Great reminder, Wildcat. This is so very important. When I got my first cat, Samantha, in 1998, I didn't know much about spaying and such. Actually, I knew nothing at all about cats and thought that vets were for when your pet was sick or had an injury. No thought whatsoever about preventative care. When Samantha went into heat the first time, I had no idea of what was going on. It was Pam, my daughter, who told me that Sammi was in heat and to keep her inside so that she doesn't get pregnant. That was no easy task. She'd cry and call and literally climb the drapes, trying to get outside. She was like a wildcat and it drove me crazy. Poor thing was probably feeling crazy herself. Male cats were hanging outside my window, calling to her.

Then she started spraying in the house, leaving her scent for any available male cat. She was in heat and she wanted to mate. I figured that she'd get over it.

In no time, she became a master at escaping whenever the door opened. She would hide behind the sofa whenever I headed to the door, and then run out as soon as I opened it.

I was right, the heat cycle ended.......she was now pregnant and only about 5 months old. She had 6 kittens - that first litter. Before she was even one year old, history repeated itself and she had yet another litter of 7 kittens. She was in the end stages of nursing that second litter when she went into heat yet another time.

But this time, I had finally wised up and took her to the vet to be spayed, in heat and nursing kittens still. I kept two of Samantha's kittens, Katrina from the first litter and KatyKatt from the second. Both were spayed at an early age and never went into heat.

Simba came to me already neutered.

All of Samantha's heat problems would have been avoided if only I had taken her to a vet and had her spayed.
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Ruby and the Kitties
Simba, Samantha, Katrina & KatyKatt
Meow!! Meow!! Meow!! Meow!!

How wonderful to do nothing and then rest afterwards. Meow!

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