What do you do when your cats in heat

It's pretty expensive for an F generation bengal. Probably a couple thousand. I'd get a 3rd generation they are less expensive the farther away they get from the ALC.
I don't know about the spraying-it depends on the tom. Some spray, some don't. It's sort of the luck of the draw I guess.
A uterine infection can happen quickly. A cat is at risk if she goes for more then 3 heats in a row without being bred. She can also develop cysts in her uteris as well.
Usually she'll act sick and she may have discharge. If you see any discharge from her vulva at all, take her to the vet right away!

Actually an F3 male is not that expensive because they have to be sold as pet because of sterility and can't be shown so there is no show price either. The reason I knwo is because Meeka was bought as an F3 male. She was one of those surprises and the breeder was so excited when I told her she was a female she knew with my enthusiasm with the breed if I wanted to breed her. You would be looking at $600 for an F3 male. They are more like $2000 if you consider an F3 savannah. Early Generations are the exact same price as a regular bengal so a lesser quality male will be cheaper but since breeding isn't your goal that would be perfect....

However, you would most likely be bringing in more problems than its worth. I've never heard of an early generation bengal that didn't spray.

The price you quoted is actually fabulous! You know in big cities they pay 400-500 just for a spay anyway. Oooh but the risk, what a tough choice this is for you.

There are 2 forms of pyo, open and closed. The type where you see white discharge is usually curable by a spay operation. The closed kind means the puss can't get out of the uterus and usually its to late to detect it . Many females die this way.

What a tough choice. Do you have any friends with a neutered male? Some neutered males will still breed a female.

You know what? There might be an even better solution. Has your vet ever talked about doign stimulation with her? If you can get her to ovulate that will take away the risk of the pyo. It dosen't fix the fact that she will cycle but it will trick her into thinkign she's pregnant for a while. Its not commonly done because there is some risk involved just from lack of knowledge/ability. Its kind of a strange subject but if all else fails it might be one of the lesser of the evils. It can be done with the tip of a thermometer. What a wierd subject .

Is it normal to have a little bit of discharge? I figured it was sort of like humans having their 'periods'. If not I may need to take her in, she's not acting sick at all though other than nose crusties lol. Is a emergency spay more expensive than a regular one? She's probably had at least 4-5 cycles of heat. It started only once a month and now it's coming pretty frequently, every other week or so. It looks like I just may have to risk the surgury and hope she comes out of it alive.

I noticed clear discharge with my girl (her very first heat). It wasn't much and she kept herself really clean (yet another reason why its hard to detect pyo). I would imagine temperature increases with pyo? Does someone have more information on this? Maybe a better indicator would be to take a frequent temperature and watch for abnormalities. Also I think pyo comes after the heat is over, so it would be evident the discharge isn't from heat.

I think a cardiology consult is the way to go here.

An emergency spay (for pyometra) is definitely more expensive, because the operation is trickier (normally if the uterus breaks during a spay it's no big deal but the vet has to be extra careful because if a pyo uterus breaks it's probably going to be lethal). Plus you will have to pay emergency fees which will add $70-$150 on top of everything.

All things considered, a routine spay with sevofluorane anesthesia will be much easier on her heart than either pyometra with an emergency spay or having a litter of kittens. People with cardiomyopathy aren't even supposed to strain during bowel movements so I can't imagine giving birth to a litter would be a good thing at all.

I would strongly advise a cardiology consult. They will be able to tell you all the relevent information about your cat's heart. The problem could be something very serious or it could be as mild as just having a chest cavity that is a little too small for her heart.

I think I have the answer for you! It's called a teaser tom. Here's a link http://cats.about.com/gi/dynamic/off...%2Fteaser.html
basically what it is is just a cat that has had a vasectomy. He can breed but wont get your girl pregnant. And it can be any cat-even one you get from the spca!
I've also read somewhere that you can use manual stimulation such as "Q-tipping" im not sure how it's done but it's worth looking up.

oh and the birth control pill - here's what the site says about that:
'Ovarid (megestrol acetate) and injectable hormones have been widely and successfully used, however, the prolonged use of Ovarid can and does cause pyometra and pyometra can be fatal. Also, keeping a cat confined, and if allowed to call incessantly can ultimately lead to further complications such as polycystic ovaries which will ultimately be followed by spaying anyway'

but there's this pther stuff:
'Delvosterone, a hormone injection, appeared in local veterinarians offices a couple of years ago, and was hailed as the breeder's ultimate safe (?) control of the brood queen's cycle. However, breeders soon learnt to their dismay that the product controlled the breeding queens too well. Some never called again and others have failed entirely to produce litters after its use.'

You could always look into that because you don't ever want to breed her anyway, right?

I guess the reason I'm hesitant to do the cardiologist consultation is because I figure if I'm going to have to have her spayed some day no matter what then there's not much they'll be able to do about it. All they can do is put her on some kind of meds for her heart later in life but that won't help much if she's going to have problems with her uterus now. I just may have to accept the fact that she's probably going to go earlier than later

I've been doing a lot of reading up about the q-tipping technique so I may try that (yay sarcastic) lol I guess you gotta do what you gotta do though. I've also read up about a teaser tom but I'm not sure if my apartment would be happy with me having 4 cats, and I don't want one that sprays. Since I do already have one male cat that may increase his propensity to spray. Thanks for all the information, oh actually, that one link didn't work so if you could repost that I'd appriciate it. Thanks everyone!

Are those injections approved for the US? Everything I've read about has said that everything's only approved for Europe but it's worth asking about for sure. Thanks

Originally Posted by lizch6699

Are those injections approved for the US? Everything I've read about has said that everything's only approved for Europe but it's worth asking about for sure. Thanks

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I don't know anything about it as I just looked it up myself. But I do know the site was in south africa! It probably is not approved or used in the US
That would be too bad because that would be the best option for you.

I think I may have reached 'that point'. My boyfriend just found a pile of clothes that was peed on so I'm thinking (after reading other posts) that she may have a UTI. I may just have to risk it and hope it all comes out well.

Is she in heat now? Peeing inappropriately while in estrus may indicate spraying/marking behavior as well.

No she's not in heat right now which is kind of what's worrying me. Also the fact that it was on soft material worries me, the boxers she peed on were silk. I tried to make an appointment with the vet to listen to her heart again anyway so I may as well bring her in and have them check that out too. I figure I'm going to have to make this decision to risk spaying her someday and if I wait till later she may develop all sorts of problems.

That really is the best decision ... get a sample to take with you if you can, otherwise, they will have to express the bladder - not fun.

I'll try, I rarely catch her in the litter box from now (nighttime) until I get home from classes (tomorrow afternoon). Should I refrigerate it if I can get one?

I've been having some problems with my girl urinating around the house and shes also not in heat right now. She likes to go on clothes but we haven't really been able to finish unpacking yet and I'm afraid the bedroom is a bit of a mess so I see it as partially my fault. I'm starting to use feliway wherever she pees and is not in heat.

I'm not really thinking she has bladder issues because she is on a raw diet and seems perfectly active and normal in every other regard. We've always had a touch of difficulty with her and where she goes to pee. Its been pretty minor as its only really occasional, another reason I don't think there is anything wrong.

Its still worth checking out though.

I was going to say LOL don't go out and spend thousands on a sterile bengal when you can get your everyday moggy cat, vasectomized - That would be the best bet for her to have a cat to "breed" with.

I just got back from the vets and he informed me that cats don't get pyro as often as it's made out to be. He said usually only 2-3% of the time in unspayed cats. So I think I may just leave her unfixed for now and hope for the best. He also said I can get a device called a feline ovulation device from petco instead of buying another cat So I think i'll attempt that first lol

A lot of breeders put their cats on antibiotics when a cat goes into heat as a safety precaution. You might consider that from time to time as well.