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I wonder how hard it is to find a vet who with do the procedure of giving a vasectomy? I also wonder if it's expensive.

I wonder too? I'll be sure to ask her next time I see her (PPCF meeting on Monday night)

It's sounds like something that would require a lot of patience and a real commitment to a specific breed of cat. Maybe you could find one of those rare male calicos that is sterile for a cat that comes in heat a lot. I bet he would be one really happy little genetic oddity.

Originally Posted by bengalbabe

I think your thinking of "Q tips" . To stimulate a female with a q tip is called Q tipping (at least that's what i hear it is called). I don't know though if I can stomach Q tipping my cat in heat. It won't make her go out of heat right away but it will cause her to ovulate and it will be longer till she goes into heat again.

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Q tipping, thanks. I'll remeber that. I wouldn't do it myself, but if the acupressure method doesn't work I'm thinking about asking my vet to Q tip my female. I'm afraid she'll have an intense heat period from now 'til late summer and i don't plan on breeding her just yet since her previous litter hasn't even left home yet.