Female Kitten (11 months) in heat for 1st time

[charliezangel]

DH and I are the proud parents of 3 delightful kitties. Howie is almost 6, Noelle is 2 1/2 and Snowy is 11 months. We adopted snowy when she was just 8 weeks old and a little furball. She is a crazy little kitty and loves to play. DH and I had been talking recently about how she has not gone into heat yet (Noelle went into heat at about 6 months and we had her fixed soon there after). Today she started acting funny. All of a sudden she was yowling and whining. She dragged herself over to where i was sitting, then streched her body out, but kept her hind feet up so her butt wouldn't touch the floor. If she isn't in this position, she is curled up in a little ball with her tail firly held between her legs. Noelle did not behave like this. She would yowl and whine, but i never saw her physically react to this. Snowy honestly looks like she is in pain and it is making me so sad. We don't have the $$ to get her fixed right now (all 3 cats are indoor cats and the other 2 are fixed, so we are not worried about her getting knocked up!!). Does anyone have any advice on how to soothe a kitty going through this?? TIA

[{b}]

I noticed that both the chain pet stores in my area were advertising low cost spay/neuter/vax programs recently - you may want to look into that.

[SingleWhiteFemale]

Additionally, the local SPCA does neutering clinics at little to no cost. If I remember correctly, a cat should be spayed before her first heat cycle to drastically reduce her risk of certain cancers (jesvet would be of much more help than me on what this prevents!). There's more to prevent than her "getting knocked up."

Here is a link where you can find where low-cost clinics are in your area.
http://www.spayusa.org/search/default.asp

[Rosebud93]

SingleWhiteFemale is absolutely correct about the SPCA: you can get your cat spayed for about $20. If you have any other rescue or foundation organizations in your area, they might be able to help too.
You will have to wait until your cat is not in heat (vets usually charge more for the spay if the cat is in heat or simply will not do it) - and make sure you don't touch her anywhere near her rear!! I found when my cat was in heat, ANYTHING that came into contact with her lower half (could've even been one of her back paws!) only prolonged the heat cycle. :eek:

[jesvet]

Spaying before the first heat reduces the risk of mammary cancer (ie breast cancer) by close to 75%. Spaying before the second heat cycle reduces the risk by about 45%. After two heat cycles there isn't a benefit for mammary cancer reduction but obviously there are lots of other benefits too.

No reason to wait! Most vets recommend spaying by 6 months of age. If cost is a factor, like others said there are lots of low cost spay/neuter programs so there is nooooo reason to wait.

[PookiePrincess]

No advice, but I can feel your pain. After my cat went into heat the first time and was sticking her butt in the air and howling, she promptly went to the vet to be spayed. I could not go through that again!

Hope your kitty is better soon!

[charliezangel]

Thanks for the advice girls. I had no idea that spaying/neutering animals had other benefits besides keeping them from procreating. I'm glad I know now. I'm also going to go online and look for an SPCA location near me. Thanks again.