My new foster is declawed--what's the probability that she's spayed?

crazy4strays

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I caught a new stray and am now fostering her. She's front declawed and was out in our semi-remote rural area. Poor baby! I'm sure that she was formerly someone's indoor cat and was terrified when she was out trying to survive in the wild. She is very underweight, but I'm working on the weight gain thing.

Our rescue kind of hedged for awhile on what to do about spaying. Apparently this is a very uncommon scenario for them. In the end, she was FIV/FelV tested, vaccinated, and treated with Revolution. She was shaved and they didn't see a visible spay scar. However, last fall, I had a foster cat who accidentally got a 2nd surgery due to no visible spay scar. So I know that not having a visible scar doesn't rule out prior spay surgery.

Apparently, there are occasionally cats around here who are declawed and not spayed/neutered, because the vet said that they see cases of that on occasion.

The rescue ended up deciding on a "wait and see" approach.

What signs should I be watching for?
 

pushylady

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I would assume that she's spayed, but that is only an assumption. I'm surprised the vet has seen a few cases of just declawing. Sad to think the owner would do that - pay to put their pet through an operation for their convenience, but not for the one that benefits the cat.
 

terestrife

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all you can do is wait and see if she'll go through her first heat. i googled it and i read that they can have their first heat around 4-6 months. but thats not an exact number. 

i know thats probably not the answer you are looking for, but at least this way she wont be operated on needlessly.

if you do decide to do that make sure shes 100% indoors until you find out for certain.
 
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crazy4strays

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She is an adult and is estimated to be at least 1 year old. So I assume that she should start going into heat soon, if not spayed.

However I saw and felt what appeared to be a little bit of scar tissue on her shaved belly, even though the vet's office claimed that they didn't find a scar.
 

terestrife

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She is an adult and is estimated to be at least 1 year old. So I assume that she should start going into heat soon, if not spayed.

However I saw and felt what appeared to be a little bit of scar tissue on her shaved belly, even though the vet's office claimed that they didn't find a scar.
weird that they didnt notice, if you were able to find it yourself. 
 
 

pushylady

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That is strange. This would convince me more if it were my cat to take the wait and see approach. I agree with not putting her through the stress of an unnecessary operation. You will certainly know if she does go into heat! And you're a sensible person who can make sure she won't "get into trouble" if she isn't spayed.
 
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crazy4strays

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Yes, I think that it will be fine. My personal pets are male cats and they are both neutered. So, it's not like she has an immediate risk of pregnancy.

In the unlikely event that she's not spayed and starts going into heat, we can take her in and do it then. She's so emaciated, I hate to put her under anesthesia and through surgery for no reason. When she gets adopted, we will also put a clause in the contract saying that the adopter is responsible to have her spayed, in the unlikely event that she ever goes into heat. And she will only be adopted to an indoor home, since she's declawed.
 

alh071

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My vet is usually able to palpate and tell if they have been spayed, if there is any doubt (he can feel the incision). Worst case, they would shave her to spay her and find the scar then (happened with my first cat, Suita).
 
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crazy4strays

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Well, the rescue assumed that she was spayed and adopted her out. The adopter wound up with a litter of kittens!! So she was not spayed after all. The rescue took in any kittens that needed adoption and paid for the mom's spay.

I'm always amazed that vets will declaw without the cat being spayed or neutered.
 

ailish

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I'm glad the rescue made good on this! I would never assume something like this, some people are just weird about spaying. When I adopted Ailish she had just weaned kittens and I had the spay paperwork from the vet, but I was still paranoid. She seemed to get wild at times. When I took her to my vet I asked her to check for my own satisfaction that she was, indeed spayed. Because it had been less than a year the doctor could still see the scar, thank goodness. No heats in a year and a half, so I guess we're good! She was about a year when I got her, had already had a litter, so she was still kind of young and had some kitten-like craziness left in her.
 

pushylady

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Wow! I guess you just never know huh? That's great the rescue did the right thing and got her spayed.
 

Patomas

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I had my cat spayed at the Humane Society and they tattooed her on the abdominal area (it's a green mark). I don't know if they do in other places but they tend to do that here in Ontario.
 
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