Cat in heat - can't be spayed. What to do?
Posted: Sat Oct 12, 2019 2:48 pm
Hi everyone - first time posting! I have a bit of an usual situation on my hands.
Almost 3 years ago my husband and I rescued a little black cat from a local rescue, called Lady Serena (we call her Lady for short). The rescue didn't know much about her except she is roughly 10+ years old, she has IBS and a heart murmur (they tried to spay her when she came into the rescue but the anesthetic didn't work too well with her heart murmur so they had to stop the operation). As such she is an indoor cat because she can't be spayed.
For the first 18 months / 2 years, Lady would go back to the rescue every 6 months for a hormone injection which kept her hormones under control and stopped her having seasons. A new vet at the rescue one day said she had concerns keeping Lady on the injection long term because it can cause side effects. We were happy with the recommendation and agreed to leave her natural and see what happened.
Back in August she experienced her first heat cycle with us, it is now mid-October and she is experiencing her 4th (maybe 5th?) heat cycle now. The cycles will last a couple of weeks, then she'll appear her normal self for a week or so and the cycle will resume.
Has anyone else had experience of cats in heat who can't be spayed? Will the season likely end soon until next year? Are the cycles happening so frequently because they were effectively suppressed for so long by her hormone injections? Has anyone experienced any alternatives to a hormone injection that may work?
She isn't a real bother being in heat... she yowls a lot and presents herself to my husband constantly haha. We're more worried about any physical or psychological effects it may have on her, by having constant heat cycles and no pregnancy? We wanted to steer clear of the injection ideally because of the health risks, but equally don't want to cause more damage by having her go through constant cycles. Whatever is best for her is what we'll look into. I would love some advice please if anyone has any similar experience?
Almost 3 years ago my husband and I rescued a little black cat from a local rescue, called Lady Serena (we call her Lady for short). The rescue didn't know much about her except she is roughly 10+ years old, she has IBS and a heart murmur (they tried to spay her when she came into the rescue but the anesthetic didn't work too well with her heart murmur so they had to stop the operation). As such she is an indoor cat because she can't be spayed.
For the first 18 months / 2 years, Lady would go back to the rescue every 6 months for a hormone injection which kept her hormones under control and stopped her having seasons. A new vet at the rescue one day said she had concerns keeping Lady on the injection long term because it can cause side effects. We were happy with the recommendation and agreed to leave her natural and see what happened.
Back in August she experienced her first heat cycle with us, it is now mid-October and she is experiencing her 4th (maybe 5th?) heat cycle now. The cycles will last a couple of weeks, then she'll appear her normal self for a week or so and the cycle will resume.
Has anyone else had experience of cats in heat who can't be spayed? Will the season likely end soon until next year? Are the cycles happening so frequently because they were effectively suppressed for so long by her hormone injections? Has anyone experienced any alternatives to a hormone injection that may work?
She isn't a real bother being in heat... she yowls a lot and presents herself to my husband constantly haha. We're more worried about any physical or psychological effects it may have on her, by having constant heat cycles and no pregnancy? We wanted to steer clear of the injection ideally because of the health risks, but equally don't want to cause more damage by having her go through constant cycles. Whatever is best for her is what we'll look into. I would love some advice please if anyone has any similar experience?