Can cats in estrus be sterilized？

01 Cat estrus period

Many people in China actually have a psychological resistance to pet sterilization, which may be a misunderstanding of eunuch culture. Overall, pet sterilization can make pets sick less, live longer, and be gentler. Of course, this should be entirely decided by pet owners themselves. However, in reality, most pet owners decide to sterilize their pets only after encountering difficulties, which is particularly evident in cats. Sterilization of cats has little impact on diseases, but significantly reduces the harassment of pet owners by cats during estrus.

Usually, pet doctors recommend that cats undergo sterilization surgery before 6-9 months of age, which is often before the first estrus. In some places, doctors may refuse to perform surgery on estrus cats and hope to wait until estrus is over before sterilization. Why is this? First of all, it needs to be clarified that if a cat is not in heat, sterilization surgery (including female cat oophorectomy) is considered a relatively low-risk routine surgery, and experienced doctors can even pinpoint the surgery time to minutes. Therefore, the most ideal surgery is of course to be performed when the cat is not in heat.

There is no particularly fixed pattern for the estrus period of cats, such as frequent occurrences in spring and autumn, which is unfounded. I have seen the youngest female cat in estrus appear around 4 months old. How annoying it is for cats to be in heat, every cat owner must have felt it deeply. After estrus, they are very easy to get pregnant. Most estrus cycles last 4-7 days each time. If there is no mating, they will rest for about a week before coming back into heat again, and this may happen multiple times. Its instincts and hormones will tell it to mate, and it will do its best to escape from its home and search for males to mate. That’s why cats in heat should be safely kept indoors to avoid unintended pregnancies. Another frustrating thing is that living with a cat that shows signs of aggression can definitely make one manic. Estrus cats often shout vigorously and continuously, and they may try to escape their homes. Some may urinate around the house, marking certain areas with their urine.

02 Sterilization during estrus period

If pet owners cannot tolerate the continuous performance of all of this, the best way is definitely to perform sterilization surgery on them as soon as possible. Sterilization surgery for estrus cats can definitely be done without any impact on the cat’s health itself, but it requires higher technical skills from doctors.

When cats are in heat, the blood vessels supplying the reproductive organs and surrounding tissues become congested, making these tissues more prone to tearing. This means that surgery is more complex and time-consuming than conventional sterilization surgery, and due to the need for additional time and supplies, the surgical cost will also be higher (some hospitals are reluctant to raise prices and may accuse some hematoma tissues of inflammation and charge extra). Although the risk increase for cats is minimal, some veterinarians still tend to avoid surgery on cats in heat.

If your pet owner’s cat has already started to heat up and the constant barking and urination around the clock are annoying, it is best to consult with a doctor to calculate the sterilization surgery time. This is very important, otherwise the cat may continue to heat up for more than 2 months. And the next estrus may start a new round a few days or weeks after the last estrus, so the optimal time is to undergo surgery 4 days after the end of estrus. However, the secretion of sex hormones does not immediately decrease after surgery, and the decline is often a slow process.

In summary, the optimal time for cat sterilization is during the non estrus period, but can cats undergo sterilization surgery during the estrus period? Definitely possible, but not the optimal choice.