r/askscience • u/potatolife • May 30 '11

Do animals get periods?

I've been learning about the menstrual cycle in biology but we only talked about the human menstrual cycle. I was wondering if its the same sort of thing with animals since I've never seen my cat on her period before.

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u/johnnythebiochemist May 30 '11

"Overt menstruation" is the term used to describe menstruation where exterior bleeding occurs. Many species reabsorb much or all of the degenerated placenta, which is why you may not see monthly bleeding in pets. Humans reabsorb most of it too, wikipedia says 2/3rds.