When will my female cat experience her first heat or period?

Cats reach puberty around six months of age. A female kitten’s first heat cycle will last about four to eight days and if she is not spayed or mated, she may go into heat again in another two to three weeks. A female cat’s ovaries do not release eggs until she has mated, so a sexual encounter nearly always results in pregnancy. Because a full-term pregnancy is only eight to nine weeks, a healthy female is capable of producing several litters of kittens in a year.