Greetings:

I adopted a female cat who is nearly 6 years old. The previous owners were going to give her to a shelter if she had nobody to adopt her due to the new home they were renting did not allow cats. I've known the cat for much of its life (from visiting the friend often), and felt I could give her a stable and happy home. It is my first cat however, so I am very new to this.

I have not yet taken her to a vet now that she lives with me. I intend to do this soon, and of course will ask about this then. However I was curious and figured I'd ask around anyways until I get her into the vet.

She is not 'fixed', and as such she goes into heat often in these summer months. She urinates whenever this happens, and it has made my home's carpeting start to look awful. I try to clean up after her as soon as I notice it, but sometimes it happens during the day while I'm at work, and its nearly impossible to get the off-color stains out of my very light colored carpeting.

I'm wondering if she is too old to get 'fixed'? Are there any health risks for having this procedure done at an older age? I hear of most cats having this procedure done at a very early age when they are still kittens, so I am very concerned about her physical and emotional well-being from having this procedure done.

I also have been told that in order to get her to stop urinating this is the only option, but I also mean to ask, are there other options to stop her from doing this? I suspect not, but I suppose it doesn't hurt to ask!

Any insight into this would be greatly appreciated. As I said, I'm taking her into the vet fairly soon, though I'd like her to get somewhat acclimated to my house before another stressful trip in a carrier, so I intend to wait a couple of weeks first.

No and I suggest a vet check to make sure there are no medical issues.