neutering question

Hi guys
Not sure which forum to ask this but here goes anyway!
There has to be some one out there who will know the answer to this as you guys are all cat-knowing!
I have a brother and sister aged 6 months. The male, Milo was neutered last month and all went well. My vet advised me to wait till Pepsi was 6 months and she is booked in for surgery on Tuesday next week.
When I booked her in the nurse asked me if she was showing any signs of coming into season and I said no she wasnt.
Well now I am not so sure.
She has spent the last 2 days rubbing up against anything that moves or doesnt. She is constantly rolling on her back and wanting to be petted all the time. Does this mean that she is coming into season and if so what am I to expect as I have heard horror stories. Also my main question, can she still be neutered or do I have to wait?
Sorry feeling a bit dumb here, but my last female was neutered and we never had to deal with it, so I am a bit in the dark so to speak.
Any help or advise is very much appreciated. Thanks x

Yes, it sounds as though she is coming into heat.
Lots of females will get very vocal (loud) and most will try everything they can to get outside to find a mate.
You must be especially careful to ensure she does not get outdoors.
Yes, she can still be neutered, though it will be a question of whether or not your vet agrees to do so.
Most vets who will neuter a cat in season will also charge more because it is slightly more invasive than the normal procedure.

As Arlyn has already mentioned your kitty wil become more vocal, she'll want to go out and you may even have males visiting outside - they can smell and hear a female from a long way You will also notice that she will stick her bum up in the air, with her front lower, this is sometimes called 'presenting' as she is ready for a male.

Obviously you need to ensure she does not get out as she will surely get pregnant.

Good luck and all the best for her surgery on Tuesday

Females = spayed
Males = neutered




You can still go ahead with the surgery but depending on the vet they may tell you taht there is more of a health risk to spay while the cat is in heat.

Actually neutered is correct, and used most often overseas for either gender.
It actually means gender neuteral.

You dont say? Wow I have never heard of that.

I only pointed it out because when you see lot of posters using neutered for either gender, chances are they are overseas posters, where they teach proper English
Unlike us Americans with our own special version of English

So Americans just 'made up' the word spay?

You got me on that one, I don't know.
I do know that you can spay or neuter a female cat, but you can only neuter a male cat

I say neuter for either one. I never knew it was more common overseas!

For the talk of terminology:

spay: Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French espeer to pierce, castrate, from espee sword, from Latin spatha sword -- more at SPADE
: to remove the ovaries and uterus of (a female animal)

neuter:a : of, relating to, or constituting the gender that ordinarily includes most words or grammatical forms referring to things classed as neither masculine nor feminine

castrate:: to deprive of the testes

As for the question sounds like she could be or is coming into heat. I don't know if you can get her spayed while in heat but chances are yes but at a higher rate. Also you said you had a male recently neutered. I have heard a male can still impregnant a female up to 1 month after being neutered. So please be careful if you decide to wait.

wow major hi-jack with English lesson but covering subject matter, so all very interesting...........next ........

Nismo was booked in for her spay/neuter as soon as she turned 6 months, but she showed all the signs of being in heat literally a day after her 6 month birthday
She went to enormous lengths to try and get outside, and if I am honest it was not a particularly fun time. For us, or for her, so I really feel for you.
My vet would not spay her until she had been out of season for a week so we had to reschedule her appointment. I think some vets will do it, I dont know what the risks are as to why some vets wont but obviously there is a reason.
Hopefully her heat will be over soon and you can get her spayed ASAP. Im sure you are doing your best to keep her in anyway but be extra alert because if she really wants to get outside she'll find holes you never even knew existed! As we found out with Nismo...

Pombina - the reason is that the blood vessels are a lot more engorged, so it is slightly riskier, and is also more time consuming. My vets will do it though, but I do try and schedule neuters for when they aren't in heat - missed it with one though, I thought she had finished, the vet pointed out that she hadn't fully, so that could be why they want some people to wait a week after.

Wow Look what I started!!!

Thanks guys for all your replies.
So far she is just rubbing herself round everything and rolling, nothing else. I am poised for the catawalling etc. I am going to give the vets a call tomorrow and see what they say.
Her brother isnt acting any different so far, but I have to say that i was concerned to read that he might still be able to reproduce after his operation! If it comes to it then I will just have to seperate them, but for now things seem ok.
I have been at work today and my daughter says that they have both been flat our asleep ALL day under my blanket in my bed!! Its a hard life.

As for 'neutering', we say it for both male and female but we also use the term 'spaying' for a female as well just to complicate matters!

I understand it much the way booktigger described it. AFAIK, while a cat is in heat, the 'parts' to be worked around/on during the operation are engorged...in and in a DOG in heat...they are not only engorged, but there is significantly more blood (than in a cat). So it's really more of an issue when you're talking about a dog, as far as spaying during a heat cycle. Just my understanding of it, I could be wrong.

My Pixel was in heat for her spay. I warned the vet ahead of time, and she said it was no problem, and didn't charge extra, either.

Pixel didn't do any howling, calling, meowing...but what she did was almost more annoying. She just spent a full week pushing herself around by her back legs, "trilling" the whole time. I would try and pick her up, and she would keep her back stiffly arched the whole time. She wasn't about to miss her chance ...but she didn't try to get outside (I was lucky, they usually do try).