Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Female cats exhibit some bizarre behaviors when they go into heat.
Most cats get very friendly, rub up against you and other animals in the
family and stick their rear ends up in the air. During a heat cycle they
may howl and writhe on the floor, even looking as if they are in pain.
Cats do not bleed when they are in heat. At my veterinary clinic we
frequently get calls from new cat owners who are in a panic after
observing these behaviors in their cat.
Cats are seasonally polyestrus.Their heat season generally runs from
February to September, and females can have a heat cycle every two
weeks during this time unless they are bred or stimulated to ovulate.
This explains how cats can produce a new litter of kittens every few
months.
What Is Spaying?
The technical term for a spay is ovariohysterectomy , which means surgi-
cal removal of the uterus and ovaries. Most veterinarians perform ovar-
iohysterectomy surgery with the cat as an outpatient. Although this is a
routine procedure, people often do not realize that an abdominal sur-
gery is being performed. The cat is placed under general anesthesia,
usually with some type of gas anesthetic, and an abdominal incision is
made. The ovaries and the uterus are removed, and the surgery site is
closed with stitches.The stitches may be absorbable or you may have to
return to have them removed in 10 days, depending on the preference
of the doctor.
When to Spay
If possible, you want to spay a cat before she goes through even one
heat cycle.This can be achieved by spaying at six months of age.As with
male kittens, early-age sterilization is possible as young as eight weeks
of age.There are no benefits to having a cat experience a heat cycle, and
certainly there is no benefit for a cat to have a litter of kittens.These are
myths.
Meanwhile, there are benefits to spaying a cat before her first heat
cycle. Female cats who have experienced one or more heat cycles are
more likely to develop malignant breast cancer than spayed cats.
Spaying before six months also spares her (and you!) the difficult expe-
rience of a heat cycle. In addition to the behavioral changes I've already
mentioned, cats in heat may groom excessively, experience loss of
appetite, and may also urinate outside the litter box.
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