Spayed cat in heat behaviour – cat behaviour problems
One cat behaviour problem is related to spayed female cats with in heat behaviour. Cat owners are suddenly facing in heat behaviour of their female cats despite of a neutered cat. Sometimes the cat owners get in contact due to cat behaviour problems such as restlessness, aggression and cat spraying. We have to question whether a spayed cat can still be in heat?
First lets have a look on the differences between cat spaying, cat neutering, cat sterilization and cat castration.
Cat neutering, cat castration
This means generally the topic expression of making a cat sterile resp. unfertile. Besides it is commonly used instead of cat castration of the male one, i. e. tomcat. Therefore the expression is mainly related to the male cat.
A neutered cat means that the testicles are taken off. In the past the whole testicles including the scrotum were removed. But nowadays the male cat testicles are taken off by a small cut in the scrotum. Therefore it is no longer possible to check by first view, whether it’s a neutered male cat or not, because the scrotum is still there.
Cat castration might be related to male as well as female cats. Because it describes the elimination of the reproductive organs, such as ovaries of the female cat and the testicles of the male cat. The uterus of a female cat is still remaining, except there is a particular reason for elimination as well. Consequently the neutered cats are no longer showing sexual behaviour.
Spayed female cat
Same as describe before, basically the cat castration of a female cat. The ovaries are removed by a cut in the abdominal wall.
Cat sterilization
Means the operative infertility of a cat by cutting in two either the oviduct of a female or the spermatic cord of a male cat. The sexual behaviour of the cat still remains, which is different to the castration.
But back to the topic: spayed cat in heat?
Yes, this is definitely possible, despite of a neutered cat, a cat can be still in heat, even many veterinarians deny this! Reasons are as follows:
- leavings of the ovaries, which had not been fully eliminated
- cysts
- dispersed tissue of the ovaries
Diagnosis
- Blood analysis, an increased oestrogen value indicates a cat in heat
- Vaginal-cytology, a kind of vaginal smear test
Symptoms of a cat in heat:
- reduced appetite
- cat sprays (please follow this link for more details regarding spraying cats – coming in Englisch language soon)
- aggression, both offensive as well as defensive
- nervousness
- restlessness and excessive vocal communication “cat mating cry”
- well known cat in heat behaviour, such as rolling on the bottom, excessive crying, upper part of the body close to ground, hind legs treading and partly extended, tail laterally displaced.
Turns out that a cat was not spayed properly, it remains only the visit to the vet and another surgery. This second operation is, however, for the animal significantly less stress than a mean in heat until death.
Hello! I’m Susanne Peimann – here together with Jordi. Big fan and interpreter of the cat world, expert on cats and cat problems of any kind, enthusiastic and amazed Tierhomöopathin/Homoeopath for animals. Interested in more? Visit me at Cat Paths Katzenwege or contact me at info@katzenwege.de – further posts and fascinating cat facts in English will be available soon!