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Menopause is the term used to explain the end of reproductive age in the human woman. Ovarian exhaustion and decreased hormone levels cause menstruation to withdraw. Our reproductive cycle is little or nothing like that of a cat, so, do cats have menopause?
If you want to know how old the cats are and some age-related changes in mood and/or behavior of the cats, we will answer these and other questions in this article by PeritoAnimal.
puberty in babes
Puberty is marked when kittens have the firstheat. This occurs between 6 and 9 months of age in short-haired breeds, which are earlier to reach adult size. In longhaired breeds, puberty can take up to 18 months. The onset of puberty is also influenced by photoperiod (hours of light per day) and by latitude (northern or southern hemisphere).
Cat's reproductive cycle
the cats have a Pseudo-polyestric seasonal cycle of induced ovulation. That means they have several heats throughout the year. This is because, as we said before, the cycles are influenced by the photoperiod, so when the days start to lengthen after the winter solstice, their cycles start and when the daylight hours start to decrease after the summer solstice, the cats start to stop your cycles.
On the other hand, the induced ovulation it means that, only when mating with a male occurs, the eggs are released to be fertilized. Because of this, the same litter can have siblings from different parents. As a curiosity, this is an effective method that nature has to prevent the infanticide by the males, who don't know which kittens are theirs and which aren't.
If you want to delve into the reproductive cycle of cats, take a look at PeritoAnimal's article "Cats heat - symptoms and care"
menopause in cats
From the age of seven, we can start to observe irregularities in the cycles, and in addition, the litters become less numerical. THE fertile age of cats ends at approximately twelve years old. At this point, the female cat decreases her reproductive activity and is no longer able to keep the offspring inside the uterus, so she will no longer be able to have puppies. For all that, the cats don't have menopause, simply produce fewer cycles and there is an inability to have offspring.
How old do cats have cubs?
During this long period between the onset of reproductive cessation and finally the cat no longer having offspring, many hormonal changes occur, so it will be very common to begin to observe changes in our feline's behavior. The most impressive thing will be that she won't have as many heats and won't be so followed either. In general, she will be calmer, although at this critical stage different behavioral problems may arise, such as aggressiveness or more complicated pseudopregnancies (psychological pregnancy).
Health problems associated with old age
Linked to these hormonal changes, female cats can develop very serious illnesses, such as breast cancer or feline pyometra (uterine infection, fatal if surgery is not performed). In a study by scientist Margaret Kuztritz (2007), it was determined that not sterilizing female cats before their first heat increases the chances of suffering malignant tumors of the breast, ovary or uterus and pyometra, especially in the Siamese and Japanese domestic breeds.
Along with all these changes, also appear those related to aging of the cat. Typically, most of the behavioral changes we'll see will be related to the onset of illnesses such as arthritis in cats or the emergence of urinary problems.
This species, as well as dogs or humans, also suffers from cognitive dysfunction syndrome. This syndrome is characterized by a deterioration of the nervous system, especially the brain, which will lead to behavioral problems due to a decrease in the cat's cognitive abilities.
Now you know that cats don't have menopause, but they go through a critical period when we must be more aware of them to avoid major problems.
