No excuses, then. SOMEONE should have questioned this. I'm anxious to hear what the specialist your cousin recommended has to say. Give Delilah a pat for me, and a "Poor baby Girl!"
If it becomes necessary, there are some birth control meds for cats (some can't have surgery) that I think prevent heat cycles. They do have some possible side effects, so that would be last resort, but SOMETHING that you can talk with the new vet about as a last resort.
Adrenal issues can cause heat-like behavior too, but I think that would have shown up on bloodwork. Anyway a specialist should know this stuff.
And, yeah, you could ask about Ovaban (or similar hormonal birth control) if you need time to save up for the specialist. As least it would give her (and you!) some peace while you wait.
This morning she ate some kibble but refused her wet food (which is normal lately)
My cousin texted me several articles about vets missing the ovarian tissue and specialists finding it. I wish I'd called my cousin before the surgery.
She got the rare treat of sleeping on my bed (not going to happen again - I move around too much and kept waking up afraid of knocking her on the floor.
What's funny, but sad, is Delilah wasnt trying to lick the incision. She was trying to lick her privates and couldn't with the cone.
Geez, you and your baby have been to Hell and back over this!! I hope the specialist finds the remnant and she gets better. Just one more thing for me to worry about when my girl goes in two weeks. Never heard of tissue being left behind. But thanks to you... now I know what to look for!!
She's acting herself and out of her heat cycle for now.
I got her a onesie and while she fought me on it and sulked she now discovered she can lick everything except where the onesie is and is having a good bath.
But now I don't know if the onesie is making her not want to use the litter box. she was ok yesterday but today she didn't use it until I closed her in the bathroom while I was using the toilet. She's not wanting to move around much. I tried taking it off (a week after the surgery) but she went right for nibbling the staples.
We have an appointment to see the internist on the 10th, but I'm going to see if I can be put on a wait list for cancellations.
I've seen people cut the foot part off of a pair of sport socks, and slip the leg part over just the cat's body. The only trick is finding a sock that has a leg that gives enough to fit right. Leaves their bottoms bare.
She seems to be getting used to the onesie. I think she's milking it for a bit to get me to carry her around. For example, when I feed her, she'll sit and look at me until I pick her up and take her to the food. But overnight she got herself up and down her cat tree to the food and litter box.
I took Delilah to the internist and on his ultrasound he found what he said looked like ovarian tissue behind the kidney, then referred to her to the surgeon.
Today I took her to the surgeon. She checked over Delilah, the reports, and the ultrasound. She said it's a high possibility that what the internist found is the ovarian tissue, but it also might not be. We went over all the pros and cons. Delilah is spending the night at the surgical center and having surgery tomorrow. She wants to do it while Delilah is in one of the heat phases.... and she's definitely in one now (yowling, rolling, assuming the position, hanging over the back of the recliner with her tush on my shoulder to be scratched). This is an experienced surgeon and she has done several of these surgeries. Delilah will spend the next night and the surgery center and I will pick her up Friday.
The surgery is between $2300 and $2600. I emailed the Humane Society to see if I can get any financial assistance. I can't wait on the surgery though. It needs to be done while I'm home. I'm teaching online now, and will have to go back to campus Sept. 8 (so far). I'm home to take care of her, to supervise her, and to make sure she doesn't jump and climb. If we don't do it now, the way things have been going she will be out of the heat by Sunday, normal for a week, and then back in heat the week after.
Right now I'm a wreck. this is the first time I've been without her since I adopted her in April, and I won't have her back till Friday.
The surgeon called. She removed the tissue that the internist identified, plus some scar tissue in case something was lurking in there. Delilah will be ready for me tomorrow afternoon.
In the meantime, I am going to change out her litter (it was due in 2 weeks anyways) and wash out her fountain. I also got her a couple of those tent style beds (one for my room, one for the living room). After the last surgery she seemed to want to hole up and hopefully she'll go into these instead of going behind the computer desk, under the bed, or under the sofa.
Delilah is home now. Somehow with her turning around and around in the carrier she had gotten her cone off, so I got her out of the carrier and into her onesie before she could do anything. She's settled down to watching the window and napping. I'll see in about 2 weeks if she goes into another heat phase. By Sunday she would be going out of the heat, a week of normalcy, then a week of the heat.
So far so good. The biggest setback is the new onesie I got her didn't have a drawstring at the neckline like her old one does. I didn't realize it was THAT loose until I woke up and found the onesie on the floor of the bathroom. I scooped her up, checked her incision (other than she apparently cleaned up the area it looked ok) and got the old onesie on her (she was not amused).
I had ordered 2 of the new onesie style - one arrived, the other was delayed. I canceled the delayed one and put in for a return on the one she got out of, then I ordered 2 of the kind with the drawstring neck.
Lesson to be learned here - if you have a small, slender cat and need a onesie, make sure it has a drawstring on the collar.
A week and a half post surgery. Last week I got the news that the biopsies were negative for cancer, but they were ovarian tissue.
She's sleeping a lot, but she's also starting to be more playful and attacked a pipe cleaner (her favorite) for about a minute. She was a bit yowly but it was more "why are you sitting at the computer and not cuddling me?" I'm crossing my fingers and praying that that surgery was the last of it.