Help-- cat in heat

[fudge stripe cookays]

OK guys, this is the first time I've had a young cat that hasn't been fixed already. She's about 10, almost 11 months old.

Can someone tell me about the whole heat thing? How often do they occur, what do I need to be doing if anything, any weird side effects or mess?

She's obviously hit it-- walks around like a complete trollop with her butt up in the air, yowling CONSTANTLY for tomcat love. I'm ready to toss her out the window.

We need to go get her fixed SOON. We also have new tires to worry about. She's an indoor cat, so no worries there, but when she's not bouncing off the walls when she's NOT in heat, she's yowling when she IS.

Frustrated Fudge

[demnan]

1. Get her fixed as soon as possible

even indoor cats can get out when they really want to and be in danger of getting lost or killed, as well as bringing an unplanned burden of kittens to find homes for.

[fudge stripe cookays]

2. Thanks.

We keep a pretty close eye on her. When she even tries to get NEAR the front door we remove her toute de suite to another area.

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[xultar]

3. WOW! I went through the same thing. I was in a no pets apartment with

a cranky cat in heat. Her calls were unbelievable. Luckily we got through the first one and off to get her fixed we go.

IF you go to an ASPCA clinic you may be able to get a spay for pretty cheap, 75 bucks maybe. Which is cheaper to the 140 to a regular vet.

You may also be able to contact a rescue program and they may let you use one of their vets for a low cost spay. Banfield @ PetSmart is much cheaper as well. If you get to know the cat rescue people @ petsmart they may let you use their discount with the Banfield where they host Cat adoptions. Just keep her comfortable and busy lots of catnip. Good Luck.

[fudge stripe cookays]

4. Thanks xult.

We have a really great vet clinic that I love. I just wanted to get others' opinions, and wasn't sure of the going rate. We're doing OK, so I'd prefer to go to our regular vet.

Are you still in the same apartment? Ha! I found a great one-panel comic a few years ago when I was single and had my other cat--

The tenant was reaching into the back of the toilet tank to retrieve kitty, who was wearing scuba gear. And the caption was "Come on out, Fluffy. Landlord's gone!"

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[Princess Turandot]

5. The time interval between 'heats' gets shorter I believe if..

the cat doesn't become pregnant, neither of which is an outcome I assume that you want. Sometimes, you may see a small discharge of blood from the cat. There are pills which can stop cats from going into heat, sort of like birth control medication; I don't know what the relative cost is but if you cannot afford to get her spayed very soon, perhaps you can check with your vet abt those.

[fudge stripe cookays]

6. Thanks Princess.

I think that's given me the most info so far. Hopefully we can do it within the next month. I didn't know about discharge. Yuck!

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[sleepyhead]

7. She will continue to go in and out of heat

until she either finds a male cat or you have her spayed. Cats are induced ovulators, which means that they need to go through a mating in order to ovulate (and thus to lower the hormone levels that are causing the symptoms). The cycles usually average about 2 weeks and they rarely have a discharge unless there is some inflammation or infection in their reproductive tract. Some cats will start urinating in inappropriate places (territorial marking); others may lose their appetite or become withdrawn. Mostly they just hoot and holler and stick their rear ends in the air. The sooner you can have the surgery done, the sooner things will return to normal. (Keep in mind that it takes the hormones a few weeks to normalize, so she may act silly for a while after the surgery.) Good luck!

[fudge stripe cookays]

8. Aha!

Thanks sleepyhead, for the good information.

It's a good thing kittens are so cute, because she's becoming a giant pain in the butt!

It is good for some giggles though. We're thinking about changing her name to Charlotte (the Harlot). Right now she's essentially dry humping anything that isn't nailed down-- my shoes, mostly.

Gracias!
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[cedahlia]

10. innapropriate urination

So this is "normal" for an unspayed female to do when she's in heat? Just asking because I'm having this problem with one of my kitties, who's also about 10 months old and a recent addition to our family. Took her to the vet for shots when she first arrived as a stray, but haven't been back to get her spayed yet. You see, she showed up on our porch the same week we adopted our new pup, so I've been dealing with taking the pup to the vet for a couple months now for shots, therefore haven't had the $ or time to spay the kitty. We have a resident older cranky female cat who lives upstairs (she is spayed.) Cranky kitty is surprisingly doing fine with all this, but new kitty is suddenly peeing everywhere (except her litterbox!) So could this be because she's in heat and marking her territory? I added an additional litterbox in our basement, so now new kitty has two litterboxes all to herself, 'cause I thought maybe she didn't want to pee where she pooped, but she always peed and pooped in both before. :shrug:

Any wisdom you might have would be appreciated...thanks. :-)

TO FSC: Not trying to hijack your thread...it just so happens that I'm in the same boat as you with the whole kitty in heat deal! I'm glad I peeked in here! :-)

[fudge stripe cookays]

12. No worries, c.

I hadn't checked in a couple days and all of a sudden, many pet owners are checking in!

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[RebelOne]

9. Yes, I went through it also.

And you can bet as soon as she came out of heat, I got her fixed. I wasn't going experience that again.

[TrogL]

11. So's mine

Her and my neutered tom are "doing it" everywhere they can find. My teenagers have terminal giggles.

[Odonata]

13. Spaying reduces risk for mammary cancer

in cats. My poor peanut was pregnant when I adopted her. I had her spayed as soon as she weaned her kittens. However, she was diagnosed and treated for mammary cancer a year and a half ago. Thanks to immediate detection & the amazing staff at the Animal Medical Center, she is alive and purring today. The fewer heats a female feline experiences, the better! Make an appointment first thing once she calms down.