Timing of Spaying

Our family was a tad short on funds this year so I decided to go the route
of a low-cost clinic this time to spay the feral cat we adopted in August.
Our other two cats were spayed by the vet. When I called to make an
appointment with the nearest low-cost clinic, they scheduled me two months
in advance. Now the cat is 7 months old and in heat with the appointment
two weeks away.

Within the past two weeks our financial situation has improved so I do
have the option of taking her to the vet without making an appointment.
The difference in cost is still significant: $45 for low-cost clinic,
$165 for the vet.

We have two other cats, a 5yo male and 3yo female, both neutered. The
cats all get along together but aren't the best of friends.

So what is the worst case scenario of my waiting two weeks? I've been
reading the archives on this group on heat and I understand females can
urinate while in heat. Will a neutered male spray if stressed out too
much over a female he can't accommodate? I'm looking for all the pros and
cons between waiting or going ahead and fixing her immediately. Thanks.

Noreen

On Sun, 11 Jan 2004 01:30:50 +0000, Noreen Cooper wrote:

So what is the worst case scenario of my waiting two weeks?

"Nrow! Nrow! NrOw! NroW! NROW!" etc. ad nauseam.

All day and all night. Not always fun for you unless you can sleep through
it, not necessarily pleasant for the cat either.

I've been
reading the archives on this group on heat and I understand females can
urinate while in heat.

Well, I HOPE so, otherwise she'd die! =^^=

OK, some seriousness. Occasionally a female will spray while in heat - we
had one that did. I don't know how common that is though.

Will a neutered male spray if stressed out too
much over a female he can't accommodate?

When you have neutered males amongst intact females, the results can be a
little unpredictable. For some reason, before we wrapped up over here,
when some of our girls went into heat, one of our neuters would make some
of the motions and get as far as standing over her and scruffing her, and
the other - he who was our first stud - would sometimes try and go all the
way. (I posted a while back on this particular one - to this day, we
think Snape was monogamous.)

I'm looking for all the pros and
cons between waiting or going ahead and fixing her immediately.


Check with your vet. All the vets we consulted with (about half a dozen)
invariably stated that we should spay when the cat is not in heat, not
lactating, or not pregnant. You could do otherwise, they say - I don't
know why they didn't want to spay with a "hot" girl, but one vet (or was
it a tech?) told me that the mammary glands can get in the way during
surgery (making it cumbersome, but not impossible, they said), and I think
there's the implication that an abortion is riskier than they can justify
unless it's an emergency.

--
Dennis Carr - | I may be out of my mind,
http://www.dennis.furtopia.org | But I have more fun that way.
------------------------------------+-------------------------------

On Sun, 11 Jan 2004 01:30:50 +0000, Noreen Cooper wrote:

So what is the worst case scenario of my waiting two weeks?

"Nrow! Nrow! NrOw! NroW! NROW!" etc. ad nauseam.

All day and all night. Not always fun for you unless you can sleep through
it, not necessarily pleasant for the cat either.

I've been
reading the archives on this group on heat and I understand females can
urinate while in heat.

Well, I HOPE so, otherwise she'd die! =^^=

OK, some seriousness. Occasionally a female will spray while in heat - we
had one that did. I don't know how common that is though.

Will a neutered male spray if stressed out too
much over a female he can't accommodate?

When you have neutered males amongst intact females, the results can be a
little unpredictable. For some reason, before we wrapped up over here,
when some of our girls went into heat, one of our neuters would make some
of the motions and get as far as standing over her and scruffing her, and
the other - he who was our first stud - would sometimes try and go all the
way. (I posted a while back on this particular one - to this day, we
think Snape was monogamous.)

I'm looking for all the pros and
cons between waiting or going ahead and fixing her immediately.


Check with your vet. All the vets we consulted with (about half a dozen)
invariably stated that we should spay when the cat is not in heat, not
lactating, or not pregnant. You could do otherwise, they say - I don't
know why they didn't want to spay with a "hot" girl, but one vet (or was
it a tech?) told me that the mammary glands can get in the way during
surgery (making it cumbersome, but not impossible, they said), and I think
there's the implication that an abortion is riskier than they can justify
unless it's an emergency.

--
Dennis Carr - | I may be out of my mind,
http://www.dennis.furtopia.org | But I have more fun that way.
------------------------------------+-------------------------------

On Sat, 10 Jan 2004 20:11:17 -0800, Dennis Carr
wrote:

snip

Check with your vet. All the vets we consulted with (about half a dozen)
invariably stated that we should spay when the cat is not in heat, not
lactating, or not pregnant. You could do otherwise, they say - I don't
know why they didn't want to spay with a "hot" girl, but one vet (or was
it a tech?) told me that the mammary glands can get in the way during
surgery (making it cumbersome, but not impossible, they said), and I think
there's the implication that an abortion is riskier than they can justify
unless it's an emergency.

--
Dennis Carr - | I may be out of my mind,
http://www.dennis.furtopia.org | But I have more fun that way.
------------------------------------+-------------------------------

What I have heard from several vets is that, as a general rule, it is
best not to do a spay when the cat is in heat. I have been told it
has something to do with the likelihood of more bleeding, because of
the heat status, which makes it dicier. That being said, it certainly
can and has been done. I got my last little girl spayed at a low-cost
clinic, and her heat cycles were long and close together. I thought
we were going to luck out at the appointment time, but she apparently
had just started to go into heat again. However, there were no
problems whatsoever, and she recovered quite quickly and nicely.

Just my experience.

Whatever you decide, best to you and your kitty,

Ginger-lyn

On Sat, 10 Jan 2004 20:11:17 -0800, Dennis Carr
wrote:

snip

Check with your vet. All the vets we consulted with (about half a dozen)
invariably stated that we should spay when the cat is not in heat, not
lactating, or not pregnant. You could do otherwise, they say - I don't
know why they didn't want to spay with a "hot" girl, but one vet (or was
it a tech?) told me that the mammary glands can get in the way during
surgery (making it cumbersome, but not impossible, they said), and I think
there's the implication that an abortion is riskier than they can justify
unless it's an emergency.

--
Dennis Carr - | I may be out of my mind,
http://www.dennis.furtopia.org | But I have more fun that way.
------------------------------------+-------------------------------

What I have heard from several vets is that, as a general rule, it is
best not to do a spay when the cat is in heat. I have been told it
has something to do with the likelihood of more bleeding, because of
the heat status, which makes it dicier. That being said, it certainly
can and has been done. I got my last little girl spayed at a low-cost
clinic, and her heat cycles were long and close together. I thought
we were going to luck out at the appointment time, but she apparently
had just started to go into heat again. However, there were no
problems whatsoever, and she recovered quite quickly and nicely.

Just my experience.

Whatever you decide, best to you and your kitty,

Ginger-lyn

wrote:

: Waiting two more weeks is likely to also frazzle everyone's nerves.;-)

I'm not sure if it is the overcast, rainy weather which has her less
interested in going outdoors but she hasn't mewed incessantly in a couple
of days.

I must admit I used to feel a tad sorry for cats who were deprived of the
Joy of Sex but after seeing how hormones take them over so completely, I'm
not feeling as sorry for the spays and neuters anymore.

Noreen

wrote:

: Waiting two more weeks is likely to also frazzle everyone's nerves.;-)

I'm not sure if it is the overcast, rainy weather which has her less
interested in going outdoors but she hasn't mewed incessantly in a couple
of days.

I must admit I used to feel a tad sorry for cats who were deprived of the
Joy of Sex but after seeing how hormones take them over so completely, I'm
not feeling as sorry for the spays and neuters anymore.

Noreen

Dennis Carr wrote:

: Check with your vet. All the vets we consulted with (about half a dozen)
: invariably stated that we should spay when the cat is not in heat, not
: lactating, or not pregnant. You could do otherwise, they say - I don't
: know why they didn't want to spay with a "hot" girl, but one vet (or was
: it a tech?) told me that the mammary glands can get in the way during
: surgery (making it cumbersome, but not impossible, they said), and I think
: there's the implication that an abortion is riskier than they can justify
: unless it's an emergency.

Good advice. I'm also going to call to find out what kinds of anesthesia
is used at the low-cost clinic and the vet to help determine whether I
should wait or not.

Thanks for your detailed post.

Noreen

Dennis Carr wrote:

: Check with your vet. All the vets we consulted with (about half a dozen)
: invariably stated that we should spay when the cat is not in heat, not
: lactating, or not pregnant. You could do otherwise, they say - I don't
: know why they didn't want to spay with a "hot" girl, but one vet (or was
: it a tech?) told me that the mammary glands can get in the way during
: surgery (making it cumbersome, but not impossible, they said), and I think
: there's the implication that an abortion is riskier than they can justify
: unless it's an emergency.

Good advice. I'm also going to call to find out what kinds of anesthesia
is used at the low-cost clinic and the vet to help determine whether I
should wait or not.

Thanks for your detailed post.

Noreen

Ginger-lyn Summer wrote:

: I got my last little girl spayed at a low-cost
: clinic, and her heat cycles were long and close together. I thought
: we were going to luck out at the appointment time, but she apparently
: had just started to go into heat again. However, there were no
: problems whatsoever, and she recovered quite quickly and nicely.

This is good to hear, Ginger. I'd rather save the money if the low-cost
clinic uses the injection rather than gas to put my cat to sleep. I'm
going to call tomorrow to find out what is used for anesthesia.

Noreen