New owner from UK

Hello,
Recently become a new cat owner (or should that be "owned" ! LOL) and becomingly more confused...

Bit of history:
One of my girlfriends friends lived nextdoor to a trio of abandoned cats... 2 adults (who roamed outdoors) and a tiny kitten, imprisoned in a conservatory on "her" own, the owners had left the house to move in with a new partner - and only returned once a week to feed the trio.
Then they decided to move permanantly, but the kitten was "too much hassle" to take with them "and were looking to give it away"

Another long story transpired, and eventually it turned up at our house - more out of pity than want (we alway thought they would smell and whatnot!)

Anyway that was just before Christmas, and now shes a part of the family, and very loved and contented... and a LOT less "jumpy and scared"

Now the confusion part...
We took it to the local vet for a "kitten check" and she said "its appears to be a female, but you never get a ginger female, so we cant tell because its so young... try again in a few months"

Last week, we guess shes about 6 months old, and not wanting a litter, we took her to another vet... he says she is old enough to be spayed, but again is confused... and had to ask a collegue to check the sex - again "female"

Now.... we feel guilty having her spayed if she IS so rare, also - not sure about letting her out of the house (shes never been out so far) in case she gets stolen....
So, is she really THAT rare ? would having her spayed be a "crime" if she is...

Ohhhh, its all so confusing !
Any advice most welcome...
Thanks
Paul

Welcome to TCS!

Red/orange/ginger females aren't really very rare. I have a red/white female myself and another red/white female foster that just gave birth to a red/white girl and a cream (dilute of red) girl. I'm not sure if maybe they're just not very common where you live but where I live they're pretty easy to find!

Originally Posted by Rooster

would having her spayed be a "crime" if she is...

Click to expand...

No it wouldn't be a crime, if anything your being a responsible cat owner by spaying her

I would still keep her as an indoor cat though for a number of reasons such as cars that could hit her, fights with other cats in the area etc...

My three are indoors and their fine.

Welcome to the site and we look forward to seeing your little girl in fur pages

Hi and welcome to TCS

Someone once told me that it was oh so rare to find an Orange female.
Well my RB girl Lizzie was orange and white and my Gracie is all orange as is their Mother.

Like someone else said they may be rare where you're from but that's not the case here.
Even if an orange female is rare where you are, having her spayed is the right thing to do as is keeping her indoors.

Bless you for taking this little sweetie in

Hello Paul, and welcome to the best cat site around!

We have a lot of support and advice to give here. We also have a game called KatKwiz, which teaches you things about The Cat Site and also allows you to win lots of points. Just click on the here link below to learn more. Glad you decided to join us!

Yes you can get red (ie what you called ginger) females and they're not that rare - The vet should know that!!!!

EDIT: To say welcome to TCS, sorry, I forgot my manners for a minute there!

Hello and Welcome to TCS!

Welcome!

Hi Paul, welcome
I've always understood ginger females to be uncommon rather than rare (the same applies to tortoiseshell males I think) as for letting her out, that really does depend on where you live, if you do let her out you should definitely get her spayed (or you'll end up with a big pile of kittens to find loving homes for!)
Sounds like she's settling in well so you're obviously doing things right you might want to think about changing your vet though - any vet who doesn't know you can get ginger females cant know much about cats.
Well done for giving a loving cat a good home

Hello and Welcome to TCS

Hola y bienvenido a TCS, ...Catulina

y Milky

te saludan!!!........

(Translate: Hi and Welcome to TCS, Catulina and Milky say hello to you!!!... )

See you on the forums!

Hello Paul, my name is John, welcome to the site

Hello, Rooster, and welcome!

Hi and welcome to TCS! We are so glad you have joined us!

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Welcome to TCS!

While ginger females are uncommon I wouldn't say that they are rare. It all falls onto the X & Y chromosomes. I would say that it wouldn't be a crime to spay her. That's part of being a responsible cat owner.