My cat is acting strange

[samseal]

Hi,

My 10 month old tortiseshell is acting odd.She is rolling around the carpet like a porn star making lots of noise.She keeps going in out the cat flap .

She is eating ok and is still up for a cuddle(under her terms of course)

I am sure she hasn,t got tummy ache .

any ideas?

Sam
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[SarahBravo]

Has she been neutered? Cos if not you're gonna get some visitors and she's probably gonna get knocked up!! It sounds like she's 'calling' which is basically saying she's in the mood for lurv.....

My cat did this - she yowled and wriggled all over the carpet and chairs, spent a lot of time at the window doing the 'come and get me boys' song.....

If she is neutered....hmmm, don't know. Have you changed the smell of anything recently? Cleaned the carpets/upholstery? Used a new brand of detergent? got a new cat nip toy?

If she's eating okay and doesn't seem in any discomfort, could just be that spring is in the air!

HTH

Sarah

 

[RandomWiktor]

Get her spayed, and keep her indoors until you do, or you'll have unwanted kittens, and at 10 months old, it will be very dangerous to her wellbeing. Even if she is pregnant, get her spayed, its not too late. This is a risk to her life, the kitten's lives, and frankly is irresponsible as its also leading to more unwanted litters.

Now, if she is spayed - though this REALLY sounds like a heat - I would take her to a vet's to make sure she isn't in pain. But, the rolling, erratic behavior, going outside, etc. really sounds like she's in heat.

 

[samseal]

Hi

Random I am not irresponsible.You cannot get kittens for love nor money round here and I would like for her to have a litter.

I look after all my pets in a responsible manner and would not have left her unspayed if I was not prepared for her to have a litter.

I was asking the question about her behaivour as I was concerned.

Sam
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[Erised]

She is indeed 'in heat' as people like to say it She'll probably end up urinating through out the house as well =/ Really annoying, but something that you'll have to deal with then

I can understand you'd love for her to have a litter, but please keep her away from male cats right now. For her to get pregnant at this age is too risky on her. Chances are that the kittens inside her will grow too big and damage her inside, which might lead to her death. And if this is before the kittens are born, its likely to cause their death as well.

Best off keeping her away from male cats (so keeping her inside for now, untill its over) and wait till she's at least a year and a half, preferable 2 years+ before you're letting her become a mum. It will be a lot better for your cat, as well as her litter.

 

[samseal]

Thanks Erised,

Will get my cleaning stuff ready.I will keep her indoors now I didn't realise that she was too young.

She just scampered through the cat flap at an almighty rate and the dog ended up chasing something down the garden.Looks like the local boys are calling already,

Will keep my little girl under lock and key

Sam
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[pnyklr3]

Where do you live that kittens are in such short supply? A neighboring state was talking about issuing hunting licenses for feral cats.

 

[samseal]

Am in the Surrey, England,UK.

Don't think we hunt cats here!

 

[RandomWiktor]

Hi
Random I am not irresponsible.You cannot get kittens for love nor money round here and I would like for her to have a litter.
I look after all my pets in a responsible manner and would not have left her unspayed if I was not prepared for her to have a litter.

Perhaps if you had actually read my post, you'd have noticed the irresponsible comment was not only in regards to the overpopulation, but the fact that she is far too young to have a litter. Did you fail to see the part where I said she was too young and it could cause damage to her, the kittens, etc? You surely noticed it when the other person posted it.
Furthermore, at 10 months, she's so young that you really can't have a good idea of adult temperament, hereditary diseases, etc. and these are all things that should be taken into consideration before breeding. What do you know about the health of the parent cats? There are a variety of hereditary diseases that cats carry that could result in an unhealthy litter; just like in breeding dogs, breeding should not be indiscriminate - you should know the sire, dam, and the lineage to ensure the best health and temperament possible. To just let her out roaming for any tom to claim is not responsible breeding. Also, is she vaccinated? Many free roaming toms are not, which puts her at risk for diseases. In fact, many feline diseases have no vaccine or treatment. It is much better to breed your cat with a tested tom that you know so you can control any chance of her getting sick as a result of mating or fighting (mating in cats gets very violent). You wouldn't want her or the kittens getting FIV or anything of the like, no? If you really want a litter, if might benefit you to even go out and purchase a tom, get him vaccinated and tested, keep them both indoors so they aren't getting diseases or breeding indiscrimately with other cats, and do a controlled, safe breeding.
I don't think you should be breeding your cat if you know nothing about heat cycles, healthy breeding age, pregnancy care, healthy lineage, and neo-natal care. Clearly, you are not "prepared for her to have a litter." Please do more research so that both she and the kittens will be happy and healthy throughout pregnancy and lactation.

Where do you live that kittens are in such short supply? A neighboring state was talking about issuing hunting licenses for feral cats.

Maybe we should ship them all to the UK instead

 

[MegTheFish]

Please please please, I'm begging you. Don't let your cat have kittens. There are just WAY WAY WAY too maybe homeless kittens/cats at shelters or living on the streets, waiting for a home. If you want more cats/kittens, go to your shelter and adopt. This way you can experience raising a kitten and at the same time you are making room at the shelter for another cat/kitten.

 

[samseal]

I see now it is immaturity and youthful gusto that makes you come across as rude and as a smart arse.

I have taken your advice on board and I am sure it is very good advice
However might I suggest that you post in a way that doesn't get peoples hackles up.

I responded to the other post which included the same information more readily as it was given in a much nicer way.

Yes she has had all her jabs, I never claimed to be an expert on cats and I am sure that most people who own cats are not the expert you report to be.Wouldn't you be more sucessful in getting your message across if you adopted a different approach.I could almost hear you tutting through your typing!

Remember we can't all know everything and that is why we turn to others for advice sometimes.We are more likely to listen to it if it isn't stuffed down our throats!

 

[samseal]

Hi Meg,

Point taken but I don't live in Canada and honestly there are no kittens in shelters where I am.People can't get hold of them

Sam
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[RandomWiktor]

I see now it is immaturity and youthful gusto that makes you come across as rude and as a smart arse.

I have taken your advice on board and I am sure it is very good advice
However might I suggest that you post in a way that doesn't get peoples hackles up.

I responded to the other post which included the same information more readily as it was given in a much nicer way.

Yes she has had all her jabs, I never claimed to be an expert on cats and I am sure that most people who own cats are not the expert you report to be.Wouldn't you be more sucessful in getting your message across if you adopted a different approach.I could almost hear you tutting through your typing!

Remember we can't all know everything and that is why we turn to others for advice sometimes.We are more likely to listen to it if it isn't stuffed down our throats!

Immaturity and youthful gusto, eh? Funny, I thought it was more along the lines of giving you information in a concise manner. Would you prefer I sugar coat it with a bunch of fluff on how I'm sure you're the most wonderful, responsible cat owner in the world and I'm sure you have the best intentions and are well informed but....
Sorry. I prefer to get to my point. Maybe it came off as cold, but you really shouldn't make too many assumptions about one's inflection through a computer screen. I suspect that, had I omitted the word "irresponsible," you would have not considered the rest of the post rude at all, but straight foward.

I do not "report to be" an "expert" on cats, so I fail to see where you got that. I do consider myself to be well informed, but then again, schooling in the veterinary medical field kindof requires that I know these sort of things. I'm sorry if it came off as snooty, but frankly I think you're being a little bit thin-skinned. Surely you can understand the frustration an animal lover has when someone has not done their research and is about to do something that could harm their pet's health, and calls you "rude" and a "smart arse" for correcting them.

You asked for advice, and I offered it to the best of my knowledge from a medical perspective. I'm glad you found it helpful, and apologize if you found it too fowards. However, I think for one who warns of posting in such a way that raises others' hackles, you haven't done much better than I have; part of the reason I responded to you with such venom is that I was frustrated by what appeared to be a lack of concern for the cat and future kittens by merely letting any tom mount her while still arguing my suggestion that breeding her was irresponsible. However, I am pleased to see that you will avoid allowing her to be impregnanted at this young age.

Ah well. I suppose the issue is settled anyways, no? You now know what her funny behavior is caused by, and also know to keep her indoors so she doesn't get pregnant just yet. I do hope you consider everything else I mentioned, regardless of the tone in which it was stated, as I think it would overall be a much more satisfying experience for you and the cat.

 

[The-Wolf]

here are some useful links for you
http/www.cats.org.uk/ cats protection, they give great advise on caring for your cat as well as listing re-homing centers (for when you have lots of kittens)
http/www.fabcats.org/ feline advisory bureau, again a great advise center.
http/www.bluecross.org.uk/web/site/home/home.asp you may want to keep this one in your favourites for future referance

 

[morgan]

The cat situation is obviously different in the U.S. If you shot a cat over here you would be prosecuted! But we are not over-run by them. Not having a go, just saying it's different.