Sooner or later, if your cats haven’t been spayed or neutered, they will bloom into sexual maturity. If you let your female cat out when they’re in heat and they get into contact with tomcats, she will get pregnant – and oftentimes, to a litter with different fathers. From the get go, you should know that it doesn’t really matter how many times your cat has done the deed – if they’ve done it with a tomcat, they’re probably pregnant.
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How many times does a female cat mate
A female cat will mate a lot more than you might realize. Over a time period of just one day, the cat often mates 10 to 20 times. At the same time, she might mate with multiple male cats over a couple of days.
When female cats go into heat, they don’t just do it one time or a few times in a year. Cats are what you call ‘seasonally polyestrous’ – which means they actually have multiple short heat cycles within a breeding season. When is the cat breeding season, you might ask? Well, it’s actually quite dependent on temperature. For example, for tropical areas, or even for cats who are primarily indoors, cats can actually breed throughout the whole year ‘round until they meet a tomcat and get pregnant.
- Read this too: Is it possible for a raccoon to impregnate a cat
By the way, a tomcat is a sexually mature male cat who has not been sterilized. When they go in heat, they can be very adamant when it comes to their goal of making kittens. Often times, a female cat will not only meet one tomcat per cycle, but a total of up to 50. Again, that number is PER CYCLE.
There are three different things that could happen when you let your female cat out when they’re in heat:
- They’ll become pregnant. They’ll come back in heat again around their 8th week after giving birth.
- They’ll have a false pregnancy where they’ll show signs of pregnancy but won’t have kittens. They’ll come back in heat again after 4-6 weeks.
- They don’t mate and will come back in heat 1 day to 2 weeks later unless the breeding season ends.
How to tell if cat mating was successful
If you are suspecting your cat may be pregnant, here are the signs to look out for:
- They’ll stop going into heat. If your cat doesn’t go into heat after two weeks, they’re probably pregnant.
- Their nipples grow bigger and become pinker.
- They’ll want to eat more.
- Sometimes they’ll have morning sickness.
- On their 5th week, their bellies will start swelling up.
It is highly advised that if you do not want your cat to become pregnant at all to get them neutered. If you do want to breed your cat but you think they are too young (female cats can become sexually mature as early as their 4th month – although on average, they start their sexual maturity on their 6th month), keep them indoors as much as you can.
Alternatively, if you have a male cat, please have them neutered as early as possible so they don’t get out and father unwanted kittens. If your male cat has not been neutered yet, keep them inside as much as possible. Playing with them as much as possible will also be beneficial to use up their pent-up energies.
More answers related to cats mating
Can two cats father one litter of kittens?
You know how when kittens are born, you can just tell from their coat patterns that they may have had different fathers? It’s totally possible. Superfecundation is the term used when eggs from the same heat cycle is fertilized by sperms from different cats. Although, it must be noted that each kitten only has one father.
How long are cat pregnancies?
Pregnant female cats won’t show physical symptoms until weeks into her term. They’re only pregnant for around two months, more or less, so you’ll only have a few more weeks to a month to prepare for the kittens’ arrival.
If you are suspecting that your cat is carrying kittens in her belly, it’s best to visit your vet and let them check your cat through ultrasound. They can often confirm your cat’s pregnancy as early as the 15th day since conception.
What do I do with my pregnant cat?
Once you’re sure that your cat is indeed pregnant, make sure they are eating well, and drinking lots of water. It is best if mama cat starts to eat kitten food as those have a lot more nutrients than normal cat food.
When your cat is close to giving birth, provide them with a towel-lined box to nest in, but don’t worry if they end up not using it anyway. On the day, they give birth, you’ll actually see when they have contractions. Once you see this sign, give all of your attention to your cat – they will need a lot of moral, and sometimes physical support.
It is actually very easy for cats to get pregnant. It doesn’t matter how many times they do it – what actually matters is if female unneutered cats have sex with intact males. If your cat’s pregnancy something you’d like to avoid, the best course of action us to get them spayed and neutered.
Do cats get pregnant every time they mate?
Cats do not get pregnant every time they mate. That might very well be the reason that they usually mate up to 10-20 times per day. Often cats mate with multiple cats over a couple of days.
