I was finally a bit settled yesterday, with the Augmentin-induced diarrhoea somewhat a little less and able to eat more food, so I ran errands and got more things in order.
One of them was to contact Juno’s vet as I wasn’t there when Juno went for her third vaccination.
The vet says Juno should go on Pro-Fibre for a month in order to increase the good flora in her intestines. This is part of her recovery from the severe diarrhoea when she had the coccidia infection in early November, so it’s been one-and-a-half months now.
Next, I asked when Juno can be spayed and if the vet was able to estimate her age by looking at her teeth.
The vet said she estimates Juno to be 5 to 5.5 months old!
Goodness me! And I thought Juno was at most only 4 months old now. When she was rescued on 2nd September 2024, the vet who examined her estimated her to be 3 weeks old.
Well, everything is only an estimate and nobody will know for sure.
The vet asked me to take another photo of Juno’s canines and send it to her again. So we did.
The photo isn’t exactly very clear because I am long-sighted and I don’t wear spectacles. But based on this photo, the vet maintained that her estimate is 5 to 5.5 months old. The adult canines are erupting. I asked if they can erupt at a younger age, she says yes, but it is rare.
And the vet says Juno can be spayed when she is 6 months old provided she is above 2kg.
Well, Juno is already above 2kg now, but….she is so small-sized! Tak sampai hati… That’s what happened with Pole and look what happened? But Pole was free roaming. Juno is confined.
Earlier on, I had already discussed the issue of cat spaying with my vet-friend who has gone overseas to work too. She says that it can be done from above 4 months to 1 year old, but best to do before 1 year old. The reason is that mammary cancer can be affected by high hormones level in the body. Research says if spaying is done after 2 years old, then the hormone level in body would have already stabilised, and spaying wouldn’t help to reduce risk of having mammary cancer anymore.
Then, when Juno was seen by the vet who practises TCVM, she says in TCVM, it is advisable to spay after the first heat, which is about 7 months old. The reason is that the reproductive organs act as a “second kidney” so you don’t want to remove them so early.
My vet-friend finally summarises it up thus: In shelter or roaming household or for adoption purpose they spay early to control population. Different doctors have different views, just follow the one you feel comfortable with and is practical with the scenario – differ case to case basis.
That’s the best answer, isn’t it?
Now, lately Juno has been trying very hard to escape through the front door. This reminds me of Raven, a little black kitten who confidently sauntered into our garden all by herself, covered in mange. I took care of her, got her treated and cured of mange and kept her confined in a cage in the patio for her safety. Then, just one day, she suddenly started displaying coming in heat behaviour. The meowing, scratching and desperation to escape was like nothing I’d seen before. During one of the feeding sessions, she managed to escape from the cage door and she bolted out to the road. I ran after her, all the way down the road, and luckily managed to catch her. There was already an adopter waiting for her, so I informed the adopter that she is likely to come into heat and if she would like to take her first, strictly confine her (she has such space whereas I did not at the time). The adopter said yes. So I took Raven, under heavily-armed supervision (!!) to the adopter’s house. Raven was finally spayed and lived on there, beloved.
Juno’s desperation to escape now reminds me of Raven. So for now, we have a new rule in the house: Juno goes into Bunny’s Place if we want to open the front door. She has not displayed signs of coming into heat yet. Maybe she is just very adventurous.
Last night, Juno got trapped between the front door and the screen door. We heard faint mewing for quite long and finally found her. She’s very good at hiding in this space so that when we open the front door, she sneaks out, faster than lightning.
Since the vet estimates her at 5 to 5.5 months old now (just as little Riley was when rescued and we all thought she was just 3 months old), Juno can already be spayed next month, which is in January 2025, a month after her 3rd vaccination. I might not wait until after the first heat at 7 months then. It might be too risky.
Before that, the new rule in the house must be strictly enforced and adhered to.
Luckily when Misty was confined in Bunny’s Place, she showed us all the loopholes there where she, having had such a small head, could escape from. We called the contractor to seal up all these places with the green netting. Now, Juno can already climb all the way up to the platforms.
Pole got pregnant at 7 months and gave birth two months later. All because I ignorantly thought we could wait “until she is a bit bigger”. Cow, Bunny and Pole were my first rescues. I didn’t know much at all.
Tabs came at 7 months and I got her spayed immediately. The vet said she was about to come into heat already. The Monsters were neutered at about 5 months, but they are males (I wanted to wait a bit, but the vet advised to do it). The Blondies were spayed at 4.5 months even though they were born in the house and confined. Escape is always possible, especially with cats. Riley was spayed shortly after I caught her.
So now lies the question: When should I get Juno spayed?
I’ll play it by ear since she has just been vaccinated. But I might not wait until 7 months. The vet did agree that she’s so small-sized right now and she suggests next month when Juno grows significantly “bigger”. I also worry because I’m not so good at telling the in heat signs. The meowing, the rubbing against our legs, the “humping” on her own, the desperation to escape!! One of my former vet’s own rescued kitten got pregnant at 3 months by her own brother! That’s rare but it happened.
You got to grow bigger, Juno. Eat, eat, eat!
Juno at Bunny’s Place this morning.
The Blondies love to play with her and Samantha also accepts her. All good. All girls.
In any case, Juno also goes to the Monster’s to play, all boys there (except Minnie) but all neutered too. We didn’t purposely segregate them by gender. It so happened that Minnie had all boys and Samantha had all girls!
Juno can already get up to the top of the world and she’s exploring. Luckily the contractor already checked quite thoroughly that there are no escape holes here, or so we think.