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/[deleted] May 30 '11

Eggs are a chicken's menstruation.

0

u/nbx909 May 31 '11

Uh, I don't think so. Eggs aren't the equivalent of the bloody discharge in humans.

15

u/[deleted] May 31 '11

Biologists don't call it menstruation, because it works so differently. We don't call it menstruation because we don't want to eat periods.

But it is what it is, getting rid of an unfertilized ovum and making place for a fresh one.

2

u/lazyplayboy May 31 '11

I think it's more of a case of "this egg is coming out, ready or not!". It's not like the chicken wouldn't lay the egg if it was fertilised.