Kitten In Heat..

[candicew]

Hello,
So to make a long story short, the kitten we have, which is around 5 months or so, has not been spayed yet as she was hit by a car and the spay was delated until later this month by the shelter. We have her spay scheduled for the end of month.
I noticed today Seraphina acting very strangely.. She was rubbing on things. Being super sweet to the other cats. then all of a sudden started meowing and then walking as if her hips hurt(as I first though as it seemed she was in pain!) she was almost like crawling on the ground meowing and he had her bum/tail lifted up a bit. I had never had a cat act like this and I really though she had hurt her legs/hits or something as I knew she was hit by a care a few weeks ago.. so I had to look online.. turned out what I was seeing was, she is in heat!
I called the shelter to let them now and they said it will only last about a week and it will pretty much just be a show for us and the other cats to watch as all males I have are already neutered lol

So that was it until I looked up a bit more about it now and see that they can stat spraying urine UGH. Please tell me there is a way to stop this? I really never wanted an un-spayed cat, I have always adopted fully fixed, it just turned out she got to come home before the procedure as she did not need to sit in the shelter for another month and it was best she came home before. .. not really wanting to deal with this but know now I need to
Any help appreciated. Thank you!

 

[Mamanyt1953]

They can, but they don't always, and the spay at the end of the month will solve the issue very quickly. Unless females are in heat, or territorially threatened they just aren't big sprayers when they are indoor-only cats. Outdoors, of course, they have to mark territory constantly. That isn't the case here. Should she spray during this heat, the key thing is to remember that this, too, shall pass, and to invest in an enzymatic cleaner so that the smell won't prompt further spraying after the spay.

LOL...I typed "spaying after the spray" twice before I got it right! My fingers are on strike today!

 

[kissthisangel]

Male cats are more likely to spray. Your female cat may mark when she is in heat, an enzyme cleaner as Mamanyt said should remove the scent and stop her from associating that area as a toilet after her spay. Right now though she will likely be baying, where the cat rolls around on the floor and yells "I'm ready" to attract any nearby males, the actions you have described above are the start of this. You can't really do anything to stop this behaviour.

You said all your males are neutered anyway, so it's just a case of keeping her inside and grinning and bearing any marking issues. You could try Increasing the amount of litter boxes you have but spraying and marking is more about saying "I'm here I'm here, find me". IF marking does become a problem you could isolate her to one or two rooms she can heavily mark without it being so much of an issue (hard easy clean floors etc). I would not normally suggest confining a cat for longer periods however you did not ask to pick up the cat in-tact and you also have to consider your residents who may become nervous if the new cat starts to mark everything. You'll need to go in there and pay her special attention and play with her still.

Overall I think you should wait to see IF this becomes a problem and if it does then perhaps consider confining the cat to one area without interfrence from your residents. It should make her feel more secure as well as she will feel like it is all safe and owned. After this you will need to re-introduce the cats, once she is recovered from her surgery.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

And you'll know the baying...she'll be screaming "LET MEOWWWT, LET MEOOOOWWWWWT! NEOW, NEOW, NEOW!!!" I recommend Mack's Pillow Soft earplugs. The upcoming spay will take care of that very nicely, too!

 

[danteshuman]

Please be extra careful to make sure she doesn't escape. Cats in heat & intact males are driven by their hormones to escape. Maybe keep her in a room so you have an extra door between her and the front door?

 

[candicew]

Thank you so she hasn't started spraying so far as I can tell I don't at least I hope think that's not her thing . But I have noticed one time last night and one time today I was around the same time around 830 in the evening one of my neutered males will mount her over by the door . I'm pretty sure he's totally neutered and he was neutered quite young as well in a shelter I'm honestly not sure why this is happening but I guess it's OK ?The other male cat just walks away from her, no interest at all but this other cat he follows her around and like I said he's mounted her two times by the door one last night and one tonight. I noticed the whole grabbing neck thing and all of that. So odd . I really wish she would've come already fixed but I know with the car accident they had to wait

 

[Mamanyt1953]

There are two reasons that neutered males mount. The first is domination, but the second is that neutering doesn't necessarily take away all drive to mate, although it does take away the unwanted results and seriously diminishes the willingness to fight for mating rights.

 

[candicew]

So crazy, who would of thought

 

[danteshuman]

I had 2 neutered male cats and a young cat in heat once. One of the neutered males would bite her, mount her and then look all confused .... needless to say we were all VERY happy when she got spayed and stopped screaming her head off

 

[candicew]

So interesting thing it seems the heat is over I think one of the neutered males I have did more than be confused when he mounted her and I've read about it I guess when they have a meeting session even if they don't get pregnant they have almost like a pretend pregnancy or something and then they stop being in heat . I thought for sure it happened and three nights in a row. So glad all that has ended and I'm so excited for the end of the months vet visit!

 

[Willowy]

A neutered male can't bring her out of heat. Tomcats have barbs on their penises that stimulate the female as they pull out, and that's what makes them ovulate. Neutered males have lost those barbs. So even if he "helps her out" it won't work, poor thing. Active heat usually lasts around 5 days so I think it was just her normal cycle.

She may go back into active heat again before her appointment. And keep in mind that a female cat can get pregnant even when not in active heat, so be vigilant about door and window security.

 

[candicew]

Thank you! Good to know. I read that that but just was not sure why she had stopped her 'active' heat stuff lol

Oh yeah I know. we are being really careful.r

A neutered male can't bring her out of heat. Tomcats have barbs on their penises that stimulate the female as they pull out, and that's what makes them ovulate. Neutered males have lost those barbs. So even if he "helps her out" it won't work, poor thing. Active heat usually lasts around 5 days so I think it was just her normal cycle.

She may go back into active heat again before her appointment. And keep in mind that a female cat can get pregnant even when not in active heat, so be vigilant about door and window security.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Aren't cats just the most amazing creatures? And think of all the stories you have now!