Spayed and in heat?

I know this has happened to cats before...but NEVER to me!

Ling got spayed end of January. And now she is showing signs of being in heat (no mistake). I called the vet office that did it and am waiting for a call back.

We have moved about 100 miles from where she got done. I am hoping that vet's office will agree to pay for a re-spay in the area we are. Who agrees? And has it happened to a cat you know/have - what did you do about it?

Would it hurt her to be "in heat" but not be able to get pregnant (like increase in cancer risk?)

If the vet's office agrees, then I do want that to be in writing so when I take her to a vet here, they can just send the bill to the other vet.

I've seen "false heat" in a number of adult females who were spayed as adults. I've never seen it in a female though that was spayed prior to her first heat. It's not that uncommon.

It's also called "ovarian remnant syndrome" where the female continues to exhibit signs of heat. Usually it happens when a portion of an ovary was left during the surgery. It doesn't always mean the vet did a shoddy job. Sometimes it's very difficult to get a good view because the cat is overweight, it's bleeding heavy or the incision is too small. I've been told by several vets that it's also possible that a piece of an ovary drops off during removal and re-implants itself somewhere in the abdomen.

It is best to have it removed, but she should be in heat when the 2nd surgery is done. It will be easier for the vet to find the remaining tissue and remove it when she is in heat and the developing egg(s) are making the ovary larger.

You can ask your new vet to do a vaginal smear to verify if she really is in false heat or not.

Good luck!
Rachel

Thanks. Ling is FAR from being overweight But the vet mentioned about a lot of fat in the area - she never showed any of it - she's still a small cat - only weighs 6.8 lbs so where the fat was when spayed I'll never know!

I'll keep what you said in mind. Thanks for the info.

We had two spayed females do this, at the same time. They drove our poor neutered former tom cat CRAZY! Called the vet and he said that sometimes if food has been stored improperly it can get mold spores on it, which can cause the cat to act as though she's in heat. We switched foods and they stopped doing that and never did it again. Good thing, too, because I thought poor Brandon was going to lose his mind!

Amber

Interesting! But I give mine Iams and that doesn't sit around....lol Still waiting to talk to the vet that did the surgery (holiday yesterday). I may wind up taking her to a vet hospital to have it redone. She still is in heat since Monday