Expert: Jessica - 2/10/2010

Question
My first question is: I have a 6 month old female kitten and I was just wondering when her first heat will be. Second: The same kitten sometimes has bloody discharge in her stool. It doesn't seem to affect her at all, just wondering if she needs vet care.

Answer
Hi Amanda.  You can expect your kitten to go into her first heat at any time.  Although the average age is 9 months (taking into account the typical age range of 6-12 months for the first heat), many cats go into heat around 6 months.  It's ideal to have her spayed before her first heat.  You will reduce her chances of mammary cancer greatly by doing so.  Cats who are spayed before their first heat almost never end up with mammary cancer later.  Those who have one heat are 300% more likely to get mammary cancer than those who are spayed before their first heat, and their chances triple with each of their first few heat cycles.

As for the blood in her stool, you should probably have her looked at.  Sometimes it can indicate that the kitten strained too hard while defecating, but often, it indicates a parasitic infection.  The most common type would be intestinal roundworms.  Much less commonly, we see hookworms, which feed on blood and can cause deadly anemia.  There are also protozoan parasites such as coccidia and giardia.  Coccidia is especially known to cause blood in the stool.  Try to bring a fresh stool sample in to your vet appointment with you.  They can examine the stool for evidence of worm eggs and check for the protozoan parasites.  However, the tests aren't perfect, and there can be false negatives in more than 25% of cases.  For this reason, many vets will treat the kitty with a dewormer and antibiotics if signs are consistent with any parasitic infections.  

While at the vet, you can discuss a spay surgery.  You may elect to have pre-operative bloodwork done if you choose.

Best of luck!

Jessica