cat depressed after heat cycle

[jimmylegs]

You may recall Mabel, the senior cat we are sub-fostering. She is old but unfixed and has been going into heat for the past couple of months. When the heat cycle runs down she seems to become depressed. She doesn't want to eat and just lies in her cat bed all day. Is this normal behavior for a cat whose been through the heat wringer many, many times?

I don't have a lot of experience with unspayed cats, esp elderly ones! We have decided to get her spayed on the 24th, but I worry that she seems so blah now. She did this about a month ago so I think it is tied to the heat cycle. Back then she perked up after a few days and went right back into heat, so I'm guessing it's the same thing now. Anybody ever see this?

 

[Willowy]

Wow, poor kitty. I'd be worried about reproductive disease, maybe a pyo starting or some kind of cancer. Or, I'm sure it's just exhausting to be in heat, and her age it may just be too much for her to handle and she has to rest up for next time. I hope she perks up after being spayed, and they don't find too much wrong with her! When we had Sonja spayed, the vet said she had had "truckloads" of kittens, and her insides were starting to grow together. Maybe that's Mabel's problem, too.

 

[otto]

Poor old girl. No wonder she's depressed, having to go through that every few weeks all her life.

So glad there is an end of it in sight for her, but I agree with Willowy that you may want to have her check out sooner than the 24th to make sure there's no infection brewing, that's a whole week away, and a senior cat can go down hill fast.

 

[goldenkitty45]

I would suspect its possible pyrometra (infection of the uterus) rather then being "depressed". The sooner you get her fixed the better. Just wondering why she never was spayed years ago.

 

[jimmylegs]

she's a street cat the original foster found. she's basically feral and at first a vet recommended she not be spayed because she seemed so ill she wouldn't have made it through surgery. but she's made a remarkable comeback, until now. If she doesn't come around by tomorrow it's back to the vet with her!