Cats are famous for being able to reproduce at breakneck speed, so in this article on our site, we are going to explain what is true in this belief, for what it is necessary to take into account how many cats can a cat have.
And, as always when we talk about reproduction, we must bear in mind that we are currently witnessing an overpopulation of cats, with more animals than available homes, which leads to situations of abandonment and abuse that we can avoid with sterilization.
The reproduction of the cats
The amount of light influences the heat of cats, so that, from the end of the cold until it starts again, it is feasible that our cat is fertile, taking into account that they canreaching sexual maturity at an early age of 5-6 months When a cat goes into heat it is common for her to show symptoms such as persistent meowing, rubbing or nervousness. This situation can last for several weeks and, if fertilization does not occur, the cat will go into heat again until the arrival of the cold.
Since the gestation of cats lasts about 60 days, it is possible for each cat to produce 2-3 litters a year. How many cats can the cat have in each of them? There is no fixed number, but the average would be about 4-5.
Find out everything about heat in cats in this article.
How many cats can a cat have per year?
More than how many cats a cat can have in each litter, we must look at the number of litters she could give birth to each year, which we have already said can range between 2-3. With these data, if we want to know how many cats a cat can have per year, we must multiply at least four kittens by two litters, that is, our cat could have 8 litters per yearbut, if we look at the higher figures, this number could reach 15, if we multiply 5 kittens by 3 litters that are possible each year.
Therefore, any female cat could be giving birth between 8-15 kittens each heat season from the start of her reproductive cycle until almost the end of his life. If we are in doubt about how many cats a first-time cat can have we should know that the same as a cat in second or successive pregnancies.
Thus, we can make an approximate calculation of how many cats a cat can have in her entire life, for which we will multiply the number of kittens that we have established annually for each cat by the years of life, which we could set between 12-14, since cats are usually fertile practically until the end of their life. Therefore, a single cat could give birth to between 96-210 cats and, if they are not sterilized, this figure will increase exponentially with each new generation.
The importance of sterilization
As we can see, it is true that the reproductive capacity of cats is considerable. Due to this, today we find a large number of homeless cats and, although they are animals capable of surviving without human help, street cats live surrounded by dangers such as being run over, poisoned, fights but also diseases. that can cause death such as rhinotracheitis, immunodeficiency or feline leukemia. In addition, they must withstand inclement weather and it is common for them to go hungry. For all these reasons, their quality and life expectancy is reduced.
Faced with this situation, as cat lovers, we must become aware of this problem and opt for the sterilization of our cat, since be it male or female. It is a simple operation that prevents the birth of new litters. We may be able to find responsible homes for 4-8 kittens, but it is impossible to do so for 200. In addition, spaying often ends undesirable behaviors such as marking and provides he alth benefits such as the inability to develop pyometra (among other benefits of spaying To a cat). It can be done before the first heat. Our vet will give us all the information.
