Cat not really spayed?

I have a question concerning a family members cat.

My cousin adopted a lovely 1 year old female last spring from a pet smart that works with local rescues to adopt out cats. Of course her paperwork says that the cat has had her shots and has been spayed.

However, this cat apparently goes into heat. According to my cousin it has happened 3 times since shes gotten the cat.

My females have never done this after being spayed and I've always been under the impression that a spayed cat does not go into heat. Is there a chance that this is some kind of fluke or perhaps her spay was not done correctly? Anyone ever deal with something like this before?

I've been urging my cousin to take the cat to a vet regardless but I'm just curious about that whole situation.

Thanks for your time.

Sometimes strange things do happen and the cat for some reason does not actually get spayed. One of our members took his cat to the vet to be spayed. She came home with a shaved belly, spay scar, the whole deal. Then later she got pregnant! I don't think he ever did get an answer from the vet as to what happened.

Also, if the vet took only the uterus and left the ovaries, the cat can still go into heat. She just can't get pregnant. Is there any way your cousin can find out exactly what surgery was done?

Also (and this is evidently fairly common in cats), if the vet misses even a tiny piece of ovarian tissue, she'll still go into heat. She won't be able to get pregnant in that case, since she is missing the necessary bits, but still has enough hormones to go into heat. Since the hormones also raise the chance of mammary cancer, it's best to have it taken care of even though she can't get pregnant.

I do not believe any vet would do a partial spay on a cat. There's really no point.

Have they contacted the rescue group? It's possible they'll take care of the vetting since they did say she was spayed.

Originally Posted by Willowy

I do not believe any vet would do a partial spay on a cat. There's really no point.

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What about people who want the absolute joy of having a cat in heat without the negative side effects of kittens?

Could your cousin contact the rescue group where her cat was? and find out from them what's going on. Since their the ones who said the cat was spayed. Or your cousin should take the cat to her vet, have the vet check to make sure the cat was spayed in the first place?

Originally Posted by rad65

What about people who want the absolute joy of having a cat in heat without the negative side effects of kittens?

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Hehe, if there is anybody out there who wants that, I'll check them into the mental hospital myself, LOL.

And it is possible she isn't spayed at all. Maybe she was surrendered to the rescue group by someone who said she was spayed, and they took the owner's word for it. I would definitely contact the rescue first and see what's up. If they do have 100% proof she was spayed, I'd pursue the "leftover ovarian tissue" angle.

Some interesting info here. Thanks for the replies.

Sadly the rescue group she came from had to close this summer due to lack of funds, so I don't think she could contact any one and the paper work just states that she is spayed but has no mention of where she was spayed at or what type was done.

I still think she needs to get her into a vet to see whats up. She does not have a problem with her acting like shes in heat, she's just worried one day she might just slip outside (she's indoors only) and she'll turn up pregnant.

Originally Posted by Tea Cake

I still think she needs to get her into a vet to see whats up.

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I agree see if she even was spayed to begin with.

Maybe check her belly for a little tattoo? My dog and my male cat both have "sterilization tattoos" since they were altered via the local CSNIP chapter, and to show that the animal is altered they make a little green tattoo on the belly. My Persian was spayed under a previous owner, who had her sterilized at his vet's, so she has no sterilization tattoo...and when I recently adopted my Munchkin, they had her spayed through the Humane Society, and they did not give her a tattoo either. But if she has a sterilization tattoo, that'd be a good indication they took SOMETHING out of her. XD

I'd also call a vet and ask about it.

Could they do blood work and check hormone levels and determine if she is spayed that way?