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They grow up so soon...
Jasmin is about four and a half months old--and has just gone on heat! This has never happened to a kitten of mine, and she's DRIVING ME SPARE! She's crying all the time, writhing all over the carpet--and me and the other cats if she can manage it--and sticking her bum and tail in the air. That sounds pretty conclusive to me, though I've never seen it before. Aaaargh!
How am I going to sleep tonight? And if course it would happen on a weekend--as cat emergencies always do--so I can't ring the vet till tomorrow, but I tell you, she's going in ASAP.
In other cat news, I have two Lonely Miaow foster homes to visit to see their (always neutered) cats. They were delighted that I wanted a 'teenager' rather than a small kitten, and apparently they have a selection of young cats from just older than Jasmin to 1-2 years old. One place has a little silver tabby. I always wanted a silver tabby. However I'll be going for personality and attraction to me, not looks.
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Over here they won't neuter a cat until it's six months old, early developer or no. Fortunately Minsky seemed to be quite content with his precocious exertions until that point. :-)
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I did ask the vet when I got her about when they did it as Tessa was done at five months, and they said six unless she came in heat. I know the Lonely Miaow cats are done younger so they can be homed, and that my vet does some of them, so I'll get her in. The question is when they'll have a space.
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Aww, silver tabby.
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I know! They're so beautiful! I'll have to see who likes me though.
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Good luck finding a match!
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Temperament is way much more important than looks. Apart from anything else you want one as playful as Jasmin or it sort of defeats the object of the exercise.
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Cats with Siamese-type genetics seem to go into heat much younger from what I've heard.
I can only recommend you try to put Jasmin in a room as far from your bedroom as possible tonight- and if you can sleep with earplugs that might help.
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They're doing her tomorrow. She's quite a big kitten anyway (compared to Claudia and Tessa) so I'm sure she'll be fine.
I know the Lonely Miaow kittens are done younger because they only let then go after desexing and I think they go at 3 months or so; maybe younger. And I know my vet does some of them. :-) People seem to want tiny kittens, but I'd prefer one a bit older than Jasmin as she needs a stabilising influence.
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Spaying that young effects on the bone growth if nothing else (the bones grow longer and 'leggier' when they haven't hormones to counteract it- I wonder if it also makes them liable to fracture?). Six to eight weeks is common. I think four months is quite reasonable in a well-grown kitten even if it hasn't come into heat, because they'll have achieved much of their adult bone structure.
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Patsy has a cat that's nursing (all those little brown babies I posted a photo of)--and still on heat. Apparently it's turned her milk or something because Patsy said the kittens have become bad-tempered.
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I'm sure a lot of people do dump cats when they begin behaving sexually- no longer cute fluffball, but annoying creature with biological drives. *BOOT*
I wonder if the cat on heat is now simply producing less milk and the kittens are hungry?
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Patsy's been breeding cats for years; I'm sure she'd know. She said "Her milk's turned". Maybe they're getting nutrution, but the milk's sour or something. It could be a way of making the kittens leave in the wild.
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I'd already planned to have her done anyway - indeed may already have made the appointment - and the yowling, if nothing else, reinforced my decision.
Diesel's the only female I've had from a kitten, and she was done around six months, and hadn't come into season then. It's noticable that Skiffle displays affection by rolling on the floor far more than any of my neutered-before-maturity females have done.
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And yes, it's the yowling that's driving me round the twist. And I'm told it would keep up for two weeks, or till she's pregnant. I just need to hold out for today though; she's going in tomorrow.
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We've raised generations of cats, and I prefer the older ones to the kittens despite the cuteness factor.
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I don't get people loving kittens and not the cats they grow into. My kittens were cute, but I really loved the adults for their personalities and little quirks they develop.
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My roommate had a Calico Van with huge eyes we called Alien Kitty--and her name was Cally!
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Kittens are lovely, but so are young cat. Actually so are older cats too ;0)
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Exactly! :-)
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This icon looks just like Sam, a tabby kitten that followed my parents when they were visiting friends in another city. He followed down the street to their house, crying piteously, and when they left an hour or more later, he was still there, waiting. My father said, "Persistence must be rewarded" and brought him home, a skinny little thing who grew into a magnificent cat. I adored him; he was so funny and playful.
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I hope everything goes well tomorrow and that Jasmin has an easy recovery!
*Hugs*
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