Expert: Jana Connell RVT, CVT - 1/5/2010

Question
My 10 month old female has recently come out of her first estrus cycle  and I know it is possible for it to start again very rapidly.  Before the extreme affection begins is there ever a period when a female becomes aggressive?  (something like kitty PMS?)  Her behavior is very similar to that described in the "my cat" question posted on the 3rd.   My 9 month old neutered male got out for the first time and was gone for 8 hours in the sub-freezing weather until about 4am. When he returned she became very aggressive hissing and growling.   I figured to just give her space and left her alone for several hours, but this morning when I went to check on her she attacked me--a first.  She has calmed down a bit towards me by coming out of hiding to play, but is acting as if she has never interacted with the male before today. Could this have anything to do with her recently coming out of or going back into "heat?  Or could it be related to the male getting out?  There is a colony of feral cats that lives outside my building, could it be that he picked up a strange scent which is bothering her?


could you also tell me how I know when the estrus cycle is over to get her fixed...how many days should I wait after the obvious signs of "heat" are gone?

Thank you.  

Answer
You don't need to wait to get her fixed. Do it now before she gets out and gets pregnant. Their little uterus horns don't swell up hugely like a dogs does. So spaying them in heat is usually not an issue.

In regards to the hissing etc. The answer is yes. She probably did smell the wild cats on him and him just being outside bringing in strange smells will wig her out.

This happens even to two cats that have been neutered on the same day. The male will be fine and the female will start hissing at him when the day before they were snuggling and loving each other. But it passes with time. I usually rub a rag or tee shirt over the cats when they get home (when I brought mine home from work) so the other cats only smelled me on them. Worked every time.

So you might want to rub down your male cat with one of your shirts.