Ask the Veterinarian/Whining cat

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Expert: - 5/12/2011


Question
QUESTION: Hello,
I have had our 10 month old cat for about 3 weeks.  About 3 days ago she starting making these really strange, drawn out noises for no reason.  These lonf meowing sounds.  Its very strange.  She has a clean litter box, food, we give her lots of attention etc.  I'm nervous something is wrong with her.  Its almost like she is in heat.  She has already had kittens but has since been fixed.  Is this normal?  Should we be taking her to a vet.  she keeps us up at night with these noises.  Can you help??  thank you!!

ANSWER: Sounds like she is in heat to me as well. Are you sure she was fixed? I happen to know that sometimes (new) vets will accidentally leave the ovaries in and then the cat can't get pregnant but she will go into heat every three weeks and be in heat for weeks at a time if that is what happened to her.

You need to have her looked at. Unfortunately the only way for them to know for sure is to open her up and look to see if she still has her ovaries.

Get her in soon.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you so much this is really helpful.  I feel terrible for her to have to be opened back up but i will take her to the vet.  One other quick question- She also has a small bump in her "reproductive" area as well.  I thought it was the scar from when she was fixed but it's clear it is an actual bump.  Again, we will take her to the vet but thought this was strage.  Thanks so much again!

Answer
Caree,
She could have a vulva cyst that is making her produce estrogen and thus act as if she is in heat. Sometimes they get these on the stump of the cervix, inside, and that will also do the same thing. Some vets leave just a tad too much of the cervix in there and that also will cause heat-like symptoms.

If she has some sort of a cyst on the outside then they won't need to go back in if that is the cause of this. Let us hope that this is all it is.

Please let me know how it turns out.:-)

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Jana Connell RVT, CVT

Expertise

PLEASE READ BEFORE SUBMITTING TO ME: I am NOT a vet and do NOT diagnose diseases. That is only for a licensed Veterinarian to do. I will give you suggestions and steer you toward calling your vet for help. You can call the vet's office and talk to the technician there or the vet at times. Don't be afraid to call them! If you have a serious issue with your pet please post it to one of the veterinarians in here- I will tell you the same thing in my answer. IF your pet is injured or in an emergency situation, CALL YOUR VET- Do not wait and post in here. Just call the vet's office and get them in to see the vet right away. Critical treatment time is lost if you seek answers here when you should have your precious pet at the vets!! Don't sit at home waiting for an answer when your pet is critically ill or injured!! I can answer most questions about small animal and wildlife care as well as small animal nutrition. I can also answer questions about all phases of dental care for small animals. I DO NOT answer questions about birds (unless it is wildlife or songbirds) or HAMSTERS/GERBILS/CHINS/GUINEA PIGS/REPTILES/FROGS/RABBITS/PET BIRDS OF ANY KIND so please submit these questions to the appropriate sections. I, as well as other experts in here, do NOT do homework questions- that is for YOU to do! Please respect these rules for all of us. Thanks!

Experience

I have over 35 years experience in the field of veterinary medicine. I specialized in small animals and did wildlife rehab for over 25 years, mostly raptors, squirrels and opossums. I am a Small Animal Nutritional Consultant with 6 certificates from Hills Pet Foods, CNM and Purina. I also specialized in Small Animal Dentistry which is a field I truly love.

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Audubon,World Wildlife Federation, American Society of Veterinary Dental Technicians.

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Licensed with California and Oregon, RVT and CVT. Certified Veterinary Dental Technician Have over 500 logged hours of Continuing Education Credits(that means I keep up to date!).

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Nominated for Expert of the Month for the last 5 years.

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