So hopefully no one will come at me, my cat is a house cat, well looked after and covered with both insurance and an additional monthly cover which means I can take her to the vets any time I like - so no drivers around finances on any decisions here.
She is for some reason quite highly strung. She has to go on gabapentin for several days before a vet visit because apparently she becomes so stressed by the trip that it is dangerous for her - apparently BP, heart rate, cortisol, the lot....
She is not a lap cat and leaps up like she has been scalded if anyone moves in the house. We don't know why, she has only ever known kindness from us, and came from a loving home. The biggest sin is that my husband gives her too many treats. Sometimes at night she makes biscuits on my tits, but if I so much as fart she skids away again poor baby.
So my question is not really about why she is anxious (and we have got the plug ins and everything, it is a quiet house, no kids yadayadaya, we get that some cats are just nervy), it is fine for her to be a scaredy cat, she has three cat trees, four litter trays and plenty of hidey holes in the house.
The problem is that she is long haired and she gets very knotty. She hates being brushed, I have to use gardening gloves to get near her. I am very gentle.
EXCEPT when she is in season. Now before you come at me, she was spayed before we got her - I have all the paperwork and she was still nursing quite the incision when we collected her. But when she was done, they only found one ovary. They said, nope she simply doesn't have a leftie. We have the vets report.
She clearly does now. I don't know whether it grew over time but by a year old, she is definitely going into season. And when she is in season she is a whore.
A whore who loves being brushed. Her coat is magnificent when she is in season.
So here is my question. We spoke to the vets and they said yes obviously some retained ovarian tissue, bring 'er in and we will redo the op. The only reason she has gone into season a couple of times was because we wanted to ensure we had the optimal time for her to have it, so we could be home, build up with the gabapentin and be able to watch her during recovery - because she is stressy. We know this will be a traumatic experience for her.
But.... do we need to do it? Is it harmful for her to be in season? When they do the spaying to they just take out the ovaries or is it the whole shebang? If an unneutered cat got to her (as I say she is a house cat, so this is unlikely), could she be impregnated - because we of course do not want that.
I know dogs have a high risk of pyometra, but google tells me this is like 2% in cats.
I want what is best for her and I am weighing up whether going into season a few times a year and loving a good brushing outweighs the trauma of regular doses of gabapentin to be shaved (its quite bad and her butt gets in a mess).
The groomer has offered to come to us, but she would still have to be medicated because this would involve touching her. She doesn't like being touched.
Basically she is a cat to be admired, not touched.... except when she has butt clinkers.....which is awful for her as well as all the furniture she leaves bum prints on.
So to be clear we no intention of breeding, we only want what is best for her, we have discussed with vets but didn't come away with a clear picture on what is best for her. They just wanted to book her in, and it felt kind of financial rather than best interests - this may be a disservice on my part, but I just want what is best. Right now she is in season and she loves everyone and her fluffy butt looks fabulous.
So TLDR
- Was spayed
- Is a house cat
- Still has some ovarian tissue
- Gets in a mess because of very long hair
- Highly anxious and needs medication to be handled or taken to the vets
- Groomer will visit but would still need medication (probably once a month)
- Or we wait for her to turn into a trollop on the kitchen table every six weeks or so and sort out her floofdom....
- Oh also, she had a scan - they can't even see ovarian tissue, so its a rummage and hope for the best if we take her back - they may not even find the tissue apparently, so that is a worry
I would love some thoughts on this from anyone who has been in a similar
situation.