Mittens is acting funny :(

[my_mittens]

Ok, I need some advice. My cat Mittens is acting strange. She keeps trying to crouch low to the ground, and is moving her back legs up and down occassionally. She is being very clingy, but she's still keeping her spirits up and trying to play. But bottom line is, she's just not acting right. She's eating, and elimitated earlier normally, but she keeps crouching. I'm thinking it's a hairball and gave her some Petromalt, but that's the most I can do right now. If any of you are on the east coast, you'll know that we've been snowed in all week and are being hit with another blizzard as I speak. I can't get out to the emergency vet (that is an hour away in whiteout conditions and unplowed roads), and my regular vet that is a half hour away is closed. And even if they weren't, we still can't get out. What should I do? I'm really at a loss.

 

[mrblanche]

Mittens is in heat. If you don't want kittens, don't let her outside. You may want to consult your vet about an immediate spay.

 

[GoldyCat]

There are so many things it could be and we can't diagnose over the internet. However, we may have some suggestions if you give us more information. How old is Mittens? Has she been spayed? My first thought was that it sounds like she may be in heat. Somebody else may have a different idea for you.

 

[mews2much]

I agree it sounds like she is in heat.
Is she making meowing sounds.

 

[my_mittens]

Oh wow, I had no idea! She is strictly indoors (has never been outside except when we brought her home), but I still had her planned to be spayed next month. She is only 6 months, how early can they go into heat?! I will take her as soon as the roads clear up, but that could be in 1-2 days. Will that be too late for the major benefits of the spay?

 

[GoldyCat]

Some kittens will go into heat as young as four month, but six months is more typical. My first two (sisters) both started their first heat the day they turned six months.

Yes, you should get her spayed as soon as possible, although you may want to wait a few days. Some vets charge more for spaying while the cat is in heat. With extra blood flow to the area it's a more complicated procedure.

As long as there are no intact males in the area she will be fine for a few more days. She'll probably drive you crazy in the meantime, but you can handle that as long as you know it's coming to an end.

 

[mrblanche]

She may drive you crazy for the next few days, but it's not particularly dangerous. However...she will do ANYTHING to get outdoors, even pushing out screens, diving into snowbanks, climbing up one side and down the other of anyone coming in the door.

It would be best if she were spayed after this is over. The vet will charge more if she is currently in heat.

Cats regularly have kittens at four and five months of age.

 

[mews2much]

I just had my Wrinkles altered a few weeks ago and she was 6.5 months old.
The vet said she could tell she had just been in heat.

 

[my_mittens]

Thank you so much everyone! I am getting her spayed right after she gets back to normal. How long does this last?

And this is actually sort of funny now that I know she's in heat. Last night we had about 3 or 4 cats in the back of our house yowling and crying, and they were out there for about 2 hours doing this. Could they have sensed Mittens was in heat/going into heat in here??? If so, that's crazy, we were wondering why they were out there at our door!

 

[mews2much]

Yep they smell her.

 

[rang_27]

Oh yes, if you have unneutered Toms in your area, they could absolutly smell her. Or it could just be outside cats breeding. It is that time of year that females go into heat.

 

[pookie-poo]

Here's a great article about the feline heat cycle.
http://vetmedicine.about.com/od/preg...Cat_estrus.htm

From this article, it appears that the active heat lasts approximately a week to 10 days, and will repeat after 2 to 3 weeks until she is mated.

I remember back when Spooky went into heat (she was a feral that I rescued.) I was in the middle of college final exams, and she meowed and cried non-stop, for days. I tried putting her in the basement, but her cries echoed up the furnace ducts and were magnified....did I mention that she had Siamese in her...ohmygod the howls were agonizing. I hope I never have to live through another cat's heat again, lol!

Good luck to you and Mittens!

 

[jennyr]

AS it is her first heat it may not be so strong or last as long as usual. With luck she may be back to normal in 3-4 days. But if you don't spay her it will come back soon, sometimes within 2-3 weeks at this time of year. AND yes, she will do anything to get out. Years ago I had a cat who who got out of the 3 inches I had left open at the top of a sash window, jumped two stories to the ground, and I found her three days later with a broken leg and pregnant. What she had been through, I shuddered to guess.

 

[my_mittens]

Thank you again everyone! We are already especially careful with her getting out of the house, we never open the door unless she is up in a room. We will still of course be extra cautious, as that would be awful! (not just the fact that she could get pregnant, but it's also cold out there!) I will update here when she finally is spayed. Hopefully it will be within the next 5-7 days, depends on how long she keeps this up. I feel so funny now that I was so worried about her, and she's just feeling really frisky, lol.

But I read that signs of heat are very often confused with signs of pain. I watched a video of a cat in heat on youtube (it's kinda gross how many cat in heat videos there are there....) and there's no mistaking that's what Mittens is doing! The only thing that is missing is loud yowls and cries, but she has been coming up to us meowing, and obsessively rubbing her face/back on us, and anything else that's around her. She was even rubbing her face over and over again on the stairs! But still no cries. Maybe the worst of it has just yet to come.

 

[taryn]

Try having a cat in heat with her un-neutered brother in the house. I found out she was in heat when I found Nuts on top of her, I yelled at Nuts to get off his sister and scooped up Attitude. I called the vet to get her in the next day then locked her in the bathroom and got to listen to them howling and meowing(I didn't even know prior to this that Nuts could really even meow, his always was so soft, but not this time. Attitude has always been loud, but she was especially loud.) I finally got sick of it(on top of being in heat Attitude was po'd about being stuck in the bathroom) and let Attitude out of the bathroom. She was getting spayed the next day so it really didn't matter if they decided to do what they wanted to do(why I didn't think about that before tossing Attitude in the bathroom and listening to them for hours I don't know.) Funny enough her 2 un-neutered brothers, Blue, and her own dad(I honestly don't even know if he's still alive, I only saw him when one of our females needed 'serviced' until we got them spayed) never bothered us. I guess they knew Nuts was in there and it wouldn't be pretty if they all tried to go at it. Attitude also wanted anything but to go out, but as I said she had a mature unaltered male inside.

Attitude was around 5 months when she went into heat. My vet didn't charge extra to spay her when she was in heat but then again they were the ones who told me she was 'definitely male.' I mentioned that to the vet who said it when she came in for a corneal ulcer(which had healed by the time we got there after 2 applications of eye ointment, I catch them early because I know what to look for) and because she had a stitch that didn't dissolve and she needed it removed.

Taryn

 

[mrblanche]

Oh, yes, the "dirty kitty dance" is very distinct, once you know what you're looking at.

 

[my_mittens]

Ok, this is strange. Mittens was showing all the signs; pacing her back feet, licking her "area", rubbing her head on everything, crouching and walking low to the ground, being extremely clingy... and now she's back to normal? Is that possible? I'm guessing the heat may have been going on a few days before she started showing obvious signs, but still, it seems like it was awfully quick? (unless the behavior is a very on/off thing, but she seems 100% back to normal this morning)

 

[GoldyCat]

The first heat can be very short, maybe only two or three days. I think when Shareena and Miss Patchwillow went into heat at the same time Shareena's lasted a full week and Miss Patchwillow less than two days.

 

[otto]

Originally Posted by My_Mittens

Ok, this is strange. Mittens was showing all the signs; pacing her back feet, licking her "area", rubbing her head on everything, crouching and walking low to the ground, being extremely clingy... and now she's back to normal? Is that possible? I'm guessing the heat may have been going on a few days before she started showing obvious signs, but still, it seems like it was awfully quick? (unless the behavior is a very on/off thing, but she seems 100% back to normal this morning)

It can be short, but it is also possible that she has been in heat longer than you knew, it's called "silent heat" and it's often how "accidental litters" happen.

Let us know when she goes in for her spay, so we can wish Mittens luck and TCS vibes!

 

[my_mittens]

Thanks!

I'm taking her to get spayed as soon as things open back up. I called today and they're still closed, so the recording said to call back tomorrow. It's like a race against the estrus clock now, lol.

And I did have one more question. I just weighed Mittens (well, weighed myself and then weighed her holding her), and she's only 5.5 lbs. Is she too small? I tried googling the weight they should be for a spay and I couldn't find anything. Also, at 6 months, how much growing could she have left?

I feel ashamed that I don't know more about cats. I research every animal I get front and back (I've owned a lot of exotics), but cats just seemed so common knowledge to me. Guess I was wrong, there's a lot I didn't know.