Living with cats

How Many Kittens Can a Cat Give Birth To

 
Max. D Gray
By Max. D Gray. Updated: January 16, 2017
How Many Kittens Can a Cat Give Birth To

One of the aspects that most concerns us when we have a pet at home is procreation, because if our cat has kittens we must have ample space and resources to maintain the babies at home with the mother for at least two months.

If your cat is pregnant and you do not know how many kittens it might have, or if you're just wondering and pondering about the biology of it all, in this OneHowTo article we'll answer your question and reveal how many kittens a cat can give birth to.

You may also be interested in: How to help my cat give birth

Contents

  1. How fertile are cats?
  2. How many kittens can a cat give birth to?
  3. Why neuter your cat

How fertile are cats?

One of the characteristic aspects of cats is their fast sexual maturity. Factors such as the breed of the animal, the weather where they live, the hours of daylight and ambient temperature - all of these factors influence a cat's heat period. Most cats, though, reach sexual maturity at between 5 and 10 months of life.

This means their first heat is very soon upon us and thus the possibility of being pregnant and having the first litter of cats. Felines may go into heat throughout the year if they live in an open environment in which males may come into contact with them, and if you have a male and a female cat at home, you can have up to 3 pregnancies per year, which means heaps and heaps of kittens!

This is why responsible owners should take a very important decision: neuter the cats if you do not want or cannot keep many kittens at home, or if you don't want the responsibility of finding them a good home.

How Many Kittens Can a Cat Give Birth To - How fertile are cats?

How many kittens can a cat give birth to?

The number of kittens a cat can have varies greatly depending on the breed of the animal and the number of heats they have gone into. However, a cat usually gives birth to 3 to 9 kittens. On average there are between 4 and 6 kittens. It is common for first-time mothers to have smaller litters with usually four babies.

Cat pregnancy usually lasts between 57 and 63 days, so every cat can have up to 3 pregnancies per year. Their reproductive capacity does not diminish so they can give birth throughout their lives.

This results in many young kittens at home that you will surely not be able to maintain. In order to avoid abandoning cats, the most responsible decision we can take is to spay or neuter our pets, or to establish a responsible adoption and thus prevent animal neglect.

How Many Kittens Can a Cat Give Birth To - How many kittens can a cat give birth to?

Why neuter your cat

If many people feel excited about seeing their cat give birth and having kittens at home, it is important to be responsible with the issue of reproduction. Having kittens at home involves time, space and money, and if you aren't sure the responsible thing is to opt for neutering or spaying. This will also prevent jealousy, which for many owners can be annoying as well as other problems of unneutered such as marking territory.

If you want to know more about this intervention and the benefits for both your cat and you, read our articles on how and why neuter your cat and how to take care of it after the procedure. If you've found out how many kittens can a cat give birth to the hard way, take a look at how to care for a newborn kitten.

How Many Kittens Can a Cat Give Birth To - Why neuter your cat

If you want to read similar articles to How Many Kittens Can a Cat Give Birth To, we recommend you visit our Pets category.

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