Spayed cat acting like she's in heat

[catzilla]

Has this ever happened to anyone else?
Our little calico/tortie was spayed shortly after we got her (& when our vet said she was old enough).
However every so often Izzy thinks she's in heat! The yowling, the raised butt, the desperate pleas, the wriggling across the floor -the works.
We called around and found that a couple of vets said when this rare type of behavior comes up after being spayed, a second "exploratory" spay can be effective. Unfortunatly the vet that spayed her doesn't want anything to do with this second spay theory. When I told him that other vets felt it would be effective he said, "Go have them do it." then hung up rather rudely. I think the idea is he doesn't want to do it for fear that we will come to the conclussion he didn't do the spay properly in the first place.
Well we feel like this, we paid him to spay our kitty, she does not appear to be spayed properly and therefore he did not hold up his end of the contract.
In the meantime I hesitate to even put her through a second surgery as she is such a small cat and I don't want it to be too taxing for her. Additionally the thought of this angry vet touching her ever again is chilling so we intend to take her to the more resonable vets in the future.
Any suggestions about how to let the community know about such an unpleasant vet. I was later told by one of his staff that he has a tendancy to skimp on the anesthesia when operating on cats which is really scary.

 

[debra myers]

Oh My Goodness! That is awful. I agree with you about NOT taking your baby back to him. I have never experienced this type of behavior with my kitties~but it certainly sounds like the old Vet did not do the job correctly,thus leaving a lot of raging hormones for your kitty to deal with and you TOO!

Perhaps I would have another Vet look at kitty and decide with him what to do. If indeed the other guy botched the job, I would report him to the better business bureau and sue him in small claims court!

 

[hissy]

Catzilla,

I would contact your State Veterinary Medical Board. Many of the states now have websites and you can email your concern. However, in the initial email do not name the vet in question, just tell them the circumstances around the whole situation and ask for guidance. I too, would not take your cat back to this vet. BUT if a second spay has to be doneI would write a strong letter and tell him you want you money back.

I had a similiar thing happen to one of my horses. It was a real horror story when this vet came out to geld my breeding stock paint. Trav had a reaction to the anesthesia and started convulsing and throwing himself everywhere. I thought he was dying! The vet still wanted to cut him, and I ran the incompetent man off my property, then after a few days went and wrote a strong letter to his clinic. I had an existing vet bill they *forgave* and they said it would never happen again. I switched vets and found out months later that this same vet did a similiar thing to another client, only this time killing the horse by cutting a main artery when he gelded him. I can only hope this vet is no longer employed.

 

[valanhb]

What a horrible situation. I have heard of this before, when the vet doesn't get all of the ovary in the spay procedure. I've actually heard of cats that were "spayed" becoming pregnant.

Usually it is completely accidental, and the vets will re-spay at little or no cost since it was their mistake. From your vet's reaction, it sounds like he is just an incompetent oaf, who knows he messed up but won't give up the almighty dollar to fix it. I guess just thank your lucky stars that something terrible didn't happen, and this situation can be fixed.

I'm sure there are governing agencies overlooking vets, you can probably find out more from the Better Business Bureau. If you do find that the spay was not done properly in the first place, and he is not willing to make good with you, I would seriously consider taking him to small claims court to get your money back for at least the initial spay. If this is a consideration, document EVERYTHING. When the initial spay was done, Izzy's behaviour, calls back to the initial vet (write down as much of the conversation as you can remember, especially asking for a second exploratory spaying), other vet's opinions, and definitely if you do the second surgery exactly what the second vet finds (proof the first one was botched, if it was).

Good luck, and please keep us posted.

 

[sandie]

You can make a complaint to the better buisness bureau and with the State vet as Hissy advised. I would also talk to another vet and ask them about going in again to make sure the first vet got everything. Biggest reason being that if he left things in, it could cause infections and problems later. I would also ask the vet about doing the surgery under isoflourane only. It's much safer and she could be right back out of anastesia if need be.

 

[the dreaded tum]

It could be important to your cat's health and longevity to go through the second operation (although I understand your concerns). She obviously has enough remaining tissue to go into repeated heats, which can cause prometra, a bacterial infection of the uterine tissue that affects cats who go through heats not resulting in pregnancy. This infection can be life-threatening, resulting in kidney damage or failure.

In addition, having her spayed properly will reduce her future risks of uterine and mammary cancers and cysts. So I do strongly urge you to take your cat to another vet and have the exploratory surgery.

 

[missyc]

My sister's cat was spayed and did the samethings that your cat is doing except she accepted a stray cat. Well my sister called her vet and he said that this was not unusual behavior. So she took him at his word.

Well, the day before Thanksgiving 3 years ago, she called the vet and said "I think my cat is in labor." He thought she was crazy, but said bring her in. So he checked her, did an x-ray, and delivered by c-section the pretties little white kitten at no charge and reimbursed her for the first surgrey.

He had not gotten everything. So if it were me I would have the second surgrey.

 

[sherry213]

I am so glad to see this thread! Sally (2 year old Calico) was spayed a year ago & is acting like she's in heat, and we're taking her to the vet's tonight for a checkup. I've been a basket case for the past few days thinking that something else was wrong with her. Catzilla, have you gotten a second opinion yet?

Sherry

 

[karkel59]

What did you find out ? Now I'm afraid that 64 spay didn't work, the VET said she only had one ovary...this is a good VET though, she said 64 had one ovary and one kidney..but 64 is acting strange, like she is in heart, but some people said this is normal...is it ?

 

[kltaylor]

I have a cat like this. My vet said that they could do the surgery but the amount of tissue that is causing this is so small that it is like a needle in a haystack. It would put your cat through much unnecessary stress and most likely wouldn't be able to find the offending tissue causing it. Just keep your baby away from male cats because they can rip her neck up causing bad abscesses trying to "mate" with her. 

 

[karkel59]

So the vet is going to pay to have 64 re spayed, what are the chances they won't get it all this time ?I'm  afraid

 

[mercedes1985]

I'm dealing with the same problem and I got my female spayed through a clinic that the humane society set up for free. I never had any problems with my cats getting spayed or neutered until that clinic they got involved with. I have got a hold of them after she got spayed and they told me that its a hormone change and its common for females to have a false heat but she went in heat again and now its worse she is going in heat every week when she wasnt spayed it was every month and she is really sensitive in her back area and have noticed clear discharge also.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

For those of you wondering what to do, and especially Mercedes 1985, get your cats rechecked by another vet.  Never, ever ignore a discharge and tenderness.  Get her in to a new vet if the original one gives you any static at all.  Discharge is not normal.  Also, report the difficulty to the shelter that you adopted her from.  I guarantee they want to know about something like this.  Best of luck with the various over-heated kitties. 

Hekitty had to have a re-spay, which my vets did at a drastically reduced charge...not entirely free, but at about 10% of the normal fee for spaying.  Everything is lovely now.