Cat Training and Behavior (Domestic and Feral)/Cat meowing

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Expert: Dear Tabbi - 10/12/2008


Question
Out 18 mo. old female cat (neutered)is acting very much like it is in heat. It is wandering around the house MEOWING IN A STRANGE VOICE and lying in the floor and rolling around. She almost acts like she has a tummy ache. She ususlly doesn't let me rub her tummy, but is lying there while I do it now. I got her from the SPCA. Are these signs that she might be in heat and maybe they really didn't spay her?

Answer
Jill,

Sometimes an ovary gets left, or not found, and the cat still comes into heat. You can have your vet xray or ultrasound her to find out if that happened. It is rare, but it does happen.

Or, she may not have been spayed at all. That also happens from shelters. The shelters only know what people tell them, and unless the cat was spayed by the SPCA themselves they don't know for sure.

Tabbi

Cat Training and Behavior (Domestic and Feral)

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Dear Tabbi

Expertise

My expertise is in helping people understand their cat (or cats) and their behavior. Questions are welcome even if you don't have a cat....just a question about them. Hopefully my experience, suggestions, and comments will be of help to you...and your cat (or cats). Looking through my past responses to questions will give you additional information and/or answers too. Domestic Cats = cats (no matter what breed) who are tame or not wild, or abandoned cats who were pets that became wild, but can be tamed again. Ferals = cats who are born with one or more parents who were wild stray cats. They usually have had no interactions with people. They have an inbred distrust of humans and are difficult to socialize. They are skittish, hide, and are afraid of people. They take a lot of time and patience to work with them. A lot of kittens from shelters had a feral parent.

Experience

Since I was a child, over 45 years, I have been owned by a LOT of cats and kittens of almost every temperament, behavior, and personality. I have had experience with neurotic, disabled (including blind), stray, and 'problem child' cats and kittens. (A few normal cats too!) Plus all the things a lifetime of owning cats and research has taught me. I also have experience in feral cat behavior (which is different from domestic cats), and some experience with feral colonies that includes colony feeding and feral cat TNR (trap/neuter/release).

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