Lots of times I hear people excuse themselves for letting their pet cat get pregnant by saying something feeble such as “She was in heat, and was annoying, so we put her outside.”.
It's all great until they realize that their 8 month old cat is now pregnant and now faces a risky delivery due to her age, and then the owner worries because they have no money for a cesearian section. That's only half of the problem. The other half is that even if she does have her kittens with no problems, it means.. more kittens, and we don't really need more kittens.
Humane societies exist for many reasons one of which is that more pets are born every year than there are homes for. The Humane Society in the United States reported that shelters across the USA have had to euthanize 4 million animals yearly. Every kitten of yours that finds a home (and there is no guarantee it will find a “good home”) takes a home away from another kitten.
I have six cats myself, all are fixed. When I first got my first cat I had a very low income so rather than getting one that still needed to be spayed, I adopted one that was already spayed. I soon adopted three more. I was living on part time hours, for minimum wage, but all my cats were fixed – there is no excuse for having a cat that is not fixed, and if you do, there is no excuse for letting it outside to breed.
In most areas there are low cost spay or neuter options. Even if not it should be a no-brainer to keep an unfixed cat inside. That includes unfixed male cats – is he spraying? Neuter him! There is no excuse.
An unfixed female cat will go into heat around six months of age (sometimes sooner). Her heat will last about a week (anywhere from 5 days to 2 weeks), and will return regularly (every two to three weeks in the spring and summer, less often in the winter). And yes.. it's annoying. If you cannot deal with it, then get her spayed. If you cannot afford to get a cat spayed, then do not get a cat!
Do not be the person that gets a kitten then complains in a few months that you cannot afford to spay it. Or if you cannot afford to spay her, keep her indoors, and when she goes into heat, well, deal with it.
