Hello,
I got my cat about 2 months ago. She was a stray. I took her to vet visits for normal check ups, worms, vaccines. All was normal except she had blood on stools but was treated with antibiotics due to being stress. And tapeworm was treated. She is 1 year old. We were planning her spay, however, one month in she went into heat last Dec and was in heat for straight 21 days. Then she had a break of about 4 days, and then back at it again but for a week and a half and after 4 days she seems to be back at it again but doing meows that feel more painful than the usual heat meow. She vomited 2 days before the last heat started. But she has not vomitted again. I was told by vet I need to wait 2-3 weeks after heat is done to spay her but can spay her while in heat too but not ideal..they said the latter is more risky due to blood loss and complications. I'm at a crossroads roads if this persistent heat can be an underlying illness like pyromida etc or she will never get out of heat regardless of waiting. I should say the second heat cycle was triggered by a male cat that rubbed on me. But other than that she doesn't go outside neither has contacted with a male cat. She is picky with eating. So is spaying while in heat safe for anesthesia and the blood loss? I'm scared. Thank you.
Hi Caroline,
One thing that's important to understand is that cats are induced ovulators. This means that in the presence of an intact male cat, they can immediately go into heat. Whether you're aware of it or not, there is likely one or more intact male tomcats in your neighborhood, causing your cat to recurrently go into heat.
I agree that ideally you would wait a couple weeks after a heat is completed to spay. This is definitely the right call in dogs, who only go into heat at most twice a year. You can always wait and reduce the risk of complications. But in cats, this is trickier and for the reasons you've discovered. It is possible for a cat to come out of heat and then go right back into it again if conditions are right. Because of this, I have spayed many cats actively in heat, not the least of which being non-profit spay neuter clinics where you have little control over whether the cat is in heat or not. Personally, I do feel the risks for cats specifically are relatively low compared to dogs for complications of bleeding. Their reproductive tracts are still really quite small.
This is all my opinion of course, and your vet must conduct themselves as they feel most comfortable.
As for pyometra in cats, it does occur but very rarely. I've only seen 2-3 in my career thus far. But you would not be seeing signs of heat in a cat with pyometra. By definition, pyometra occurs after the estrus phase and a cat would not be able to go back into heat with pyometra conditions.