Well, life with cats is often
surprising, especially when they are rescue-cats. Zofia went into heat
yesterday.
We in the rescue-group estimated
little Miss Zed’s age to be approaching five months. She is likely half a year
old. When Zofia was brought to us, she was under-fed, under-weight and small;
even the veterinary had trouble placing her age, which she thought was close to
our estimate. We were wrong.
Another cat in our rescue was
older than Zofia – now, strangely, she’s the same age! – but looked it: fuller,
bigger and nearer adulthood. This one, however, had been fed well for the
period previous to her abandonment. Zofia was found wandering about the town;
she had clearly been without adequate nourishment for a while, possibly since
being weaned. The photograph below was taken the day she arrived at the Cosy
Apartment. We thought she was about three months old then; she was probably six
weeks older, which is a big difference when one is that young.
Saturday, she started rambling
about the apartment trilling and cooing. I thought it was just a progression of
her vocal socialisation; it seemed plausible that this was its next step.
Yesterday, she continued making those sounds, but she also adopted an unusual
stance. She would stretch herself out – resembling a dachshund, to my mind –
her rear resting on her feet, rather than her toes, as a cat typically walks.
Yet she also continued to run and play normally. I thought of the ‘floating
patella’ that the doctor reported Zofia as having; I didn’t think they were
causing her pain, merely feeling odd, and the strange posture her way of
dealing with it.
Still, a little concerned, I took
a video of the kitten and sent it to a colleague in the rescue. She recognised
the symptoms immediately. Zofia was in heat. Below is a still taken from the
video.
I had not seen a cat in heat
before; I’d heard them outside numerous times, but had not seen one.
Fortunately, as it is her first cycle, Zofia likely is not feeling much
discomfort. As I write, all is quiet, and Miss Zed is sleeping, though last
night, there was plenty of cooing and trilling, and she and Hector chased each
other enough to knock over the Christmas tree. This cycle will last a few days;
her spay will have to wait a while, even if it were not physically preferable,
as the veterinary hospital doesn’t have an opening until after Christmas. Zofia
will be going there on Tuesday, but merely for a vaccination booster. We should
be able to fit her in before her next heat cycle.
Yes, life with cats is often
surprising, especially when they are rescue-cats. This week’s lesson, courtesy
of little Miss Zed.
