question - cat in heat

jacobb20

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Hi,

I recently moved in with my girlfriend who brought with her a wonderful loving female cat. Its roughly 12 years old and is a very well behaved indoor cat. Its hasn't been spayed and a couple of days ago started to meow very loudly and show all the signs of a cat in heat. It was a stray cat she found about 4 years ago...and the vet said she is to old to be put under to get spayed.

Anyways, I need to know if there is anything I can do to get some sleep!! She's sooooo loud and I need my sleep, is there anything we can do to comfort her? I'm guessing she sleeps during the day when we are both gone to work because she stays up ALL night (and so do I!). I'm not a cat person nor do I know anything about cats so any help is appreciated!

Is she really to old to be spayed?
How long and how often are they in heat?
Is there anyway to keep here quiet at night?
Do they stop going into heat at a certain age?

Its soooo bad I slept over at a friends house last night!

Thanks,
Jake
 

emb_78

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Originally Posted by jacobb20

Hi,

I recently moved in with my girlfriend who brought with her a wonderful loving female cat. Its roughly 12 years old and is a very well behaved indoor cat. Its hasn't been spayed and a couple of days ago started to meow very loudly and show all the signs of a cat in heat. It was a stray cat she found about 4 years ago...and the vet said she is to old to be put under to get spayed.

Anyways, I need to know if there is anything I can do to get some sleep!! She's sooooo loud and I need my sleep, is there anything we can do to comfort her? I'm guessing she sleeps during the day when we are both gone to work because she stays up ALL night (and so do I!). I'm not a cat person nor do I know anything about cats so any help is appreciated!

Is she really to old to be spayed?
How long and how often are they in heat?
Is there anyway to keep here quiet at night?
Do they stop going into heat at a certain age?

Its soooo bad I slept over at a friends house last night!

Thanks,
Jake
Welcome to TCS!!!
She should have been spayed 4 years ago. They can go into heat as often as they want. The only way to have a quiet night is to spay her. She is not too old, just have some bloodwork done before the surgery to check that the kidney's, liver, etc., are working normally!
 

leto86

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cats will never stop going into heat unless they are spayed.

I would ask another vet for a second opinion about the spaying. I volunteered at a cat rescue and we spayed a few cats that were over 10 yrs old.

They can be in heat for a few days, to a week or so.. and can go into heat every 2 weeks, sometimes more often then that.

You could confine her to another room, or shutting the bedroom door.. but I doubt that will help, as they yowl quite loudly.
 

loveysmummy

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Yes, get a second opinion about the spay, for sure.
Even call the local shelter and ask for their opinion.
Its healthier and saner for both you and kitty to have it done, I should think.
Otherwise you may have many more sleepless nights ahead of you.
 

solaritybengals

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I think it would be safer too. They have much better anesthetics nowadays, it shouldn't be a problem if all the blood work is ok. Really with all the risk of cancer and pyometra (both can lead to death) with an unspayed cat its so worth just going ahead and getting it done.
 

booktigger

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Please, please find another vet who will do this operation - the average age for mammary cancer is 10 and it truly isn't something you would want the cat to go through. I had a 14 year old unspayed female this year, and the only reason we didn't spay her was she was unhandleable and seemed to have had cat flu that was never treated so had breathing issues (and already had mammary cancer plus an internal mass). Senior cats have ops for dentals etc, so as long as full blood tests are done first to make sure her organs are fine, it shouldn't be a prob. And also, either you or your girlfriend should check all her nipples to make sure she doesn't have any signs of mammary gland tumours.
 
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