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I am eternally grateful to my anatomy professor, Dr. Howard Evans, who gave me not
only an appreciation for, but also an actual zeal in the pursuit of
the arcane facts that continually appear throughout the biological
sciences. Tidbits like the horn of a rhinoceros is actually made of
compressed hair and that elephants are coprophagic were regularly
interspersed throughout otherwise mundane lectures in anatomy. We
even learned that the anatomy specimens were meticulously cleaned
down to the bone by a colony of flesh eating beetles which the good
doctor kept in a jar in his office. There was one factoid, however,
that, not only was I able to put to practical use, but it actually
enabled me to pass the veterinary licensing exam that I took in
1972.
The study of
anatomy was divided into two semesters -- large animals with emphasis
on cattle and horses the first semester, and small animals, with
emphasis on the dog and to a lesser extent the cat during the second
semester. Very little mention was made of exotic species -- birds or
pocket pets like rabbits, hamsters or rats.
However, Dr Evans
always liked to make things interesting and while we were discussing
the reproductive anatomy and physiology of the cat, he offered up
several interesting facts. He wondered aloud if anyone in the class
knew why the queen (female cat) screamed so loudly and continuously
during coitus. When no answer was forthcoming he explained that the
tom's (male cat) penis was actually laden with multiple fleshy
spikes which caused the queen to scream in ecstasy or pain. The
result of this rough sex was that the act of mating actually caused
the queen to ovulate thus ensuring that there would be eggs
available to meet the spermatic invaders. This mechanism all but
ensures reproductive success. With one exception, he added, this
method was unique- almost all other species ovulated independently
and reproductive success was based on the timing of the mating. The
one exception was the rabbit, which shared the capacity for induced
ovulation with the cat.
Armed with this
knowledge, I was able, along with my roommates, to put it to
immediate use. We shared an apartment in the college town area
adjacent to Cornell University. The area was a mecca for stray cats
and during the mating season the queens would be wailing for the tom
to satisfy their reproductive urge.
This racquet
would go on for several weeks or until the mating occurred. For
once the mating occurred, ovulation was induced and the heat period
would come to an end, along with the caterwauling. To expedite the
process, we would go out at night, snatch the lovesick queens and
"diddle" them. This consisted of inserting a lubricated
Q-tip or
thermometer into their vagina and gently manipulating it to simulate
coitus. The result was that the queen ovulated, the noise stopped,
pregnancy rates dropped in our area and we could finally get some
sleep.
When I took the
state licensing exams in California, the small animal section of the
test actually had twenty-five questions about reproduction in
rabbits. The only thing I knew about rabbits was the offhand remark
that Dr Evans had offered up, and I answered all the questions like
I would have for a cat. I must have extrapolated well because I
passed the test.
Veterinarians
generally advise against spaying when the female is in heat because
the higher levels of estrogen in the systems affect the animal's
ability to clot by affecting the function of the blood platelets.
So when my friend and client called me last week to tell me that her
cat was in heat and that the screaming was driving her crazy I
chuckled and said, "Why don't you bring her in for a diddle? Back to
cats,
dogs,
birds,
reptiles,
bunnies and other pets
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