Heat cycles and spaying (paradox, please help1)
Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2018 5:53 pm
Hello,
Just FYI, We live in the U.S., in Florida to be exact, so some of the matters about social services will be different in other parts of the world.
In April of 2016 I 'fostered' a lovely blue Himalayan cat who had been found on the streets. She was a small, round, loving ball of fluff, which was explained in about a week when she gave birth to four kittens.
After the kits were weaned (Harvest, as I called her, was a fine mother) I adopted-out Harvest and two of the kittens. I kept one that was tiny and another. The tiny one, 'Gizmo', grew into a fine tiny long haired black cat with green eyes. Her sister, Sinatra, is a bluff coloured Persian type with shorter hair, stripes and blue eyes.
Then I became ill and was in hospital for a few months, which led to my being on disability. I missed any opportunity to spay either cat in their first year.
Well, while Gizmo barely goes into heat at all, Sinatra seems to always be in heat. That is, she is in heat every 2 and a half weeks at the minimum. I've counted, because I have had to cancel 4 low cost spay appointments because she can't stay out of heat long enough to make the appointments.
We live on the 15th floor of a condo building and the kits have only been out once, to get their shots. There is no chance of Sinatra getting pregnant. I've run out of chances with the local low cost spay program (too many misses) and spaying regular price is as much as my lease (about $500). Vets don't want to spay a cat in heat.
I wonder: Is she in heat so often because her mother likely came from a cattery? Is it risky to not spay her? How dangerous is it to spay a cat that is in heat? She doesn't seem at all uncomfortable but it's a little annoying to the humans. I don't want to risk her health by going to the SPCA, which has a very bad reputation.
Please advise!
Just FYI, We live in the U.S., in Florida to be exact, so some of the matters about social services will be different in other parts of the world.
In April of 2016 I 'fostered' a lovely blue Himalayan cat who had been found on the streets. She was a small, round, loving ball of fluff, which was explained in about a week when she gave birth to four kittens.
After the kits were weaned (Harvest, as I called her, was a fine mother) I adopted-out Harvest and two of the kittens. I kept one that was tiny and another. The tiny one, 'Gizmo', grew into a fine tiny long haired black cat with green eyes. Her sister, Sinatra, is a bluff coloured Persian type with shorter hair, stripes and blue eyes.
Then I became ill and was in hospital for a few months, which led to my being on disability. I missed any opportunity to spay either cat in their first year.
Well, while Gizmo barely goes into heat at all, Sinatra seems to always be in heat. That is, she is in heat every 2 and a half weeks at the minimum. I've counted, because I have had to cancel 4 low cost spay appointments because she can't stay out of heat long enough to make the appointments.
We live on the 15th floor of a condo building and the kits have only been out once, to get their shots. There is no chance of Sinatra getting pregnant. I've run out of chances with the local low cost spay program (too many misses) and spaying regular price is as much as my lease (about $500). Vets don't want to spay a cat in heat.
I wonder: Is she in heat so often because her mother likely came from a cattery? Is it risky to not spay her? How dangerous is it to spay a cat that is in heat? She doesn't seem at all uncomfortable but it's a little annoying to the humans. I don't want to risk her health by going to the SPCA, which has a very bad reputation.
Please advise!