How to Survive Your Cat's First Heat

First time cat owners may be surprised by a great many things in dealing with their first feline pet, but nothing may be more unnerving than dealing with a cat in heat for the first time.

Kittens usually experience their heat at sometime between six and nine months old and even a generally quiet cat can turn into a monster over night. There are no real warning signs that a first time cat owner can look for or any real ways to prepare. There is only very loud caterwauling.

In fact, the entire concept of caterwauling takes on new meaning when dealing with a cat in heat.

I adopted my first and only pet cat in October. So far, she has been a $400 free cat.

In her defense, as a first time cat owner, I have been a bit overindulgent in her toys and a little like a new mom in reactions to her illness. My friends who have had cats for years say I didn't need to take her to the vet last month when she threw up three times in two days. I did it anyway. Turns out, according to her vet, she probably had the same stomach virus that had made everyone else in the house sick.

I had no idea I could pass my viruses on to her and that she could pass them back again. Apparently, cats can catch colds and flu-like viruses from their people. Who knew?

Anyway, she has been a bit expensive for a "free" cat. When she first showed up on my porch, she had been a stray since birth and weighed a little less than four pounds. She is also an impressive little scrapper.

At her first vet visit, she had an abscess on her back where she had been clawed deeply by another cat. She had healing claw marks in several other spots and she was seriously undernourished. She had to have her first series of shots and then had to be treated for all the standard parasites, fleas and ear mites, mostly, that an outdoor cat is exposed to.

Since she had also been obviously wounded by another cat, her vet also recommended that she be tested for the feline immunodeficiency virus, the kitty equivalent of HIV.

In all, her first vet visit was $154. I thought that was the last surprise that I would have as a first time cat owner. I was wrong.

There was her second round of shots for feline leukemia and once she was big enough, for rabies. Then, there was her bout with the flu.

But it was her first heat that surprised me the most. My cat is a bit more vocal than other cats anyway. She has been known to "speak" to wake me up in the morning and says please when she wants to go to the basement to hunt crickets.

Still, I was unprepared for her sudden caterwauling. Her howls are constant and ear-splitting. Even with the bedroom door closed, she can wake me from a sound sleep. I now know what the term caterwauling really means.

Her vet, and the web, assure me that this will only last four to six days. It's been two. I think I can survive. And, we have found that giving her a cool spot to lie down and rubbing her stomach help quiet her for short periods of time, but I am looking forward to having her spayed and assuring that we don't have tog o through this again.

So, in a little over three months, my free cat will have cost us about $600. And, as shocking as that is, it is nothing compared to her midnight cries for attention. I can't remember the last time I was this eager to spend money on something other than me.