9 month female was in heat, bleeding, raised liver counts...

my 9 month old Siberian Forest kitty has been in heat 2x's, and has been bleeding for a week now.  I called the vet a few days ago, they said it was probably just her period, and she was scheduled to be fixed today anyway (along w/ our 6 month old male cat - not her brother but same breeder).  

I freaked out last night and brought her to the overnight emergency vet.  Her bleeding was just too much for me to feel comfortable.  He said she looked fine, vitals fine, and did a blood test to just be sure she'd be ok overnight.  He gave her an antibiotic shot too.  

Brought her to our vet this morning, they ran some tests.  She has high liver counts and her white blood cells are high.  She sat in the vet all day today, and hardly bled.  They had me bring her home and we're going to try to wait 2 weeks for the antibiotics to maybe help.  They don't know whats going on (and the emergency vet last night just kept saying "I don't know" also).  They said though if she bleeds a lot again, they want me to bring her right in and they'll fix her.  

She got home, has been separated from our male cat so I know he didn't do anything to her, and after we were home for a couple of hours, she bled a lot again.  So I'm going to bring her in tomorrow morning.

Just wondering if anyone has had a female that did a lot of bleeding.  

Oh, and we thought the bleeding was maybe from the male cat having sex with her, but today they were separated.  

I'm so worried about my baby... hoping someone here has gone through something similar.  

thanks in advance if anyone has any info/advice.

Find another vet, cats do not bleed while in heat, bleeding is not at all normal and requires immediate attention.  Nor do they bleed after mating.

thank you so much for your quick reply... I appreciate it.

Vibes for you kitty...

Get her to another vet ASAP and have her checked for pyometra.  That can be deadly.

stephanietx said:

Get her to another vet ASAP and have her checked for pyometra.  That can be deadly.

Click to expand...

Pyo doesn't cause bleeding. 

If she has been mated by the male cat (he is entire?) she could be miscarrying.  Whatever, I agree - she needs to be seen by the vets.

so she's back at the vet now.  they're going to neuter her today, and hopefully all goes well.  Yes, it's very possible the male cat tried to mate with her and hurt her.  The vet told me when she neutered the male yesterday, she looked at his privates, and he's 'large' and so are his barbs, so she feels maybe the female got hurt by the male, more than once (?????)  

Male is just 6 months old, and they had assured me he couldn't impregnate her at this age.  

Anyway, thanks for the replies... I'm very worried about my little girl.

Your vet hasn't heard that quite a few 6-month old male cats are capable of making a female pregnant...  The description of your male sounds like he was quite mature, sexually speaking.

Hope all goes well with the female.

so the vet called... my girl had pyometra.  Her uterus was full of puss and blood.  The vet said they haven't even seen a case in a few years, even in dogs, and hardly ever in a young cat.  Should I let the breeder know?  Or is it a random thing that the breeder wouldn't care to be made aware of?

Anyone know if there's anything I should be aware of afterwards?

Hopefully she will make a quick and full recovery.  I'm sure her breeder would like to know simply because she cares for her babies of all ages - are you not still in touch with her? 

Probably one of those random things but shows why neutering before the first call is a good idea.

as to when to neuter, my vet was recommending neutering the male at 6 months and the female later for her to be older.  Is this not what is normally done?  I feel like this all could have been avoided if they both were neutered younger.  But I don't know if there's a good reason to wait a bit.

I feel like 6 months for a male is normal, but I think females are normally done by weight or at 4 months.

I hope your girl is on the way to recovery. Pyometra is deadly but I am so glad you caught it in time so she could be saved. She might be sore for awhile.. I would keep her away from your other cat until she is recovered. They neutered him too, right?

Kitties-that-are-not-being-bred,by-a-responsible-breeder/show-person,should-be-spayed/neutered,by-ballpark,4-5-months-old.If-one-waits,until-6-months,they-are-taking-a-chance.There-is-no-reason,to-wait-until-a-female-is-9-months-old,to-spay-her,and-I-myself,would-be-leary-of-a-vet,that-wanted-to-wait-that-long,unless-there-were-other-medical-issues-involved,such-as-a-high-think-its-white-blood-cell-count,or-other-medical-issues,where-surgery,or,another-surgery-would-be-risky-to-the-kitty.

A-whole-male-or-whole-female,that-is-not-being-bred,is-prone-to-a-plethera-of-health-issues,and-females-even-more-so.

I-have-no-knowledge-of-pyometra,but-will-look-it-up-for-you.

I-would-definately,contact-the-breeder,and-read-your-contract-carefully,depending-on-the-health-issue,and-the-reason-for-it,she-may-offer,or-may-be-required,to-help-with-part-or-all-of-the-medical-expenses.Depends-on-what-your-contract-says,the-issue,and-the-cause.

A-responsible-breeder/show-person,would-want,to-know,if-there-is-an-issue.Most-will-do-whatever-they-can-to-help-you.

This-is-what-I-found.

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=1+2139&aid=917

Be-very-careful-of-letting-your-vet,give-the-antibiotic-shot,which-is-called-Convenia.

The-problem-with-that,besides,its-really-not-for-cats,which-the-pages-of-instructions,that-come-with-it,say-so,is-there-have-been-alot-of-bad-side-effects.

The-issue-too,is-altho-your-told,it-only-stays-in-the-body-for-1-2-weeks,it-really-stays-in-there-for-2-months.Thee-very-worst-part,is-if-your-kitty-should-have-a-reaction,to-the-antibiotic,as-some-cats-do,as-some-people-do,you-can't-stop-giving-it,as-the-vet-would-tell-you,as-your-doctor-would-tell-you.

Different-antibiotics-classes/families,do-different-things,depending-on-the-issue.If-the-medical-issue-does-not-respond,or-the-kitty-has-a-reaction,they-try-a-diffferent-class/family.

If-the-Convenia-is-already-in-there,and-the-kitty,has-a-reaction,one-is-scaaaa-rooood.

Not-at-all-trying-to-scare-you,just-educate-you.

It-upsets-me,that-the-kitty-had-to-go-thru-this,not-because-of-her-mommy,but-because-of-the-lack-of-knowledge,of-the-vet.

NEVER,let-your-kitty-be-given-Convenia.

http://www.catinfo.org/?link=convenia

I-hope-she-will-be-OK,I-will-be-thinking-of-her,and-you,and-if-there-anything-I-can-help-you-with,please-don't-hesitate,or-PM-me-if-you-want.I-am-beyond,overly-pickey,about-the-health-and-safety,of-my-kitties,and,very-well-know-for-it,on-the-circuit.(((((((((((BIG-HUGS)))))))))))

thank you so much for all that info!!   I'll watch for symptoms of a reaction to the shot - so good to know all that about it for the future. 

I soooo wish I had called the breeder when I first saw blood.  I've always only relied on vets - lesson learned.  

Thanks to everyone for your well wishes for my baby - I miss her soooo much.  We'll get her in the morning

Soooo very glad you got her to the vet and that she is on the road to recovery.  Many vets now seem to do pediatric spays/neuters when the kittens are 2 lbs or more.  My vet wanted us to wait to neuter our boy until he was 6 mos, but we got her to agree to 5 mos.  I could've had him done earlier at another vet, but chose to use our regular vet for cost reasons.  My Hannah was done when she was about 8 months or so because she was adopted from the pound and they didn't spay or neuter prior to adoption at that time.  They now have the facilities to do that and will not adopt out an animal that's not s/n.  Hannah was approx. 7 mos when we adopted her, but get very, very sick before we could adopt her, so we had to wait for her to get well.  Daisy was adopted from a shelter when she was about a year old and had the fresh spay shave when we adopted her, but she'd been spayed about a month prior to coming home with us. 
 

Female cats should be neutered before their first call in my view - this reduces their risk of breast cancer as much as it can be, and of course almost totally removes the risk of pyometra.  There is a thing called stump pyometra but as far as I know it's incredibly rare.

I had my male kitten neutered a week or two after I brought him - he was about 4 1/2 months when he was snipped, 2.5kg and his 'assets' were quite prominent!

When I adopted my big baby boy from HS,we signed papers to fix him or it would cost extra in fees.I waited until about 6 months,being brought into home with 2 older [fixed] females.By that time,He learned how to climb up my pants leg to get on counter in mornings.That didn't bother me, since I wore jeans,NOT for my roommate in PJ's!! Baby boy[real name Trouble] went in and got fixed and front claws removed to match females.House cats with fenced back yard with parental supervision,doors left open for sure retreat if needed.Voice commanded to come in.My biggest regret,it took him weeks to learn he couldn't climb up me:[ He loved to climb up me and give me kisses and nuzzles:[ Now He's 6 yrs old, 18lbs,long black beautiful Baby Boy.His favorite way to get back at me lying on my chest and nuzzling my chin when I watch TV in bed.He makes a cute window!!

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Hi Belle

Glad your baby girl finally got help & so sorry tou had to go through this.
I am sure your breeder would want to hear about this.
Any responsible breeder wants to be informed of this and other health concerns.
It is helpful to map out any problems that could be in certain lines.

Years ago, I had a certain line of dogs where females were known to have
Reproductive issues. One girl only came into heat every 15 months
And one of her daughters had a terrible pyometra and had to be spayes.
I stopped breeding that "line" or "family" of dogs.
A breeder needs to be informed of ALL health concerns of animals they produce.
Without that crucial information, those parents may continue to be bred and cause
Others to go through this same scary scenario.

I personally would keep an eye on those liver enzymes!!

Just my $0.02

MaryAnna