If we have made the very good decision to sterilize our cat, discovering her in heat will fill us with questions. If this is your case, if you live with a neutered cat who is, even so, in heat, keep reading this article on our site in which we tell you what has happened and how it can be solved, because on numerous occasions we are talks about sterilization, but in few we are mentioned the possibility, very low but existing, that our cat maintains heat once neutered.
Discover why your neutered cat is in heat, the causes and solutions to this problem.
The cat in heat
First, we are going to establish what are the symptoms that we can identify in a cat in heat, to make sure that it is the What happens to our neutered cat? In our environment, cats can go into heat practically all year round, even from January to October, depending on light hours When a cat is in heat we can observe the following behavior:
- Usual meow and in a very high pitch, the cat "screams" to the point of disturbing the neighborhood.
- Restlessness, she will be restless, nervous, upset
- Tail lift to expose genitals.
- Rubbing against people, objects or the ground.
All the drawbacks in this table make many people decide to sterilize their cat, in addition to the benefits for her he alth, such as reducing the risk of developing breast cancer or preventing pyometra (uterine infection).
If your cat is neutered and exhibits these characteristic behaviors of heat, we should take her to the vet for confirmation. To do this, you can perform a cytologyby taking a sample from her vagina with a cotton swab. In this way, you will be able to observe the type of cells present under a microscope, which will be the ones that indicate what phase of the cycle our cat is in. It is also possible to take blood to determine estrogen levels, which are the hormones that will confirm the heat of our neutered cat.
Sterilization
If the tests confirm that, indeed, our neutered cat is in heat: what has gone wrong? Sterilization usually refers to the removal of the female's uterus and both ovaries. It is also called OvariohysterectomyIt is recommended to perform it before the first heat, when the cat is about five months old, since this is how the maximum of he alth benefits from it. It is performed under general anesthesia through a small ventral incision (it can be lateral, especially in cases where only the ovaries are removed) through which the uterus and ovaries are removed.
The vet during the surgery makes sure that no remains, sutures the stumps, the different layers and ends by sewing skin with stitches or staples. Analgesic and antibiotic treatment is prescribed for the first few days. At home we must ensure that the wound does not become infected or open. We will see that the cat will lead a normal life practically from the first moment. About a week later the stitches are removed and we forget about it since, without ovaries, there is no sexual cycle… except that our neutered cat goes into heat. So what went wrong?
The causes of heat in a sterilized cat
Ovarian rest or remnant: In the operation just described we saw that the veterinarian must ensure that the ovaries have been completely removed but, sometimes, this does not happen and the remains left behind are responsible for the heat of our neutered cat. Sometimes it is not easy, for anatomical reasons, to perform a perfect extraction.
Other times there is tissue ectopic ovary, that is, outside the ovary, and that tissue, even if it is made up of only a few cells, is capable of activating the hormonal cycleIt is also possible that tissue remains in the peritoneum capable of becoming functional. Even taking these explanations into account, it seems that the highest percentage of causes of what is known as ovarian remnant syndrome is surgical error. In this regard, there is an article published [1], where this is confirmed as the cause of most syndromes
Solutions for a neutered cat's heat
Once the diagnosis is confirmed, the solution involves a new surgical intervention There is pharmacological treatment with progestogens but it is associated with side effects of consideration, such as the development of breast tumors or even stump pyometra (infection where the uterus was removed).
Therefore, for a definitive solution, it is necessary to intervene again looking for the ovarian remnants (exploratory laparotomy) for its complete elimination, in an operation similar to the previous one in terms of preparation and postoperative care. Finally, note that ovarian remnant is not a common complication and the vast majority of sterilizations are performed without any complications and, of course, completely eliminate the heat of our neutered cat
