Help! Spayed cat acting like she's in heat!

[luvmycatz]

Hi,

New here, 1st post and concerned for my 2 year old female, Patches. She was spayed on 3/7/03 (late, I know, she joined our family late.) I had her through 4 heats before her surgery. She's been fine since until the past 4 days.

She's been very restless but of more concern is she's prowling around the house, doing the plaintive (heartbreaking!) "heat" call/cry that I haven't heard for months. She seems to want to be held more and scratched around the head, neck and ears. She's also been a bit more aggressive lately with me and the other cats.

I don't think another cat is around outdoors, as my other 2 are acting oblivious. There have been no changes in the household.

Anyone here ever heard of/experienced this with any of their babies? I feel so bad for her and will take her to the vet if she doesn't stop soon, but was wondering if, in the mean time, anyone on this knowledgable board had any ideas?

Thanks in advance!

Lynda

 

[kitty queen]

She may be sick or something and is just showing it in a weird way. I would take her to the vet if she has already been doing this for four days. You never want to wait with a cat. They like to hide it if they are sick, so if you can tell something is wrong, I would take her in.

 

[lotsocats]

Believe it or not, during spaying the vet can sometimes miss a piece of ovary which then enables the cat to continue going into heat. I read about this in CatWatch newsletter. It was written by a vet at Cornell University. He said that cat ovaries are not like those in humans, but can be spread out in a variety of spots (instead of two spots in humans), and that a piece of ovary can be tiny and easily overlooked. He also said that in these cases in which a piece of ovary was missed, it is easiest to do the corrective surgery while she is in heat, because the hidden piece of ovary will be bright red and easy to spot. So...perhaps this is what happened in your cat's case.

I hope I didn't mess up this summary of something I read a month or more ago.

 

[luvmycatz]

Thanks for the responses...

Kitty Queen: She is definitely showing all the signs of heat. She has no temperature, she's eating/going to the bathroom fine, everything seems normal.

Lotsocats: I called the vet and am waiting for a call back. The receptionist said when she checked with the doctor, he said "It's been known to happen". Sounds like you may be on to something there. Thanks for the info, I didn't know that.

I just feel bad that she would have to go through surgery again. Also, would this be the vet's fault? What I mean is, do you think I would be charged for another surgery? I know only the vet can answer that, but opinions please?

Thanks,

Lynda

 

[lotsocats]

I don't have that issue of CatWatch with me, but I remember the vet saying that while it is a vet error, the missed pieces of ovary are usually so very small that it would be almost unhuman for anyone to have seen them. So, it is unlikely that it is due to being sloppy or careless during the surgery. He also said that some vets will do the follow-up surgery for free, whereas others charge full price. If your vet doesn't offer to do it for free, you might ask whether you can split the cost with him/her because it was not your fault.

 

[karkel59]

Please tell me what happened...my cat seems to be going thru same thing.