Cat is driving me nuts!

[Miss_Criss]

Oh, man, I'm at wit's end.
I picked up an adult cat at the shelter two months ago. Things have been going very well. She's a little on the vocal side and seems to need lots of attention, maybe because she was in a cage for so long, or maybe she's just a people-cat and needs to communicate.

When I took her to the vet, he said that she was probably spayed, although neither he nor the shelter staff could find any scar. He said it was because she had small nipples.

Well, guess what. The caterwauling started yesterday. While she meows a lot, anyway, her voice is different and it's pretty much non-stop. Now it's 8:30 am on a long weekend Saturday and I've had maybe an hour's of sleep. Locking her out of the bedroom helped a bit, but she comes back to the door about every 15 minutes to howl for a while. She seems perfectly healthy and there are no symptoms other than the meowing and a general restlessness. I have not seen any tomcats prowling around.

What can I do? How long does this last? Can she be spayed while she's in heat? (I don't suppose I can get an emergency spaying on a Saturday!) If this continues I will NOT live though this, I swear. It's not a large house and the only option would be to lock her in the basement, which I don't have the heart to do.

Please, any information, advice and sympathy is MUCH appreciated!

[chico2]

She is more than likely in heat,I can understand how it would drive you crazy.
I don't know about spaying while she is in heat,but others probably do.
I would call the vet to find out.

[MBRA518]

Yes you can spay when they are in heat. As far as how long it lasts - not sure if there is an average - but we had a siamese that didn't come out of heat... hence why I know you can can spay while they are in heat....

[Winston]

Sorry I cant help you with much info as mine were spayed and I never had to endure a heat cycle...but most vets will not spay while a cat is in heat....you could encounter other problems..most will tell you to wait until it is finished..unless it is life threatening I would think.....Is there anything on the internet that you could find to help her out?

Good Luck

Cindy


P.S Welcome and we love pictures!!

[Miss_Criss]

Here is the big stinker, having a yawn, because SHE can sleep the day away - probably so that she can be up all night again

[sugarcatmom]

Here's some info on spaying while in heat:

What if she is in heat at the time of spay?
Some female cats are disruptively annoying when they are in heat, yowling and carrying on and they are spayed to end the heat quickly. Other cats are spayed in heat randomly when the owner does not realize that the cat is in heat. Either way the spay is slightly more difficult due to the engorgement of the tissues and larger blood vessels. Spaying in heat does not carry a significant risk to the cat but, since extra surgery time is frequently required, an extra charge may be incurred.

...from this website: http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body...line_spay.html

Also, there was this tidbit at the bottom about incomplete spays:

Can she still come into heat after spaying?
Without ovaries, she should be unable to come into heat. Occasionally, a remnant of ovarian tissue is left behind by mistake. This can lead to some annoying behaviors as the female cat comes into heat (though she would be unable to get pregnant if her uterus has been removed as is customary with spaying). Special testing or even surgical exploration may be needed to determine if there is an ovarian remnant.

Hopefully that's not what's going on in your case!

As for what to do in the meantime, earplugs might be your best option. Something else I've heard people try (although you may not want to!) is to slightly insert the bulbous end of a thermometer into her vaginal opening () to make her think she "got some". Personally, I'd opt for the earplugs.

[chico2]

She looks like a beautiful kitty,is she a kind of lightbrown,or is that just the picture making it look so??

[ancientgirl]

What a lovely cat. She looks grayish. They look so ferocious when they yawn don't they?

I was watching Animal Precinct on Animal Planet and there was a scene where they were talking about a cat that was in heat they spayed, so yeah, its doable. Before I had Oksana spayed my vet also told me that if it happened she became in heat sooner than I'd planned on spaying her they could still do it with very little risk.

[Miss_Criss]

She is, indeed, gray, but it's a soft gray that tends to change color, depending on the light. This picture is a little heavy on the red tints.

I've barely survived a second night of this, even with earplugs. If I didn't feel so badly for Nelly, I would have thrown her out the door by now - of course that's the intent of all this yowling

This is a long weekend up here, so I'll be on the phone first thing tomorrow morning. Since my doctor told me that she is spayed, they ought to make an effort to get her "done" right away. I really hate to see her so out of sorts, and be unable to help her settle down. She looks at me like this was all my fault.

She's also making a LOT of noise going down the stairs (litter box is in basement - maybe that's why I'm not seeing any Toms around), like someone's murdering her, so maybe there is something wrong that needs to be examined, anyway.
I've actually had to explain the noise to the neighbor, who can hear this through our open windows.

[Miss_Criss]

Well, Tuesday arrived and, bleary-eyed, I called the Pet Hospital. I told them that, in spite of their assessment, my cat went into heat and is behaving beyond endurance for all concerned.

They weren't sympathetic. Their first appointment is NEXT week Thursday. I decided to call around to some other places. Nobody would take her without her rabies shot. So I called the Pet Hospital back. Oh, yeah, they said. You need that, too. And THEN you have to wait two weeks before the operation.

Well, guess who told me to wait with the rabies vaccine "until the cat has settled into her new home a bit" ??? So now, no matter what, I have at least a 3 week wait before we can get this resolved, which includes another stressful visit to the vet to get shots.

While discussing the cost of this venture, I suggested that they ought to take some responsibility for this, since the cat would have been fixed weeks ago if they had assessed her properly. She said "If that's what you think".

Talk about final straw! I fired the lot of them and signed up with a new vet. Turns out that they are a little less pricey and are located closer to where I live. So maybe that's a good thing.

Meanwhile, I've discovered that poor Nelly doesn't mind all that much being locked out of the bedroom. So, closing the door and with earplugs, I actually got through the night in almost one piece.

[krdahmer]

Good to hear you made a little progress.... and she is one beautiful cat! (Looks like good teeth there too!) Congrats on the new addition and hope the new vet works out better and that you get some sleep! Sleep deprivation is an actual torture you know for a reason... it will drive you batty! Hang in there!

[Love4himies]

My vet will spay while in heat for a bit extra fee and will spay if the cat does not have it's shots but will have to go into isolation and that is a bit extra too.

I would have fired them too. Sounds like they don't take responsibility for their own recommendations.