Kitten Heat

Hi all, not sure if this is the correct section for my question.  I am probably pushing my luck with my little girl, 6 mos old now and getting her spayed.  She has been getting all her vaccines through a minute clinic, and she's finally all done.  She has an appointment tomorrow at the full vet for a check over; the minute clinic also ran blood works and fecal tests, and she's all clear.

After her look-over tomorrow, we can schedule her spay surgery.  I just have this feeling of dread that she's going to go into heat in the meantime, just my luck.

How will I know if she does?  Never had a kitty this old that wasn't spayed already.

Thanks.

theresa

Some of the symptoms of a female going into heat are:  

1.  She becomes extremely affectionate not just to other cats but to people and even inanimate objects.

2.  She becomes agitated and restless 

3.  She raises her rear end 

4. She yowls, sometimes obsessively.  

5. She rubs against furniture.  

Hopefully if you move fast, you can get her into surgery before she goes into heat.  Will there be a long waiting period or can you schedule her for right away?

Margd said:

 
Some of the symptoms of a female going into heat are:  

1.  She becomes extremely affectionate not just to other cats but to people and even inanimate objects.

2.  She becomes agitated and restless 

3.  She raises her rear end 

4. She yowls, sometimes obsessively.  

5. She rubs against furniture.  

Hopefully if you move fast, you can get her into surgery before she goes into heat.  Will there be a long waiting period or can you schedule her for right away?

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Thanks for those tips.  I did do some Google searching in the mean time and got some clues.  I think we can get her done almost right away.  We already have our certificate for a lower-cost spay.  Gotta love a vet's office that says "no, we can't give you a break for taking in a kitten off the street, and our spay costs a lot, so you might want to go check XYZ and get a low cost spay certificate that we will accept"....ROFL.

We were waiting for her rabies shot; she got shots all busted out seperate because of a reaction she had to her first round of shots.  We got her at the beginning of June, estimated to be about 4 weeks old then.  Yes, too young to be away from Mamma, but she and some mates were found with no Mamma around, on the side of the road.

theresa

So long as she is inside, what does it matter if she goes into heat?

Primula said:

So long as she is inside, what does it matter if she goes into heat?

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I didn't say it mattered or not, I just wanted to know what to prepare for: specifically whether she would bleed and ruin furniture/rugs/our clothes....

Bless you for adopting this poor little waif!   The underage orphaned kittens dumped by the side of the road always especially upset me but hearing that your little girl has found such a good loving home makes a big difference.  That's great news you can have her done almost right away.   In a pinch, you can even have her spayed while she's in heat.    A lot of rescues and shelters have to do this because they don't have the luxury of waiting for the right time.  

Cats don't bleed like dogs. They don't ovulate until mated. They DO howl and roll around and act totally miserable (but flirty at the same time ). If she does go into heat before getting spayed, ask the vet/clinic what they prefer. Some vets are OK with spaying cats in heat but some want you to wait a certain amount of time. But because cats cycle in and out of heat constantly, it can be a very small window of time!

UPDATE:  she's having her surgery today...hubs dropped her off at about 8 this morning and they said we can call to check on her at around 3.  We can pick her up tomorrow.

Will miss my fur baby tonight

~theresa~

Good news!  I'm glad you were able to get it done so quickly.  When she comes home tomorrow, give her a hug from me! 

I know this is an old-ish thread, but I thought I'd chime in since I'm in a similar situation. A feral kitten claimed me a while ago (her sister is less enthusiastic about being indoors permanently, but she's coming around), and she's now pretty well socialized. She's about five months old. Anyway, i brought her in for her physical and vaccinations, and we set up an appointment in three weeks' time to get her boosters and to get her spayed. That day was supposed to be tomorrow, but she jumped the gun and went into heat early. So now I've got a yowling ball of fluff running around, and my two male resident cats - both snipped - are confused and annoyed. Yay. They could do the spaying anyway, but there's apparently an in-heat surcharge, as it makes the surgery more complicated. This is day four - I think - so we postponed the surgery a few days to let her get through the cycle first. I'm really looking forward to getting a full night's sleep again.