I don't know where else to post this, so it's here.....

Ok, so now a lot of cats are going into heat, and Shorty is one of them. This is her first year (she was born last March/April), and Mom should have really gotten her fixed when she was at the vet back in October, but she didn't, and so now, Shorty is in heat. How annoying can that be!!! : Anyways, is there anything we can do to make her less of a pain in the butt?? She is underfoot constantly, and on the counters and thinking we are male cats, and it is so not fun!! Is it too late to get her fixed now, or should we wait until the fall? When is a good time?? Please advise...any ideas/advice would be helpful! Thanks

It is not to late to get her fixed, the vet will charge a bit more for the spay though, because of the engorged blood vessels, but I would take her in and get her done. Both of you would be so much better off for it.

Okay, now I know this is going to sound strange, but you can do a couple of things to keep here "quiet" for a while until she is out of heat. Then you can have her spayed without the additional cost.

The one of the things you can do is artificially stimulate her....
I know, sounds odd, and I don't really reccomend it unless you know what you're doing.

You can also try this..

put her on your lap with her head at your belly, put your hands on her sides so that your index fingers are against the insides of her thighs then with your thumbs, place each thumb at the base of her tail, one on each side of her spine and rub. It will take some practice, b ut she will moan, and then once it gets loud and she stops let go of her... she will run off and roll. that will quet her down for a while. Anyway, like I said it takes practice, but well worth the trouble for some quiet.

Let us know how things go..

Thanks for your reply Hissy and Imagyne. I'm not sure quite yet what we are going to do (go get her fixed soon or what...I would like to get her fixed b/c we have enough cats around here w/o more) but it all depends on who has how much money. Hopefully we can get her done, then we don't have to worry about it. How long are cats in heat for?? Thanks again.

Well, I think it kinda depends on the Cat, average is about a week, although some of ours can for about 2, although it seems like an eternity. If you get lucky, you have one that has silent heats, we have one like that, and the only way we know is because of the way our nuetered males act around her.