Adopted stray - now she's in heat

My husband and I lost one of our beloved cats in December. We were quite devastated.

Exactly one week later a little stray female tabby showed up on our front porch. She is small but not a kitten. I'm guessing she weighs 5-6 pounds. I had a female cat that died in 2002 and she never weighed more than 8 pounds full-grown, so I'm guessing this little girl might be petite as well. We named her Jessie.

Jessie is in heat. My other two cats are neutered males. One of them tries to mate with her, but I don't know that he's actually doing anything other than grabbing her by the nape of her neck and...ummm..."mounts" her. He doesn't do this for very long. It almost seems like he's showing his dominance more than he's trying to mate. My other neutered male cat isn't happy with the fact that Jessie is part of our family, so he kind of ignores her, but at least he's stopped hissing at her.

The vet said we'll have to wait 4-6 weeks before we can have Jessie spayed. How long will she continue being in heat? She is up all night crying at the window and keeping me awake!

Thanks everyone!

Heat usually lasts a few days to a week tops. But she will continue to go right back in to heat until spayed. What on earth is the reason the vet said to wait so long? That is weird. Can you find a new vet or a low cost clinic so you don't have to wait so long??

P.S. Don't forget that she can get pregnant at ANY time, not just while in heat so make sure she doesn't escape outside!

Originally Posted by Jen

Heat usually lasts a few days to a week tops. But she will continue to go right back in to heat until spayed. What on earth is the reason the vet said to wait so long? That is weird. Can you find a new vet or a low cost clinic so you don't have to wait so long??

P.S. Don't forget that she can get pregnant at ANY time, not just while in heat so make sure she doesn't escape outside!

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WOW! My kitty was going into heat every few weeks! She hasn't now for about 2 weeks. And when I say heat, I mean !!!HEAT!!!!!

She was crying all the time! Humping and rubbing every thing/body in sight. Tossing and turning, crawling all over the floor on her belly! I wass so worried, I took her too the animal ER, just to be informed and charged $125 that my cat "was in heat"! I was so worried, I WAS IN TEARS! I was sick with worry!

BTW-i still owe the $125...there's a lot to pay before that..like getting her fixed!

I also did not know they could get pregnant even when not in heat...I better really be careful!

Did the vet explain why you need to wait? 5-6 lb should be big enough to spay.

I had Daphne spayed at about 3.5 lbs when she came into heat at 4.5 months. She was fixed while in heat. I don't understand why your vet wants to wait so long. Is there some other health condition being treated first?

Would love to see photos of your kits when you can.

BTW, the mounting is perfectly natural. Even though the biy doesn't have the equipment to mate, it doesn't always cure the "urge". When she is spayed, he will stop that.

In 4-6 weeks she might be showing. I've never had a problem spaying a cat in heat. When Freda was 10 months old she went into heat on a Thursday, I called the Vet on Friday, Harold and Freda had a wild weekend. And Monday morning the both got fixed. The hardest part was trying to explain to the puppy that Freda didn't want to be chewed on anymore.

We took in a stray kitten this summer that has been hanging around some feral boys lately, the vet had no problem spaying her as soon as I could get her there. I hope you can either talk your vet into spaying sooner or find a vet that will.

Yes I'd look for a vet to spay her now. You don't want to risk her getting pregnant or already pregnant.