How long does it take for a cat to go in heat after they have kittens?

Question

My brother in law left his cat here, and she had kittens 2 months ago and we just brought them to the humane society. She is driving me crazy! She keeps meowing and squatting and she is really really loud! Can anyone tell me what she is doing?

Answer 1

Nursing queens can go into heat within a couple of weeks of her kittens leaving, her abandoning them or if they perished.

Your brother in law's cat needs spaying now, as it is really unfair to keep her entire and persistently allowing her to call and get pregnant. Pregnancy and nursing kittens take a lot out of female cats, they can lose a lot of weight and it takes their body a year to realistically recover for her to be healthy again to be able to cope with calling, mating and pregnancy again. Allowing this poor girl to go through another round of calling, mating, pregnancy and nursing another litter so soon is not good for her health, even her life could be under threat if she could not carry the kittens to full term, went into early labour or complications during labour. Then there is the fact that more kittens would be brought into the world that no-one wants and they'd end up in the same place her last litter did, no home, no-one to care for them lovingly and if no-one adopts them from the rescue centres, they are under threat of euthanisation as hundreds of unwanted cats & kittens are surrendered daily.

I haven't even touched the other health implications for your brother's cat, such as scratches and bites from other feral cats as she tries to find a mate or defend  territory could get infected turn into a cyst and become life threatening, feline viruses that are transmittable through bites, scratches and mating, cancer of the womb and pyometra which is a very severe infection of the uterus which if not treated quickly enough can kill a cat.

Please do this poor girl a big favour and get her spayed so that she can become a happy, healthy and loving family pet. This way she will not be annoying due to her calling for a few days every month during the warmer season!

All the very best.

Answer 2

She's clearly in heat.

The smart thing to do, if she's getting annoying, IS TO GET THE DARN THING FIXED!!

Answer 3

Cats cycle with the lengthening days. The birth of the kittens may not even slow down the cycling. Cats are stimulated to ovulate by being bred, so when they are not bred, they will cycle in and out of heat about every 3-4 weeks from January to October. You need to have her spayed!