My cat is exhibiting symptoms of being in heat despite being fixed.
October 25, 2008 6:41 AM   Subscribe

My cat is exhibiting symptoms of being in heat despite being fixed. Any advice?

Last year around this time I had her spayed. She is now all hot and bothered like she would get before she got fixed. Meowing, rubbing up against stuff and just generally acting like a cat in heat. At first I thought she was constipated, but she's been doing just fine in that regard.

I read online a few different places that if some ovarian tissue is left it can secrete hormones that make the cat feel like it's in heat. Is this true? If so, will it happen regularly and require another surgery or does it generally just happen once or twice? Could something else make her exhibit the exact same symptoms of being in heat? It even came on slowly like when she was in heat.

The vet already performed two surgeries on her. They bungled the spaying procedure so I don't want to bring her back there. If she requires another surgery, do they have any responsibility? And finally, since I refuse to return to the vet who performed the procedure, can anyone recommend a decent vet in (very) downtown Manhattan?
posted by milarepa to Pets & Animals (8 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
I read online a few different places that if some ovarian tissue is left it can secrete hormones that make the cat feel like it's in heat. Is this true? If so, will it happen regularly and require another surgery or does it generally just happen once or twice?

Yes, it's true. It happened to a good friend of mine, and while those of us who didn't own the cat thought it was hilarious, it really sucked for him. She'd go into heat every summer. he eventually took her to another vet, who successfully removed the tissue remnant. But that was in Minneapolis, so I can't help with recommendations.
posted by COBRA! at 7:38 AM on October 25, 2008


Leftover ovarian tissue in my friend's cat is the reason why I have my two cats today. She'll need another surgery, unfortunately. If you go back to the original vet, insist that there be no charge. If you decide to go to another vet, I would insist that the vet that bungled the job pay for it.
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 8:10 AM on October 25, 2008


Leftover tissue++. Happened to one of our cats.

I actually think it's relatively common. That is, it doesn't require "bungling the job" for it to happen.

And, while I can imagine a vet offering to not charge for the fixup, I don't think you can necessarily demand that it be done for free. Surgery is expensive in consumables.
posted by Netzapper at 11:36 AM on October 25, 2008


Response by poster: Yeah, sorry, the bungling comment was referring to the fact that it required a whole surgery to fix the first surgery, not necessarily the leftover tissue. Since the first spay procedure required two surgeries, I am not incline to return there.

I guess I might have to take her to another vet. I hate seeing her all messed up from the surgeries. :(
posted by milarepa at 11:53 AM on October 25, 2008


Leftover Tissue +1

One good trick to finding a vet with a decent feline practice is to look for local cat shows, attend one, and ask four or five local breeders who they recommend.
posted by nonliteral at 1:18 PM on October 25, 2008


I don't know of any vets downtown, but if you're willing to travel to Brooklyn, Dr. Silverman at the Prospect Park animal clinic has been taking care of my pets since I was a child. The website is here
posted by blueskiesinside at 3:57 PM on October 25, 2008


I was happy with Dr. Tufaro at ABC Animal Hospital. They just moved to 14th St between A and B, but it might be worth checking them out. They have a website: ABC Animal Hospital.
posted by backwords at 8:06 PM on October 25, 2008


Hi There,
our cat had this exact same thing happen. What the vet told us to do was to wait until she was at the height of her frenzy again (by the time we got her in to see someone it was a few days later and she was calming down) and bring her in then so they could do a relatively inexpensive and non-invasive test to check her hormone levels to see if she really was in heat. The other option would be a rather expensive blood test. Either way, they did not want to put a cat through the trauma of another surgery unless they could be sure this was really the problem. Leftover tissue can be small enough that it's almost impossible to locate, although my understanding is there would be a better chance of finding whatever got left behind if the cat was actively in heat when she was operated on as well.
In the end, we opted to wait it out and she's yet to have a relapse. Our vet is in Downtown Jersey City near the Grove Path, 2 stops in from the WTC and we are very happy with the treatment all 3 of our cats have had there, for what it's worth. Email me via mefi if you are interested.
posted by stagewhisper at 8:32 PM on October 25, 2008


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