Spaying didn't work!

Has this happened to anyone else??

We got Roxy as a stray about 2 1/2 years ago. Shortly after we got her she went into heat and that's when she realized she wasn't fixed! So we took her in to get spayed. About 10 months later she went into heat again...and we were rather confused! I called the vet and told them but they didn't believe me! So I take her in. they do some tests on her (vaginal fluids or something) and confirmed that she was in fact in heat! we were all stunned. Vet said it was not the right time in the heat cycle to fix her and to call them if she went into heat again. Months went by with nothing...then she went into heat again! Call the vet, they don't believe me again, take Roxy in for tests, confirm she is in heat again! Well now they decide it again is too late to do surgery and to wait again, this time they decided to do surgery in the very beginning of the cycle! Months go by, Roxy goes into heat AGAIN...finally they decide to do surgery!! (of course after they confirm by tests that she is in heat!). Well they do exploratory surgery and sure enough find a mass where one of her ovaries once was and send that off to the labs. Well it was confirmed as ovarian tissue!(this is like 6 months ago). Boy were we pissed that we had to subject our baby to surgery again b/c of their mistake esp after we found out the vet who originally "spayed" her was only temporary and left on bad terms (aka fired).

Just curious if anyone else has gotten their cat spayed only to have them go into heat 3 more times!!! And she has been so different since she got "re-fixed"...is obsessed with food and eats like a pig and is lazier!

It was such a crazy experience and frustrating that every time I called the vet to tell them she was in heat they didn't believe me and always told me to watch her for a few days, and finally would test her to confirm! They said this was really rare but did happen.

I have never heard of this. Maybe she is just ment to be a MOM. No but really, this is hard to deal with I am sure, good luck!

K.

That would be very frustrating. Did they charge you for the second spay? Poor kitty having to go through that twice.

Originally Posted by mbjerkness

That would be very frustrating. Did they charge you for the second spay? Poor kitty having to go through that twice.

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No, thankfully they did not charge me! Once they figured out i wasn't a crazy lady thinking her cat was in heat when she wasn't, they were very nice and very apologetic toward the situation. As I said, the vet who initially spayed her wasn't there very long so they really felt bad for me!! I just felt bad for my kitty!!

It is possible that there was a surgical error, but it is also possible that she had an extra ovary.

I did! In 1979, I had emergency surgery for what turned out to be a ruptured ovary (not a cyst). The ovary was up under my right kidney and the uterus was not correctly developed on the right side. Fast forward through three successful pregnancies (which were not supposed to be possible due to the abnormal uterus), I had surgery for an abdominal mass. The surgeons, after numerous tests leading them to expect a malignant tumor on my colon, were surprised to find it was another ovary.

Maybe Roxy and I are related.

I have actually heard of this - my vet told me about it. Apparently, it can happen that ovarian tissue is left and even a little bit of it will still cause a cat to go into heat. Before he had done our girl, he had to do a cat where this had happened, which is why he told me about it (he wasn't the vet who had done the original spay - the people had just moved down to Cork and couldn't figure out why their girl cat was in heat even though she was fixed).

Your poor little girl though - how stressful (for you guys as well, of course!).

my mom adopted a cat from the vets office and was told that she had been spayed by that vet, she had 6 kittens later that summer. And then she died at the end of the summer. I wonder if there was some surgical error there. We had to finish raising the kittens but all six made it.

that's crazy soo glad they didn't charge you for the spaying!! >.<

I'm happy that everything worked out OK in the end, but I am thoroughly confused about two things.

One, I didn't know that there was a "right time" in the heat cycle for spaying to be possible. Never heard of this before. I just thought that the procedure was simply a bit more complicated and bloodier during heat. Does anyone know more about this?

Two, I can't fathom why they had to wait until she was in heat before spaying. They used tests to confirm that she was indeed in heat 10 months after the spay. Why wouldn't they schedule the surgery for as soon as she was no longer in heat? If I read correctly, Roxy had to go through an additional two heats over a period of several months. Sounds totally unnecessary to me, to say nothing of the health risks that accrue after each completed heat.

I know that she was spayed by a vet who was later fired, but the other vets don't exactly sound like they're great prizes, either....

The poor kitty! I'm glad it's all worked out now at least.

I was wondering about that too, why they said they had to wait.. We've never had to wait on a spay.

Originally Posted by RobertM

I know that she was spayed by a vet who was later fired, but the other vets don't exactly sound like they're great prizes, either....

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Exactly!

I have heard of this before in male cats, too. Once they confirmed she was in heat it was known tissue was left behind and it should have promptly been removed.

Im glad she is well now.

If it was extra ovarian tissue that was left behind or there from birth, they would need her to be at the point in her cycle where the tissue is visibly swollen - otherwise it just looks like normal abdominal tissue.

Yes,the reason to do it at a certain point (while in heat) was so they could see the blood flow to know what area was causing the heat since the tissue didn't look like an ovary!
But I agree...they took so long to make up their minds on the timing of the surgery causing me and my kitty a lot of stress and agony! They should have figured out right away when it needed to be done.

I am now at a different vet. Actually I believe the last time I went to the previous vet was for Roxy's free exploratory surgery! Too bad now I am thinking I have to change vets again...this time b/c I am having problems with how they are running treatment decisions with my dog

Originally Posted by Mom of 4

If it was extra ovarian tissue that was left behind or there from birth, they would need her to be at the point in her cycle where the tissue is visibly swollen - otherwise it just looks like normal abdominal tissue.

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Thank you, Mom of 4, for educating me (and anyone else who was interested).

Originally Posted by roxsam

is obsessed with food and eats like a pig and is lazier!

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I had my ovaries removed due to endometriosis and that's a perfect description of me without them Thank God for hormone replacement therapy or I'd be big as a house by now!
By the way, the medical term for this condition in humans is Ovarian Remnant Syndrome.

Originally Posted by FormerMermaid

I had my ovaries removed due to endometriosis and that's a perfect description of me without them

Thank God for hormone replacement therapy or I'd be big as a house by now!
By the way, the medical term for this condition in humans is Ovarian Remnant Syndrome.

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Thanks for that info! Not to get too much off topic...but I just had a lap done(1 1/2 weeks ago) and was diagnosed/treated for endo! I hope my problems are fixed now! I guess we'll see...