Kitten's First Heat

[julia123]

Last week, I made an appointment to get my 6 month old kitten spayed. The first available appointment was April 18th. Today, my kitten went into heat for the first time.

We have an adult male cat who's neutered, but he's been mounting the kitten all day - biting her on the neck to hold her down and all that. We can break them up when we see them, but what about at night, or when we're not home? He's SO much bigger than she is. Could he hurt her? Their litter box is in the basement so it would be difficult to separate them at night, although not impossible.

We've never gone through this before and would love some advice.

 

[stephanietx]

Call the vet and explain your situation. See if they'll work her in sooner.

 

[ldg]

In the meantime, you can get another litter box so you can separate them.

 

[julia123]

Unfortunately I can't reschedule...the appointment is at the local low-cost clinic and there are a million cats in front of me! It's first come, first served, and they're really backed up...that's why my appointment had to be set 2 weeks out.

So should I try to keep them separated?? Could he hurt her?

 

[ducman69]

I don't think he'd hurt her, but you'd be the best judge of that in person. If in doubt separate them, and one way or the other IMO you need another litterbox. Ideal is number of cats +1, so two cats, three litterboxes.

Worst case scenario, call Chris Hansen so he can have a sit down with your older male. "Have a seat kitty, have a seat right over there." =|

 

[poohandwendy]

I would keep them separated. Even if he doesn't 'hurt her', the stress of his constantly doing that isn't great for either of them.

And she needs to be in a room that has no access to any outside doors, so putting her in a room by herself until she can be spayed will only make it easier to ensure she doesn't get out.

I know it's a pain in the butt, I know she will protest and not like it and meow a lot and probably scratch at the door. But it's one of those necessary evils for the greater good of all involved. It's only a few weeks.

Good luck, I am sure April 18th cannot come soon enough for you LOL.

 

[ducman69]

Originally Posted by poohandwendy

I would keep them separated. Even if he doesn't 'hurt her', the stress of his constantly doing that isn't great for either of them.

Might check w/ breeders, but I believe its actually more stressful to keep her separated. IIRC, most good breeders actually keep a fixed male around to service the females since its unhealthy for them to have too many kittens a year, and the females tend to spaz out if their "needs" aren't met.

 

[poohandwendy]

Originally Posted by Ducman69

Might check w/ breeders, but I believe its actually more stressful to keep her separated. IIRC, most good breeders actually keep a fixed male around to service the females since its unhealthy for them to have too many kittens a year, and the females tend to spaz out if their "needs" aren't met.

Breeders who use a 'trick tom' for that purpose aren't using a neutered tom, they are using a tom who has had a vasectomy because neutering takes away the sex hormones necessary for a tom to have sex. With a vasectomy, they are still intact sexually, just sterile.

Although some neutered toms may retain the ability to have sex, most won't so it would be a waste and frustrating for the female to do it that way. (ie, they may mount her out of instinct, but it's usually just an act of dominance/sexual aggression rather than the sex act).

If the Ops neutered tom was actually having sex with her, her heat cycle would stop because her body would think she had ovulated, so it sounds like he is just going through the motions. Some breeders just use a Q-tip to do the job of tricking the female into thinking she has had sex, to induce ovulation. (ETA, this is NOT something an untrained layperson should attempt in effort to end a heat cycle, it's very dangerous and can kill a cat if not done correctly)

Mounting her with a continued heat cycle is likely to just cause her stress, not relieve her of her 'needs'.