Could my rescue nursing mama be in heat again?

I've never seen a cat in heat before. My cats all came to me already spayed or neutered. The kittens are probably in the 6 week old range? I've had them for almost 2 weeks and mama was outside full time before that. When I took them all to the vet about 10 days ago I forgot to ask if she might already be pregnant again. The vet gave her a thorough exam and didn't say anything about her possibly being pregnant. Now I'm wondering if she is in heat. 

She sometimes is desperate to get out of the room and in fact clawed me up pretty good the other night at 4 am when I went in to use the bathroom they are sleeping in and she tried to door dash. Last night she woke me up at 2 am meowing for an unknown reason. She did quiet down when I gave her another can of food, even though she had dry food left in her bowl. This is unusual behavior for her, she was surprisingly perfectly behaved until a few days ago. 

So could she be in heat? Is that why she is acting batty? She is scratching one minute and purring and rubbing on me the next. 

Cats can come into heat as early as 2 days after delivering, so yes, it's possible that she's in heat. The best thing would be to make an appointment to get her spayed as soon as possible Some vets will not spay while a cat is in heat and others charge a little extra to do it because it's a more complicated surgery.

Is she sticking her butt up in the air and "paddling" her back feet? That's a pretty good indication of a cat in heat. Hormones can make a cat batty, but whether it's the nursing-mama hormones or in-heat hormones doing it, I don't know :dk:.

A cat that someone had dumped here (and we did end up spaying and keeping) had litters just a little over two months apart, she had 3 litters in one year, 17 kittens, before we found out no one owned her and we took her in!

Willowy said:

Is she sticking her butt up in the air and "paddling" her back feet? That's a pretty good indication of a cat in heat. Hormones can make a cat batty, but whether it's the nursing-mama hormones or in-heat hormones doing it, I don't know

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Oh thanks, I'll look for that. 

You can provoke by petting her at the back, at the base of the tail.  Most cats are sensitive there, even neutered males may raise their behind...  But a female in full heat will make her show. 

Otherwise, yes, I like you think she is in heat, and yes, I agree, spaying is the only sure help.  She is nursing still yes? But the kittens had began on solid foods?  So you can spay, if the vet is careful, the wound wont be too big, and she can continue to nurse some after a day or two.

Especielly if there is any risk she may get outside.  If you are entirely sure on your ability to keep her inside, you  should wait two week extra.

Good luck!

I'm not spaying her yet. Only one of the kittens has just started to eat thinned canned food. The other two are still only nursing. There is zero chance she can get outside.