Advice on spaying

missthisbe

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I recently adopted a cat from a county animal control that is female and estimated at about age five. She was found abandoned on some rural farm property with two other cats, and animal control states that she has not been spayed. My vet is very hesitant to spay a cat unless 100% sure it has not already been done and would like to wait until after the cat goes into heat to know for certain. I have never had experience with a cat in heat and was wondering if I should anticipate for this to be very loud for long periods of time. I have some shared walls with neighbors and worry about noise complaints. I was wondering if she would likely be disruptive to neighbors, and if I should consider an alternate route such as trying to have an ultrasound instead of waiting for her to go into heat. (I do not currently know much about the ultrasound route short of it being quite expensive and am not sure if it tends to be conclusive or not.) I want to avoid getting into a situation in which there would be noise complaints and a demand from my neighborhood association to rehome the cat for disruption.
 

Willowy

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Not all cats are terribly noisy about it. If she is, you can have her boarded at the vet's office---it'll cost a bit but it's better than being kicked out!

Be prepared, if she isn't spayed she may already be pregnant.
 
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missthisbe

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I don’t think it is likely she could be pregnant. She was at animal control for over a month and has since been with me for three weeks.
 

Renne

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I had two extreme cats. One was so loud that people could hear her from the third floor (and we live on the fifth floor). Another was so quiet that we didn't hear her at all in the next room. It's a game of chance.

I don't know about your situation, but in my country boarding a cat for a week is more costly than ultrasound. Finding out about local prices might help. Ultrasound should be conclusive, but of course just waiting for her to enter heat might be cheaper if she's a quiet cat.

If your neighbors do complain, can't you just tell them alright I will spay her and you'll hear no more meowing? Typically very loud meowing, if your cat does it, will only last for a few days.
 

She's a witch

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Not only is heat major inconvenience for people and possibly their neighbors, but also for a cat in question.. In the best scenario she will be slightly uncomfortable, in the worst she will be suffering, although probably not because of pain. Plus, even female cats may urinate out of the box during heat. Personally I wouldn't want my cat to go through this and I'd decide on ultrasound instead. If you're in the US, chances are that she was spayed by removing both ovaries and uterus, which will be easily visible on the ultrasound, but even if only her ovaries were taken out, ultrasound should confirm this as well. I don't think that other method are practiced in the US?
And if you were to board her because she'd indeed end up in very loud heat, boarding can be very stressful for her too.. not mentioning that she'd be seeking attention but she'll be placed alone in the kennel instead. For me that'd be heartbreaking. The boarding place may also refuse to board a cat in heat. I wouldn't want that if I run such place :)
By any chance, isn't her ear tipped?
Anyway, unless the cost is huge issue, I'd decide on ultrasound first. If the cost is the issue, how about spaying her at the first sight of being in heat? it's possible but it requires more skills&experience from the vet so I'd do this only if you know 100% that your vet would know how to do this and agrees to adjust their schedule when the time comes. And it costs a bit more than normal procedure.
 

ArchyCat

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She's a witch She's a witch -- My vet told me when I wanted to spay a young female I had rescued off the street, that she had just started her first heat, and that spaying while a cat was in heat ran the risk of heavy hemorrhaging during surgery. He told me to bring her back after she recovered. Fortunately for me, she was the silent type!
 

She's a witch

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She's a witch She's a witch -- My vet told me when I wanted to spay a young female I had rescued off the street, that she had just started her first heat, and that spaying while a cat was in heat ran the risk of heavy hemorrhaging during surgery. He told me to bring her back after she recovered. Fortunately for me, she was the silent type!
yeah I'm aware of that - the organs and vessels in heat are supplied with blood more so yes, the risk is increased, that's why I mentioned that the vet would need to be experienced in this type of procedure. So if I didn't have 100% trust that the vet is skillful enough, I'd never choose to do this. But it's possible and practised. Ideal? Nope.
 

kittenmittens84

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It obviously depends on the vet but I’m in a high cost of living area and when my cat had to get an ultrasound recently it was $148. Obviously not cheap, but as far as vet visits go it’s not exorbitantly expensive. Maybe it’s worth asking your vet what the US route would entail and how much it would cost? Not only can cats in heat be loud but it’s also very stressful for them.
 

MissClouseau

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If I'm not mistaken there is another test to see if she's spayed. Not ultrasound. I want to say a blood test to check hormones. (We weren't sure if my cat was spayed and the vet mentioned a test like that but didn't give much info as she believed the cat was already spayed and we were discussing the options for no reason.)
 

moxiewild

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I just had an older kitten in heat. She was EXTREMELY vocal, but did not have a voice that “carried”, as it were.

Do you have a relationship with your neighbors? You could always inform them in person, text, email, or by note on the door letting them know the situation, requesting patience, and apologizing in advance. You could also speak to the landlord about this directly so s/he knows it will only be a temporary problem if anyone does complain.

I have substantial experience with cats and rescue, but not much with cats in heat because they’re either already neutered or end up neutered VERY quickly after meeting me! So I only recently had my first substantial experience with a cat in heat that was an older kitten who was too sick to spay at the time.

Honestly... it looked far more uncomfortable, stressful, and upsetting for her than I imagined. It was just very sad to see her bo longer have interest in anything else but mating, and her vocalizations expressed pretty clear frustration and desperation. The whole thing was way more uncomfortable to witness than I ever imagined.

If you can afford it, I’d go for an ultrasound. Honestly, I’m not sure how ultrasound pricing works. It’s racked up bills at a specialist office before, but my regular vet has frequently done it for free or $60.

Either way, call tomorrow to ask about pricing. If it’s affordable to you, definitely go that route.

Another reason I would go this way is because cycles can last a while... you can still have them spayed while in heat, but there’s elevated risk. Otherwise, you could be stuck with a howling cat for weeks, and you, your neighbors, and your landlord may be less tolerant of that.

If you have to get kitty spayed while in heat, I would suggest doing so at a spay/neuter clinic, as it’s all they do say in and day out. They have the procedures down pat, and have a lot of experience spaying pregnant and in heat in particular, which many private practice vets have relatively limited experience with.

Downside is that sometimes these clinics don’t offer pre-op bloodwork.

If that’s the case, for my personal cats, I would schedule appointments that would allow for me to get pre-op bloodwork with my regular vet and have them clear the cat, and then the spay kitty later that day or the next day at the spay/neuter clinic.

But again... ultrasound could mitigate most of this potential mess.

Was there any apparent spay scar?
 
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missthisbe

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Thanks everyone. I ended up just paying for the ultrasound and she’s since been spayed. She’s recovering well and already eager to be up and playing again. It was all pretty expensive and much more than I was hoping to spend but I didn’t want to have to worry about the cat being uncomfortable or accidentally making my neighbors’ living situation bad. Also, it allowed me to get her spayed within the one month timeframe I was contracted to follow by the animal control I adopted her from. They had been terribly nice and refunded me up front since I traveled a long way to rescue her, and I would have felt bad if I had messed up things on their end by not following through.
 
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