cat in heat?! Help

rannerap

My cat has been acting weird all day. Making a weird purr gurgle noise. Boyfriend suggested she might be in heat and she does match up with some of the symptoms. She was born April 15th and when I brought her to the vet about two months back he told me to bring her in at the start of December to be fixed. Along with my other kitten who was born mid May. He said that start of December would be grand as she wouldn't go into heat until early next year. Could she be in heat?! Should I bring her to be fixed as soon as possible or wait until this passes.

SillyMangoX

Yeah she definitely could be in heat, they can have their first heat at as young as four months. Be very careful, if she goes outdoors at all then that will have to stop! Is she 'presenting' herself? (lifting up her bum when you rub the base of her tail) Or if she is extra friendly, rolling around a lot, really vocal, licking at herself a lot they could all be signs. I would ring your vet in the morning and see what to do, technically they can be spayed when they are in heat but it's not advised, it can cause complications as the area becomes more vascular, and I have heard anecdotal evidence that a cat who is spayed when in heat can have false heats. In saying that my female was spayed when she wasn't in heat and will still have false ones a couple of times a year!

boomerang

I know this is not helpful to you in the situation, OP, but this is a huge bug-bear of mine. Irish vets are SO slow to move away from the traditional recommendation to spay cats at six months of age. In the UK, it has been reduced to four months, which makes huge sense. When you read the literature, you find that the problem causing the cat overpopulation is not that the majority of people are unwilling to spay their cats, but rather that they are waiting that bit too long to have it done. The majority of cats will have been spayed by one year of age, but a big chunk of those will already have had a litter.

It does sound as though she is in heat. If you can keep her safely indoors I would wait until she is two weeks out of heat before booking in the spay.

boomerang

PS If anyone wants my sources for the above info, I'll dig them out for you.

rannerap

Certainly seems as if she is. Quite annoyed to be honest. I wanted them both done months ago but he told me to bring them back at the very start of December. When my other cat got at some lilies and I brought her to the same vets the vet had to use Google to learn that they can be poisonous to cats. I moved area three weeks ago so I will ring a vet in my new area and book both in. She is an indoor cat so I will take extra care to make sure she does get out. Is there anything I can do for her?

Dubl07

This may seem like a daft question but is the other cat a queen as well?

rannerap

Yes they are both female. The other is a month or so younger!

Dubl07

That's okay then. A friend had a pair of cats. Littermates - brother and sister. Problems arose just before they were due to be neutered.

rannerap

I got two females for that exact reason! My mam is about two adopt a brother and sister so I will be making sure she gets them done as early as possible!

SillyMangoX

My girl likes to have catnip when she is in her false heats if that's any help

FoxT

Yes, your cat is in heat.

Also , I hereby give you the 'Thread Title of the day' award!

htf am I supposed to help ?:D

rannerap

I actually bought some cat nip for them yesterday when I was secret Santa shopping! on the plus side she seems to be only annoying my boyfriend, and isn't screaming just making that weird noise. Haha I meant help in an advice kind of way. No one can really help unless they want to take her on holidays for a week

Pumpkinseeds

Depending on the catnip it might make it worse:D I have 2 types of loose dried catnip, one of them makes them playful and stoned, the other one makes Felix aggressive. It's so strong we have to keep it in a sealed plasic box or they smell it and try to climb up into the cupboard and get at it:eek:

rannerap

have rang around a few places for prices etc and its mad how much the price/opinion can vary. one place said they would do both cats tomorrow for 216, another said they wouldnt do it until she is finished and it would be 127 each. My old vet in Balbriggan at the time quoted 150 for the two

anniehoo

I am actually a bit gobsmacked that your vet said wait until Dec. I would have had them both in by mid/end Sep the latest as SillyM is correct. They can come into heat around 4mths of age + Even then if they're going by the 6mth rule, it should have been October.


Cats in heat are so sooooo persistant, so be very careful not to leave doors or windows open until you get them done. I had to keep a female cat in for an entire 4 weeks before I could get her spayed. She drove my neutered male cat bananas, to the extent where he fake mounted her to shut her up for awhile :eek::pac:

SillyMangoX

anniehoo wrote: »

Cats in heat are so sooooo persistant, so be very careful not to leave doors or windows open until you get them done. I had to keep a female cat in for an entire 4 weeks before I could get her spayed. She drove my neutered male cat bananas, to the extent where he fake mounted her to shut her up for awhile :eek::pac:

I wish I hadn't taken a mouthful of coffee before reading that :pac: :pac:
That reminds me of when Peach has false heats, she flirts relentlessly with Cream. The poor boy looks so bewildered, even if he had the right equipment I don't think he would know what to do!

rannerap

I've never had cats before so just went by what the vet said! Realistically its only 2 weeks from now but very annoying as I would have gotten it done months back had I known :mad: his exact words were, if they come into season before the new year I will eat my hat. The start of December should be fine. Shes actually not too bad, just the constant noise from her is annoying! Have been taking extra care not to let her out.

anniehoo

I have the video somewhere, which I realise how weird it sounds

But it was just so funny to watch. Beanie would mount her and she'd go quiet, then you could see the realisation 30 seconds later in her demeanour....eh...that nothing was happening. Cue the whole scenario all over again for many many days :pac::pac: It was a painful time for all involved!

SillyMangoX

Sarannewrap wrote: »

his exact words were, if they come into season before the new year I will eat my hat.

Better bring him some salt, that hat may be hard to swallow!

rannerap

As I said previous I think the vet is a bit of an idiot, because when Umi got at my mams lillies I brought her in to be safe as lillies can be dangerous for cats and he hadnt a breeze, he actually had to whip out google to check, and then charged for the privelage! I dont think theres any question now if shes in heat or not from her behaviour, usually she doesnt leave her basket by the radiator for hours on end and will eat everything in sight, now shes wandering around pining constantly and not eating much. I had to close the bedroom last night so I could get some sleep as her weird noises were driving me mad!

pawrick

I'd price around some more if I were you unless Dublin prices are very out of kilter with the midlands for spays.

rannerap

Yeah going to ring more places tomorrow. I think it's partially because I live in an area where everything is expensive! I have until she's out of heat to find somewhere. Not going to bring her in while she is like one vet suggested her stomach area feels very swollen. Is that normal?