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The
Martha's Vineyard Times is a weekly publication.
January
13 - January 19, 2005 Edition
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VISITING
VET January 13, 2005 There is no new Visiting Vet column this week. In need of a fix January 6, 2005 By Michelle Gerhard Jasny, VMD The winter solstice has passed and the days are getting longer. Soon I will start to get the telephone calls about cats acting bizarrely. “She’s in terrible pain, doc,” the caller will say. “I think it’s her back. She’s arching all funny, yowling, and throwing herself on the floor.” An intact female cat is called a queen (obviously dubbed so by someone who knows feline personalities well.) Puberty in cats generally occurs between 5 and 12 months of age. For inexperienced ailurophiles, this sometimes comes as a surprise, especially when they have recently acquired both a boy and a girl kitty. (Yes, littermates will breed. No, it’s not a good idea. ) Long-haired breeds tend to mature later than short-haired ones. Queens are “seasonally polyestrus.” This means they go through multiple heat cycles, depending on the time of year. In temperate zones like ours, the lengthening days in January and February stimulate the onset of the feline breeding season. A queen in heat exhibits a special set of behaviors designed to attract male cats and indicate receptiveness. She crouches, arching her back in a unique way called “lordosis.” She vocalizes with a distinct low trilling call, rolls on the floor, rubs against everything and everyone, and treads with her paws. If no male cat is present, it may last 10 days or more. That’s a long time to live with a sex-crazed cat. If a male cat does come calling, they usually mate several times a day for 3 to 4 days. (An interesting tidbit – the penis of the sexually mature male cat is covered with tiny backward facing barbs. Can I say that in the newspaper?) Cats are “induced ovulators,” i.e. breeding stimulates the ovaries to release eggs, after which heat, technically called estrus, will end. And, yes, if multiple toms come to call, a litter of kittens may have more than one father. It’s called superfecundation. (Can I say that in the paper, too?) Pregnancy lasts about 63 days. The kittens nurse for four to six weeks. Two weeks after that, mom can go back into heat. An unspayed queen may have two, or even three litters per year, with an average of four kittens per litter. Early weaning hastens the return of estrus, but on rare occasions even a nursing mother can get pregnant. The feline reproductive system is very intent on… well, reproducing. A queen may continue to go into heat throughout the spring and summer months, until she is pregnant or spayed. Many vets prefer to wait until the immediate heat period has passed before doing surgery, as during estrus the uterus is more vascular and friable, making the procedure more difficult. For mother cats, the optimum time to spay is as soon as their milk has dried up — usually two weeks post-weaning. Spaying during lactation is not ideal as the engorged mammary glands mechanically interfere with the surgery and create a risk of contaminating the abdominal cavity with milk. Dogs are different. An intact female dog is called a bitch (I’m a feminist, so make any sexist remarks at your own risk.) Puberty usually occurs between 6 and 12 months of age, with smaller breeds maturing earlier than larger. Bitches generally have two heat cycles per year, but this can vary a lot from individual to individual. I hate it when people ask me when to expect their dog to go into heat. Dogs are not specifically seasonal in their breeding cycle. Heat usually occurs in late spring or fall, but may happen any time, with some breeds more prone to late winter, early spring cycles. Small breeds may go into heat three or four times per year and large breeds only once. Older bitches cycle less frequently and less regularly. The first sign of estrus is a swelling of the vulva, followed by a bloody discharge. This confuses people. It is not the same as a human’s menstrual cycle. Bleeding in the dog occurs during the PRE-fertile period. After roughly 5 to 10 days, the discharge turns to a clear, straw-colored fluid. This is true estrus when she is fertile and receptive to a male, and lasts about 9 days. Most bitches ovulate 1 to 3 days after the onset of true estrus. If you want to breed your dog, plans need to be made well in advance. Bitches should be at least two years old and have thorough pre-breeding evaluations for inheritable defects like hip dysplasia and eye problems. May I also gently suggest that first you volunteer for a week at an animal shelter, preferably one in a major metropolitan area, then reconsider your decision to breed? Spaying dogs before six months of age eliminates the risk of mammary cancer, as well as pyometra, and unintentional pregnancy, and has no negative effects. One thing that amazes me is the persistence of the myth that you should let your bitch have one heat before spaying her. This is an old wives tale. Occasionally, however, a spay gets delayed for good reasons. This fall a little adult Pomeranian mix was brought in to me. Recently adopted from the shelter, we were not sure of her early history. There was a small scar on her belly that might have been a spay scar. She also had a loud heart murmur. Several months later, she went in to heat, proving that the scar was just a scar and that her reproductive tract was intact. We discussed the options for having her surgery done, in light of her heart condition, but needed to wait until her estrus was over regardless of how we chose to proceed. Two months later, the little Pom was acting strangely. Her tummy was a swollen and she was lactating. She had never been out of her mother’s sight and there was no chance whatsoever that she was pregnant. Pseudocyesis is the technical name for this syndrome. Commonly known as false pregnancy, it is a not infrequent occurrence in bitches six to eight weeks after estrus. Symptoms are usually mild — slight nipple or mammary enlargement, swelling of the abdomen. Now and then, symptoms may be profound, including copious lactation, anxiety, vomiting, depression, loss of appetite, and, rarely, even signs of labor. Lactating bitches may nurse on themselves, perpetuating milk production. They may collect stuffed animals to mother, making nests in corners or closets, and guarding their surrogate babies. Some develop maternal aggression, vigorously protecting their “puppies.” I read one report by a veterinarian whose dog was carrying around a small stuffed animal and whining. Not realizing that this was pseudocyesis, she thought her dog wanted to play. The vet grabbed the toy pup and pitched it across the room to be fetched. Her dog gave her a horrified look, rescued the “pup,” and retreated to her nest. After that, the vet knew not to throw, but to tenderly pat and praise, the toy her dog was nurturing. Pseudocyesis must be differentiated from other conditions that can cause similar symptoms, such as mammary cancer, uterine infection, or true pregnancy. Underlying problems like hypothyroidism or liver disease may increase the incidence of false pregnancy. Treatment is usually not necessary for this essentially normal hormonal phenomenon. Preventing self-nursing with an Elizabethan collar or by putting a T-shirt on the dog is helpful in stopping the lactation. Medications can be used, but side effects are common. Simple Tincture of Time is usually the best approach, unless the problem persists for longer than two to four months, or the maternal aggression reaches dangerous levels. So if your unspayed female cat is yowling bizarrely or your unspayed female dog is stealing the beanie babies from the kids, don’t panic. Check in with your veterinarian. It may all be hormonal and nothing that a little surgery can’t cure. (And you tom cats out there, watch those comments. We do surgery on the males of the species here, too.) |
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