Is she in heat

First I am new here and don't know where this would go. So I thought this would be best Correct me if I am wrong.

I have had male cats all my life and now I am in my own apartment have a 11 month old Female kitty named Shadow. She is acting really weird.

She has her normal meows (normal cat, come play, type thing) but then she sounds like she starts with short small meows and works up to this very long loud high pitched yelling sound. She is always standing at the front door trying to get out but is normally afraid of the out side (when I took her home I had to cover her eyes so she would not freak out) She is always rubbing up against stuff and me, and licking her private parts.

She is eating normally, drinking, going to the bathroom... my question is could she be in heat? and if so how long would this last? and is there anything I could do to make the loud yelling sounds stop?

Any help would be great, Sorry for the long post, Thanks again

Sounds very much like she's in heat and she's the right age for it to start too.

The way to stop her from going in to heat is to spay her.

There are many low cost spay neuter resources available, do a search to find one near you.

Sounds to me like she's in heat!
The easiest way to stop it is to spay her!

Let us know if you need information on low cost spay/neuter clinics and someone should be able to post it for you.

Also, make sure she doesn't get out before the spay as she doesn't need to be in heat to get pregnant.

Welcome to TCS!

Julia

Originally Posted by shadow_kitty

She is always standing at the front door trying to get out but is normally afraid of the out side (when I took her home I had to cover her eyes so she would not freak out) She is always rubbing up against stuff and me, and licking her private parts.

Click to expand...

Do you mean she is doing this ALWAYS or do you mean she is doing this a lot just now during what you think is heat??

If the second; yes these are small signs for heat. More affectionate, licking extra much the private parts, more meowing and wants out...

Try to rub her a little on the back at the tail. The behavior will be revealing if she is in heat...

Heat is usually about a week, say 4-8 days.

If you are not planning to have kittens, do spay her. It is the best for everyone.

Sorry not always doing, Just the last 2 days or so. this is the first time she had done this since i have had her. At first i thought it was maybe hair balls that she could not get up (that would cause the painfull yelling noise) but then the extra licking of private parts, the wanting to get out, rubbing against things. it was way more then just hair balls.

PS: i got her this jelly stuff for hair balls, she is a med. lenght hair cat so even if she does not have them now this stuff will help with them.

I would love some help finding a place to get her spayed at. My local HS would charge $55 for her to be spayed.

I would also like to get her de-clawed at the same time if possible. I know people dont like to do it, but i am renting right now, and when she is taking paint off my walls and digging at my carpet when she has a scratching post... they need to go.

Once a queen goes into heat or estrus, she may stay in heat for several days, to 2-3 weeks. Some queens, once they are sexually mature and enter estrus, do not come out of heat unless and until they are either bred to a full male cat, or spayed. The majority of queens will cycle in and out of estrus during the prime breeding season (roughly December through August), returning back into heat approximately every other week.

Unfortunately, once a female cat goes into heat, she will do so again and again (as often as every two weeks) until she is either: a) pregnant or b) spayed. It *is* extremely uncomfortable for her and will get worse rather than better.

If they do not mate, they can stay in heat for several days but most of the time they appear to stay in about 4 to 6 days, then come in heat again in about 2.5 to 3 weeks. This does vary widely and some cats appear to almost constantly stay in heat. They do seem to be pretty miserable but who knows if they really feel that way?

The estrus cycle of cats is unusual. Cats are "induced ovulators", which means that their bodies attempt to stay in estrus until they mate. This stimulates ovulation which ends the heat cycle. If they are not bred, they may go out of heat in as short a time as few days or stay in heat for a variable length of time. Some cats appear to almost stay in heat continuously.

Enough of that...
Until she's spayed, the behvior most likely will continue.
Do you clip her nails ? It's really simple to do. She might need a different type of scratching post. Is the one you have made of carpet instead of sisal or another material ? If it is carpet like, she may think that it's ok to scratch the carpet because it feels the same as her post.

Please don't get her declawed. That is a very painful and traumatic procedure and can change her personality.

They sell something (others here know the name and I'm sure will share it) that you can put over her claws to keep her from ruining things, which is a humane alternative to declawing. I'm sue others here will give you the name of the product.

Have you tried to train her to use the scratching post and not to use the rug or walls? Do you put catnip on the scratching post?

$55 is pretty good for spaying. Is that a problem? Does that include shots? If you do a search for low cost spay neuter you should find sites with other options in your area.

I second the others, especielly Charmed puts it very clear.

Whatever you do, do not declawe. I forbid you.

Clip her nails a little now and than. Try with a couple of extra scratching posts, preferably sisal-rope.
Use SoftClaws if it isnt enougt.

And dont dare to declaw, or else...

Please don't get her declawed - it's not her fault you live in a rented apartment (not saying you shouldn't have a cat - I live in a rented apartment too). A cat's claws aren't expendable and something that can be removed just to make life more convenient for you, they are a part of a cat and very important to their psychological wellbeing. Clip them and provide more (higher, stronger) scratching posts - is the one you have tall enough for her to stand on her back legs and stretch up to her full height?

I said i would like to have her de-clawed but was not sure. This is not about de-clawing its about if she is in heat. I dont want to sound mean but PLEASE DROP the de-clawing thing. Every one has a right to their own oppions on this ... lets keep it at that.

So is $55 a good price for getting her spayed? or should i find a different place. How long until she is able to come home after she is fixed. and what is the normal healling time for a 11 month old cat / kitten.
(dont know if she is a "cat" or a "kitten"

Sorry, but you brought up the subject, and people who care about animals are going to try and protect them from harmful and extremely painful procedures, especially when the same results can be gotten not only less expensivley, but without torturing them, like the "soft claws" which will protect your rug and walls quite nicely from damage.

Declawing is not just taking out the claws. It is equivalent to removing the whole upper part of your finger and then making you walk on them and stand in litter with them.

If you do decide to do it, at least know what it is you are doing. And be prepared because many very nice cats become traumatized and very aggressive afterwards. If you are going to keep your opinion on it and not even listen to others', then you have a resonsibility to understand the possible consequences and be prepared to be committed to them.

I agree, this site is anti-declawing and you brought it up as an option. You can just use Soft Claws instead and then your poor kitty doesn't have to go through that horrible procedure. Do you realize it is illegal in most other countries? Think about that, there has got to be a reason. Do you know the cat screams when the claws are removed even though it is out? Do you know some cats refuse to use the litterbox after wards or later on in life?

Try Soft Claws first. They work wonderfully and then your cat doesn't have to go through the trauma of declawing.

Yes $55 is a great price for a spay. Also, I believe someone said earlier that cats cannot get pregnant if they aren't in heat? I may have read that wrong but they CAN get pregnant all the time, not just when in heat.

Please please check out this link and read over it:

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=41954

Originally Posted by shadow_kitty

I said i would like to have her de-clawed but was not sure. This is not about de-clawing its about if she is in heat. I dont want to sound mean but PLEASE DROP the de-clawing thing. Every one has a right to their own oppions on this ... lets keep it at that.

So is $55 a good price for getting her spayed? or should i find a different place. How long until she is able to come home after she is fixed. and what is the normal healling time for a 11 month old cat / kitten.
(dont know if she is a "cat" or a "kitten"

Click to expand...

Shadow...declawing is an elective surgery which means that it can go ok...but it can also go "wrong". And if 99 cats come out of the surgery fine but you have the one cat that has a negative reaction (biting, litterbox avoidance, arthritis) could you live with that?? Let's try some other ideas first before the declawing. You say she is going after the carpet and the paint even though she has a scratching post. Exactly what is the scratching post made of?? Some scratching posts are made of carpet which can be very confusing to a cat...since they do not know that it is OK to scratch the carpet scratching post but not the carpet in the room. I much prefer the sisal rope scratching posts and corregated cardboard. If you only have one type of scratching post (the kind you lay on the floor) invest some money in offering her several "options". A tall empty cardboard box, a few tall sisal posts and some corregated cardboard ones placed where she is doing the damage should reduce her interest in scratching the carpet and the wall. Buy some catnip and rub it on the posts to encourage her towards the scratching posts and reward her for her good behavior. Another thing you need to be doing is trimming her nails. My cats need their nails trimmed about every week....and when you trim her nails, it will make her less likely to cause any damage. The other option you have is to get her nail caps...these are caps that go over the nail so they cannot cause damage.

We aren't trying to chastise you..but we want you to explore the options you have without going to the most extreme choice (which is declawing).

BTW...$55 is a great price for a spay....but if you are on a budget, you can always call around to the other low cost clinics in the attached link below:

http://www.lovethatcat.com/spayneuter.html#co

Katie

$55 is actually not a bad price at all. When I had my boys neutered six or so years ago, it cost me $110 per cat (this is when I was living in California). Females, of course were more expensive.

Definitely get your girl fixed, because as everyone else has said, she'll continue to go into and out of heat very often until she's either bred or spayed. Believe me, better to spay, or you'll end up with a bizillion cats. That's how I ended up with thirteen at one point (all eventually were found good homes, but for one). Of course, I got my queens spayed as I could, but in the meantime, the unspayed queens kept getting pregnant.

On to the declawing...

I know you asked us to drop it, but I have a story for you of a cat I rescued years ago. He was pound bound, and his little girl asked one of my daughters if they knew someone who would take him. Apparently, the girl's gramma had him declawed, and after the declawing he became very, very aggressive. Before he'd been declawed he was a sweet cat, apparently. To the point of making it so the girl's gram was a bit afraid of him. He'd actually bitten her a FEW times, when she tried to do some things when he didn't want them done, like brushing him, or moving him if she was vacuuming. The girl really did not want the cat to go to pound, but her grandmother was determined to be rid of the cat one way or another. So, yes, I took him.

Mind you, at the time, I had a house full of cats, mostly queens (yes they were fixed). THEY took it upon themselves to help this boy socialize better, and when he became aggressive towards us, they disciplined him too. He did eventually overcome and change the ultra aggression, but that took a long time.

Aside from the fact that you are amputating a part of their paw, realize that if your cat gets out, those claws are her defenses. If she doesn't have them, that takes away an edge to survival that she has.

If a cat cannot scratch, it resorts to biting, which can be much worse. Plus if you are looking for low cost spaying, do you really want to spend the $100+ some to declaw the cat too when there are much cheaper and more affective ways to stop unwanted scratching?? (...Soft Paws...)

I urge you to try cardboard scratchers. They sit on the floor or are sometimes elevated slightly. Even declawed cats like them. My cats cannot get enough of them. I have 8 around the tiny apartment You can get them I think 2 for $7.00 at PetSmart or Pet Supplies Plus.

I also thought I read that by being induced ovulators, cats didn't have to be in heat to be pregnant? It was the act of mating which could bring on the release of an egg as well as being in heat?
Could someone clarify?
Sorry to hijack the thread . . .

~Julia

I think she left because of the dclawing...

Originally Posted by momof3rugratz

I think she left because of the dclawing...

Click to expand...

could be....but it's an important point we're all making...