Coping with a female cat in heat

[lutece]

I am afraid Dr. Fox who has a nation wide newspaper column would have to disagree with you on that one.

I was alerted to this problem in a consultation with Dr. Rick Kesler who is a nationally known feline reproductive specialist. He explained to me how the hormonal changes that accompany ovulation make the uterine environment more hospitable to infection, and therefore it is not good practice to induce ovulation using a Q-tip or other methods in order to control cats' heat cycles. Most cats with uterine disease are found to have luteal phase ovaries which indicate ovulation has recently occurred; in cats that were not bred or specifically induced to ovulate, it is thought that the ovulation occurred spontaneously (through accidental stimulation or for some other reason). Breeders' attempts to control their female cats' heat cycles by inducing ovulation is thought to be one of the reasons pyometra occurs more often in breeding cats kept in catteries than in domestic cats in general.

For a more complete understanding of feline reproduction, here is a good (although technical) article written by Dr. Susan Little which discusses the hormonal changes during the cat's heat cycle, ovulation and pregnancy, uterine disease, etc., including references.

Female Reproduction

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[jefferd18]

I was alerted to this problem in a consultation with Dr. Rick Kesler who is a nationally known feline reproductive specialist. He explained to me how the hormonal changes that accompany ovulation make the uterine environment more hospitable to infection, and therefore it is not good practice to induce ovulation using a Q-tip or other methods in order to control cats' heat cycles. Most cats with uterine disease are found to have luteal phase ovaries which indicate ovulation has recently occurred; in cats that were not bred or specifically induced to ovulate, it is thought that the ovulation occurred spontaneously (through accidental stimulation or for some other reason). Breeders' attempts to control their female cats' heat cycles by inducing ovulation is thought to be one of the reasons pyometra occurs more often in breeding cats kept in catteries than in domestic cats in general.

For a more complete understanding of feline reproduction, here is a good (although technical) article written by Dr. Susan Little which discusses the hormonal changes during the cat's heat cycle, ovulation and pregnancy, uterine disease, etc., including references.

http://[URL]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7158189/

[/URL]

I am going by what Dr. Fox has written because a relative of mine had tried it with no adverse effects. The cat was able to calm down and my cousin was then able to get her to the vet a week later to be spayed. I don't agree with Dr. Fox's approach to feral cats but his columns are usually helpful.

Differing opinions among scientists and doctors are normal.

 

[jefferd18]

All I can find from him on the subject is: "Feline behavioral researchers have documented that genital stimulation with a cotton swab has been shown to bring cats out of heat and bring on a quiescent phase of false pregnancy."

Which is true, but lutece is pointing out that it's not a good thing to do as it increases chances of pyo.

Plus, the column I found with that advice was talking about a cat with ovarian remnant syndrome, who didn't have a uterus that could get infected. . .and he still recommended getting her surgery.

You last paragraph is moot because we are not talking about the surgery he recommended. My cousin followed his advice about the cotton swap and it worked. The cat became calm and was then taken to the vet to be spayed a week later. The only thing I have ever disagreed with in regards to Dr. Fox, is his approach towards feral cats.

 

[lutece]

You last paragraph is moot because we are not talking about the surgery he recommended. My cousin followed his advice about the cotton swap and it worked. The cat became calm and was then taken to the vet to be spayed a week later. The only thing I have ever disagreed with in regards to Dr. Fox, is his approach towards feral cats.

Induction of ovulation doesn't shorten the current heat cycle, its effect is to delay the next heat cycle.

 

[Willowy]

Oh. I also thought that the act of mating (or simulated) would bring her out of heat.

 

[lutece]

Oh. I also thought that the act of mating (or simulated) would bring her out of heat.

It brings them out of heat in the sense that they won't come back into heat for another 7-10 weeks or so (because ovulation triggers "pseudopregnancy") but it doesn't shorten the current heat cycle. Dr Susan Little mentions this in her article. She also discusses the phenomenon of spontaneous ovulation which is thought to account for long periods between heat cycles in some cats.

In some cases, cats' heat cycles are so close together that their behavior appears to be one long continuous heat cycle. In this case ovulation will appear to "bring them out of heat" because it stops the cycle from recurring for a while.

 

[jefferd18]

Induction of ovulation doesn't shorten the current heat cycle, its effect is to delay the next heat cycle.

Okay, without going too much into everything, a reader wrote in to say that her cat was driving her crazy with her in heat behavior. He recommended the Q-tip to lull the cat into a sense of false pregnancy. I don't know what the reader experienced with her own cat but it worked for my cousin.

 

[lutece]

Okay, without going too much into everything, a reader wrote in to say that her cat was driving her crazy with her in heat behavior. He recommended the Q-tip to lull the cat into a sense of false pregnancy. I don't know what the reader experienced with her own cat but it worked for my cousin.

Yes, "lull the cat into a sense of false pregnancy" is basically what it does... simulated mating induces the cat to ovulate and begin a pseudopregnancy, so after the current heat cycle ends, she doesn't go into back into heat again for a while. That's why breeders use these various methods to induce ovulation, to give the cat a break from her heat cycles. Often this is done in order to show a female cat for a season and maintain weight and coat. Unfortunately this practice raises the risk of reproductive and fertility issues for the cat, so you often see females that have wonderful show careers but never manage to produce offspring after that, or must be spayed due to pyometra or other issues.

 

[jefferd18]

Induction of ovulation doesn't shorten the current heat cycle, its effect is to delay the next heat cycle.

Once again, not relevant because the discussion was about getting the cat through a heat cycle until they could get them to their vet to get spayed.

Yes, "lull the cat into a sense of false pregnancy" is basically what it does... simulated mating induces the cat to ovulate and begin a pseudopregnancy, so after the current heat cycle ends, she doesn't go into back into heat again for a while. That's why breeders use these various methods to induce ovulation, to give the cat a break from her heat cycles. Often this is done in order to show a female cat for a season and maintain weight and coat. Unfortunately this practice raises the risk of reproductive and fertility issues for the cat, so you often see females that have wonderful show careers but never manage to produce offspring after that, or must be spayed due to pyometra or other issues.

This is why I would imagine he recommended it to a reader who only wanted to get her cat through a couple of weeks until the time of the spaying appointment.

There are many unethical breeders in this world who are nothing but soulless predators- and I don't see that stopping anytime soon.

 

[The Goodbye Bird]

Don’t know if it makes a difference about anything but her first litter all ended up with green eyes and unusually long tails. Their tales are about 2 inches longer than normal and they hook the ends over like a sheapards hook when they walk. I tried to look that trait up but found nothing on it.

I admit this sounds odd but cats' tails do curl almost all the time. You pet them, they curl. They walk, they curl. They see something interesting, they curl. Still, all of them having the same exact and unusual way of curling and weirdly long tails sounds like the male siring them is something very interesting.

What I'm guessing (sort of a half-wild, half-educated guess here) is that there are a couple ferals out in the vast, walmartless wilds where you live, and the populations there have bred with each other for a while, undergone some natural selection, and developed some interesting and perhaps even unique traits. One thing you see in conjunction with long, long tails being selected for in the wild (in many species) is arboreality. In other words, a propensity to live in trees. Cats can already climb trees so if they live out in an area where they feed predominantly on squirrels and/or taking adult birds from trees, selection in that direction may have proceeded, and I know where I'd be looking for that male.

I'm interested in the brown kittens born alongside the colourpoints. PM me if you like.

Oh. I also thought that the act of mating (or simulated) would bring her out of heat.

I can attest that it does. I know this from experience. I had a cat that would occasionally go into heat and not go out. For a month. Cutip fixed her right up every time. And yes, I made sure to do it at various stages of her weird everlasting heats. After it worked on the month, I tried it after she'd been in heat for half that. Boom. Fixed. Next I tried around the three week mark. Did the trick. These were all about a year apart because I didn't do anything if she just had a normal heat.

Now it doesn't work instantly, but it does work.

Each time it took about a day and a half of her demanding service.

This was a long time ago and I didn't know about pyometra but the cat never showed any signs that she was sick or bloated or leaking nasty stuff.

Now I admit that this theoretically could be her having back-to-back heats and me having a placebo effect that the thing I did worked, but it's not very likely.

Often this is done in order to show a female cat for a season and maintain weight and coat. Unfortunately this practice raises the risk of reproductive and fertility issues for the cat, so you often see females that have wonderful show careers but never manage to produce offspring after that, or must be spayed due to pyometra or other issues.

That's so sad. I would rather them take points off and win a lesser prize than sacrifice the future for an immediate benefit. I don't want to get up on a soap box here but I feel like this is a pattern I'm seeing and why I feel like society is rotting, this particular symptom: Instead of losing, the immediate gratification people always win over the people who pick the sustainable thing.

It's like all the games in play (metaphor for the way people compete in the real world) have been hacked down to bare bones and rushed out unfinished by some soulless developer who fired the art team and the quest writing team to make a bigger buck by cutting everything but rated PvP.

I wouldn't use the cutip on a show cat, especially for that reason, but I stand by the fact that it's not a big risk for somebody who's getting spayed in a little while anyway.

 

[vyger]

Seems this is the more common way. Makes me want to don a safari uniform and go out to the vast, walmartless wilds around Vyger's house and capture the dad that's siring all those kittens. I'm picturing him as a Siamese cat with three heads, blue eyes, pink eyes, green eyes, and the golden fleece of legend, guarding a jewel-encrusted chalice (*takes the cat, leaves the chalice*). Though this is probably just because my already overactive imagination has been fueled by the fact that the last time I went out to trim my yard I found Dr. Livingston. (Note: Letting it grow doesn't cover the thin patches.)

Somehow I had missed your comment here.
When the three white kittens showed up I was pretty surprised. They were at first totally white and with the first little eye showing through those were pink. I was wondering albinos? So I started a thread about that. That is here : Albinos maybe.
There are more pictures of those guys and of the grandma, the feral.
I am pretty sure I know who the dad of the first green eyed litter is. It could have been a different one but this one was hanging around a lot. He was also tame, I think he belonged to a neighbor. I have not seen the tame one around in a long time. They might have gotten him fixed or he might have run into a predator or something. One of the kittens from the first litter looks very much like him. I don't know if the longer tails comes from the mom because she somehow lost most of her tail. Also the tips of her ears have been frosted. Two of the other kittens litters were fathered by a tuxedo and about half of those ended up being tuxedos. Also one mom had 2 solid black kittens. That dad, the tuxedo, is always hanging around and has become very tame. I can get within 2 feet of him and talk to him. He looks at me with uncertainty and then backs up but not wild at all. He also hangs out with the kittens a lot and the moms are OK with it so he looks to be a mild mannered cat.
I just saw your last comment so I will send you a message.

 

[lutece]

Now I admit that this theoretically could be her having back-to-back heats and me having a placebo effect that the thing I did worked, but it's not very likely.

If she was having heat cycles where she exhibited estrus behavior longer than one week, yes that would be my guess. In my experience with cats actually mating, they don't go out of heat right away after being bred... the heat cycle generally seems to last as long as it would have otherwise. I separate them after three days so that I don't have too much uncertainty about the mating date but I've seen cats keep on mating for 5-6 days if not separated.

 

[The Goodbye Bird]

I separate them after three days so that I don't have too much uncertainty about the mating date but I've seen cats keep on mating for 5-6 days if not separated.

I have heard that letting them keep going you will get a higher kitten yield, but you risk some being a little smaller than others. I'm not sure if this is true or not. I wouldn't know.