To ask if you have any suggestions re: spayed cat still yowling

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Not an AIBU but posting here for traffic as somewhat at my wits end (lighthearted - just about 😂)

Anybody else have an experience with a spayed cat that still goes into a ‘false’ heat.

I have two female cats, both 8 (sisters from the same litter). They are indoor cats as they were born with defects, Modo has radial hypoplasia in one front leg (basically it’s bent and she can’t have corrective surgery) and her sister Gizmo has one ‘munchkin’ or ‘dwarf’ leg. Otherwise they’re perfectly healthy cats.

I rescued them when they were roughly 2 years old and immediately arranged to have them both spayed. Gizmo is absolutely fine, she still gets periods of extreme fussiness but otherwise she’s a nice relaxed cat. Modo however still goes into ‘false heat’ which means I have to deal with constant caterwauling in the night. I have twin toddlers but thankfully they don’t seem bothered by the noise but it cuts through me! I only managed about 3 hours sleep last night as she was yowling for about 5 hours straight 😣

I’ve taken her back to the vet and they’ve said there’s nothing wrong health wise but couldn’t offer any suggestions on how to calm her. I’ve tried the feliway plug ins but they don’t seem to do anything.

If any of you lovely vipers have any similar experience or suggestions please share!

I’ve attached a photo of Modo (she’s a tiny cat) and please excuse the state of the rug, my twins just finished their lunch which ended in most of their veg on the floor 😂

How long ago was she spayed and when after the spay did she start yowling again?

My previous cat was spayed and then a few months later started yowling again. I took her to the vet who advised me nothing was wrong however after a lot of research, video and voice recordings I took her back to the vet as she was regularly displaying symptoms of being in heat even though she had been spayed.

I suggested to the vet that perhaps something had been left behind, and even though the vet denied this I really pushed and they finally agreed to go back in and have another look.

When they did the surgery they found that they had missed a piece and what had happened was that over a period of a few months since the original spay, that piece had started to regrow and was releasing enough hormones into the cats system to make the cat feel and behave like she was on heat.

I had to really push the vet to get to this point and to also to agree to not charge for the second lot of surgery as they didn't remove everything the first time around.

Once the corrective surgery was performed we didn't have any further issues.

I'm not saying this is what's happening in your case but definitely worth investigating further.

@SunshinePaddles Thank you for such a quick reply!

She was spayed roughly 6 years ago now. The yowling starting happened again a few months after but not to the degree it’s happening now, she would have a night or two then go calm for ages. It’s only since she turned 7 (so two years ago now) that it’s really intensified. She seems to be going into them more regularly and the meowing is the loudest I’ve ever heard her 😳

I will take her back to the Vets and push for them to look again, I took her in when it started to intensify - they took an x-ray then at my insistence but said there was nothing, but a second opinion is probably needed!

My advice would be to see a specialist vet. If there is a physical reason for her behaviour it needs to be sorted otherwise you’ll never manage to stop her with behavioural changes.

If it is behavioural you may want to google search how to enrich a cat’s environment and see if any of that helps.