If Missy should happen to go into heat before I get her spayed in mid January, should I keep her and Junior (neutered) separated during that time or would it really matter? I know there's no chance of pregnancy but I'm not sure which is best.

Mez

As long as he's been neutered for more then a month or two, it won't hurt to keep them together. When was Junior done?

As long as he's been neutered for more then a month or two, it won't hurt to keep them together. When was Junior done?

September. As I said, I know there's no chance of pregnancy. I just wasn't sure how Junior would react being around her 24/7 during her heat.

Mez

Most of my neutered males ignored the females in heat - acted like they didn't know what she wanted. Felt sorry for the girls sometimes as they tried to seduce the males and they (males) would just look at that them like they were nutz :)

Fred was older when he was fixed, and he would "service" the girls if they went into heat before I was able to get them spayed. No kittens, everybody happy, except those of us who had to listen to it.

I recently had the same dilemma with my kittens, with a similar result described above by Golden Kitty. The vet assured us it was okay to leave them together as Alex had been neutered two months before, and at first he expressed some interest in satisfying her condition but quickly lost it. My BF described his reaction as that of a man running into a girl he met briefly and never wanted to see again; he looked at her indifferently or like she was out of her mind (which I suppose she was, in a way). She was recently spayed and everything has returned to normal. Good luck with yours!

How can you tell if a cat is in heat?

Chloe is going to be spayed in mid-January to mid-February (at that point, she'll be 5-6 months old). She's 4 months now but doesn't weigh very much for her age. If she does go into heat before she is spayed, how will I know?

(It's not really an issue, because I have no male cats in the house. It only would be if she somehow escaped).