# Male cats stalking spayed female cat, is she in heat?



## bluegoo06 (Nov 24, 2010)

Let me give a little background information first. Four cats in the house, 3 male, 1 female. Moved in together about 8 months ago. 2 of the male cats are mine, 2 yrs old(Chex and BB). The 1 male (bear) and female (Hammy) were my boyfriends, 6 year old. The three male cats get along almost perfectly. Bear occansionally pushes Chex to the floor in a dominant manner.

Hammy was acting out and peeing on the stove for the last several months. This was back at thanksgiving. Chex was stalking her and waiting for her outside the litter box. After trying feliway, spraying the cat when we caught him in the act, more litter boxes, cleaning litterboxes more, moving litterboxes etc, the only that seemed to work was putting Chex on prozac. No issues up until the holidays. We traveled for the holidays, and had a pet sitter for 14 days. There were two incidents of peeing during these two weeks (stove and counter). Not sure if it was stress or what. We assume it was Hammy. 

Since we have returned BB, whom is usually very lazy and doesnt care about Hammy except once in a blue moon, has been stalking her like crazy. He doesnt seem to want to attack, just stalk and then sniff her rear. His brother Chex, also seems to be stalking her, doesnt seem to be aggresive, just interested. Bear doesnt seem interested in Hammy in this way. Hammy of course swats at them and usually hisses. We found a very small pee spot on a pile of clothes (first time ever it wasnt either the counter or the stove). There seems to be a random pattern ( i havent tracked it) of the male cats seeming to stalk, then nothing for a while. This stalking seems to correlate around the time we found pee spots. Hammy seems to be hiding in her little house a lot the last few days which also isnt normal. 

Seems odd to me that my male cats stalk her, only to sniff her behind. I know its not typical for a spayed female cat to be in heat, but the symptoms of the problem seem to indicate its a possibility.

Any ideas?


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## catloverami (Jul 5, 2010)

If she is exhibiting peeing or spraying outside litter tray, rolling, and hind-leg treading with bum raised?---all signs of being in heat--- it would be good to have vet check out her hormone levels. 
If it's just peeing, it's likely _behavioral _and related to moving and her distress at the changes, and owner on vacation. 
If she doesn't normally pee on counters, etc. it could also indicate a _UTI _(Urinary Tract Infection) and should be checked out by a vet. 

Some females get an "incomplete spay", where not all the ovarian tissue is removed which can continue to bring a female into heat. 

Here is a vet's answer re "incomplete spay".

"Sometimes it is possible for a spayed cat to go into heat. This is the result of an "incomplete spay", where some ovarian tissue was mistakenly not removed. This can cause the cat to go into heat, and it is even possible she could become pregnant, depending on the spay method. You should get her back to the vet for an evaluation. Some vets will prefer to do blood tests to determine her hormone levels. If there is evidence she's in heat upon the examination, some vets will assume there's missed ovarian tissue leftover and simply do a second surgery to remove it.

Most vets tie off the inside of the vagina during a spay to provide protection against pregnancy just in case. But if this wasn't done, she could become pregnant if she underwent an incomplete spay, even though her uterus has been removed. The fetuses would embed themselves into the abdominal wall or surrounding organs, like the kidneys, etc. As the fetuses develop, they will lead to a rupture of tissues/organs and kill the cat. So for her own safety, I would keep her strictly indoors until it has been confirmed she was spayed properly."


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