Expert: Brandy - 1/27/2007

Question
Dear Brandy,

How are you?

my Persian cat is almost one year now, she is showing the symptoms of HEAT, crying, meowing, drooling around as if she is having a colic, few drops of blood around the anus. We took her to the vet who said that it is heat, It breaks my heart to see her suffering. Actually I don’t wish to spay her now. I want to let her get pregnant once then get her spayed.
I found a 9 month-old male cat  , I planned to get the male cat tonight to get them married. Now I have three questions:

1- Do you think I made the right decision??

2- One vet told me that there is a way to relieve the heat symptoms, that is by rubbing her vulva with a cotton bud with Vaseline on fourth day of heat symptoms, and that will burst the ovum and alleviate the symptoms. IS THAT TRUE ?????

3- a friend told me that when we will first bring the male cat  he will hurt her, bite her and scratch her, and that we should leave them alone together in a closed room to provide privacy. I don’t want my cat to get hurt, what am I supposed to do ??

Your help is highly appreciated, Thanks a lot,
Fayza

Answer
First, let me state that you asked for my opinion. Now onto your questions:
1. No.
2. Yes, I've heard of it, but never tried it. Cats have several ova (not the singular ovum like most humans), so any 'bursting ovum' would not trick her into a false pregnancy
3. Yes.

Now....to be blunt, unless you're a breeder and you have a decent breed-type cat (and I'm not saying your persian isn't a beauty; few of them are bad), waiting for her to have a litter then having her spayed is, well, uninformed. If you 'found' a 9-month old male (still considered a kitten), is he also a persian, or just an ordinary cat? He may unexperienced as a breeder, as is yours, and he could either just attack her just because, or ignore her all together.  When cats breed, the male will grab onto the nape of the female's neck, and in many instances a scab is left behind, and in some further instances, these scabs can become infected. Cats don't need privacy (thanks to hormones). He could also bring in some serious illnesses.

Do you have plans for these kittens? What if she has complications with the pregnancy, or cannot provide enough milk for the litter, or rejects the litter. What if she dies? I feel, and please don't take this the wrong way, that at least at this time, you are very uninformed as to what actually breeding involves. I can understand your concern that a pregnancy can for the time being ease up the nightmare that a full-blown heat can bring on, but I cannot understand why you plan to spay only after she has a litter. Please think twice about this.