-L. wrote:

It's actually an old wives' tale - that using a Q-tip in this manner
will induce ovulation and thus take the cat out of heat. We used to
get questions about this at the feline specialty clinic where I
worked,
all the time. Any vet worth a pence would not recommend doing this
to
a cat.

I really don't know if he told them it would take them out of heat as
much as it would provide the cat (as well as the rest of the household)
some degree of relief. As I mentioned before they weren't my cats. I
was just a bit shocked to behold the entire experience. As I said
before the cats didn't seem to suffer from the experience. I must also
say that whatever *benefit* the kittens may have recieved from this was
certainly temporary at best.