Should I put on some music? (Heat/mating questions)

Forgive me if this is the wrong forum for this.

EDITED TO ADD: I have no intention of allowing precious to become pregnant. That would be insane...and it would kill her. END EDIT

Short version of my story: Precious is 9 months old and has a serious heart condition. She's not expected to have a long life. As I understand it, 2 or 3 years would be quite a stretch for her. We've had the tests run and the defects in her heart are inoperable. Anasthesia will likely kill her. so spaying is pretty much out of the question.

There's no risk of her getting outside. We have 2 doors between her and the outdoors and she doesn't seem to realize that relief is on the other side, anyway.

Now, she's in her 2nd heat cycle now. I'm wondering if there is any way to help this poor girl. I have 3 neutered boys. Leopold doesn't have a clue what to do, Junior has a notion but doesn't make contact , and Beandip is showing promise but still hasn't completed the act.

Will my boys ever catch on if they haven't already??

I have found a few snippets that mention 'acupressure', in regards to inducing ovulation and ending the cycle?? . Can anyone describe this?

I hate to see her miserable.

IMO breeding her will put too much stress on her body and you might lose her during pregnancy or during giving birth or even after. So I would strongly advise against any kind of breeding.

Have your talked to the vet on giving her something to bring her out of heat without too much heart damage since you can't spay her?

Neutered males rarely are able to complete the job if they've never bred before.

I don't understand your question.

You say that your boys are neutered and yet the one still hasn't completed the act?!?!?

If they are neutered they can NOT complete the act.

The boys should not be interested in your girl IF they had never a) reached sexual maturity before being neutered and b) never mated before. If Beandip and Junior are seriously showing signs of interest in her heat cycle, you seriously need to have them checked out and make SURE they were neutered properly. The statement that one hasn't completed the act... makes me really wonder.

You say that she can't be spayed b/c of her heart but I would think having those heat cycles and no relief from them would be equally hard on her. I think you should be looking for alternatives and speaking to many different vets to see if she CAN get spayed even with her defect.

Best wishes.

C

Originally Posted by beandip

Now, she's in her 2nd heat cycle now. I'm wondering if there is any way to help this poor girl. I have 3 neutered boys. Leopold doesn't have a clue what to do, Junior has a notion but doesn't make contact

, and Beandip is showing promise but still hasn't completed the act.

Click to expand...

Neutered boys (even if they never bred before being neutered) can and most definately will show interest in an intact girl in heat, but they won't be able to successfully fertilize the eggs. The chances of a false pregnancy are greater if you let the boys be with her. I have to agree with Fluffysimba here - I think I would talk to the vet candidly about using only gas anesthesia (such as Isoflurane or Sevoflurane) and spay her. The repeated estrus cycles will cause her to lose valuable resources because girls tend not to eat or sleep properly when in heat.

**********I'm sorry if I wasn't clear. I have NO intention of allowing Precious to become pregnant.************

Originally Posted by gayef

Neutered boys (even if they never bred before being neutered) can and most definately will show interest in an intact girl in heat, but they won't be able to successfully fertilize the eggs. The chances of a false pregnancy are greater if you let the boys be with her. I have to agree with Fluffysimba here - I think I would talk to the vet candidly about using only gas anesthesia (such as Isoflurane or Sevoflurane) and spay her. The repeated estrus cycles will cause her to lose valuable resources because girls tend not to eat or sleep properly when in heat.

Click to expand...

This is exactly what I was referring to, regarding the neutered boys. Thank you for the clarification.

When we had her exams done last month (for her heart), the situation looked so grave that I didn't even expect her to still be with us now.

It's a bit of a waiting game at the moment, to monitor her condition (grade 4-5 murmur, CHF, pulmonary edema, and more ) and weigh the risks of spaying, FALSE pregnancy, etc.

Thank you for the advice. I'll get back with more details. My mind is elsewhere now.

I'm sorry if I was a little defensive in my last reply. I've had a deep breath now.

Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

IMO breeding her will put too much stress on her body and you might lose her during pregnancy or during giving birth or even after. So I would strongly advise against any kind of breeding.

Have your talked to the vet on giving her something to bring her out of heat without too much heart damage since you can't spay her?

Neutered males rarely are able to complete the job if they've never bred before.

Click to expand...

Thank you for your advice. I guess I wasn't clear, I do not want to allow Precious to become pregnant. That is totally out of the question. So we're in agreement on that.

The vet's most recent suggestion, given Precious' very short life expectancy - was to 'hope' that one of my neutered males would mate with her, thus at least spacing out the heat cycles more. She is not expected to live very long at all.

I understand and agree about neutered males rarely being able to complete the job if they haven't bred before. Beandip got real close yesterday, though.

Originally Posted by fluffysimba

I don't understand your question.

You say that your boys are neutered and yet the one still hasn't completed the act?!?!?

If they are neutered they can NOT complete the act.

I was intentionally a little vague - to spare the graphic sexual details. They usually don't have any interest in 'completing the act' but they are physically capable. They can still get erect.

The boys should not be interested in your girl IF they had never a) reached sexual maturity before being neutered and b) never mated before. If Beandip and Junior are seriously showing signs of interest in her heat cycle, you seriously need to have them checked out and make SURE they were neutered properly. The statement that one hasn't completed the act... makes me really wonder.

They are both definitely fixed. What I meant was that Junior will bite her neck and mount her but he just gyrates his hips in the air, about 6 inches away from where he needs to be.

Beandip gets closer.

You say that she can't be spayed b/c of her heart but I would think having those heat cycles and no relief from them would be equally hard on her. I think you should be looking for alternatives and speaking to many different vets to see if she CAN get spayed even with her defect.

She's been seen by about 5 vets. We took her on a 3 hour ride to the nearest vet school too. It doesn't look very promising.

We'll see. I'll at least talk to my regular vet again.

Best wishes.

Thanks.

C

Click to expand...

I have no advise for you. Just wanted to say that I'm very sorry for your kitties condition. It must be very difficult with the grim diagnosis. I hope that you are able to at least find a way to make her as comfortable as possible.

Originally Posted by siameseohio

I have no advise for you. Just wanted to say that I'm very sorry for your kitties condition.

It must be very difficult with the grim diagnosis. I hope that you are able to at least find a way to make her as comfortable as possible.

Click to expand...

Thank you, it's much appreciated. It's difficult to deal with. She's already outlived the initial estimates...so I do feel she's living on borrowed time. She's still feisty (read: hard to medicate ) and playful, though. She doesn't seem to be aware of her limitations. Thanks again.

Sorry for the diversion, but here's a couple of pics that make me smile...

Precious on the right, playing with her sisters



Much needed rest, afterwards

Awww she really IS precious And I love your red tabby boy (I'm partial to red head boys )

My first cat Mitten (who was neutered) bred my Russian Blue female one time when she came into heat. He never did it again, but I guess he wanted to show her what would happen when she was bred. She only had one litter before being spayed. I kept one of her sons for grand championship showing - which he did achieve. His name was Cassanova and he got the the day he was born - he lived up to his name.

Aaawww! I'm with GK. She is precious!

Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

Awww she really IS precious

And I love your red tabby boy (I'm partial to red head boys

)

Click to expand...

Thanks She's such a sweetheart. Pumpkin is a little girl but she's not offended. With her coloring and build, at her last appointment before she was spayed, the vet checked under her tail one more time to make sure. LOL

Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

My first cat Mitten (who was neutered) bred my Russian Blue female one time when she came into heat. He never did it again, but I guess he wanted to show her what would happen when she was bred. She only had one litter before being spayed. I kept one of her sons for grand championship showing - which he did achieve. His name was Cassanova and he got the the day he was born - he lived up to his name.

Click to expand...

That's a neat story. I have to chuckle, when Precious starts calling, Beandip comes running with that little 'trot' that they do with their legs straight. Some days he thinks he's quite the man and other days he just ignores her.

Back to where I started...I'll ask the vet about the gas anasthesia option. It's just worrisome because a quick sprint through the room or a minute of wrestling makes her have a coughing fit . You can feel the irregular heartbeat with your hand on her chest. But as I said, she's oblivious to the fact that she has a problem, because she's always been like this. If she wasn't still so active and (seemingly) happy, we wouldn't have this to worry about. Given the alternatives, I'm happy to see her enjoying life...except for the miserable heat cycles.

just catching up on all this..........phew !!
I cant offer any advice, but just wanted to say that all this must be pretty tough & tiring for you and the kits. Precious is a precious one indeed, hoping her heat is finished soon Heres some scritches for her

Precious is just beautiful, I am so sorry that you are facing such a difficult thing with her.

I am sending you and Precious some hugs and prayers from Mississippi.

Is it not possible to give her hormone injections or put her on the pill? It's not the best option but it is a viable option. At least in this way, her not going on heat = less strain on her heart!

Originally Posted by mooficat

just catching up on all this..........phew !!
I cant offer any advice, but just wanted to say that all this must be pretty tough & tiring for you and the kits.

Precious is a precious one indeed, hoping her heat is finished soon

Heres some scritches for her

Click to expand...

Thanks I'll give her extra scritches.

Originally Posted by LSULOVER

Precious is just beautiful, I am so sorry that you are facing such a difficult thing with her.

I am sending you and Precious some hugs and prayers from Mississippi.

Click to expand...

Thank you so much

Originally Posted by Abymummy

Is it not possible to give her hormone injections or put her on the pill? It's not the best option but it is a viable option. At least in this way, her not going on heat = less strain on her heart!

Click to expand...

I don't think these options are approved for use in the USA. Does anyone know?