cats

Fixed cats live longer. Spaying decreases the likelihood of cats developing certain types of cancers.

Friends of mine literally last week had to put their cat down because she developed breast cancer and rapidly deteriorated (we're talking painful skin ulcers here.) If the cat had been spayed at a young age, she would likely still be here.

And as others have said, spaying is the wise choice in case she were ever to accidentally get outside.

Spay. There's no reason not to. There are more cats than homes willing to take them in. My brother's family adopted a kitty they found in their yard and she had two kittens at only one year old. The kitten that they kept has to be kept from his mom until he's neutered or she's spayed because cats will bang family members (I didn't know this previously).

As someone else pointed out, cats get outside unexpectedly. One of mine was missing for 24h after I didn't secure a door properly. Glad she didn't come home preggers cause she was spayed by the adoption agency.

Congrats on your new friend!

Spaying her will settle her hormones, give her one less reason to try to get out, and will stop any neighborhood tomcats from trying to get in! It's very much worth doing. Afterwards she may need to wear a onesie for a little while to keep her from licking her stitches, you know how raspy kitty tongues can be.

If she's not spayed, there is a very high chance that she will find a way outdoors, and pregnancy is very draining on their bodies. They generally have quite a few kittens because so many of them don't survive. My most recent foster momma came to me practically skin & bones, and we lost 2 out of 5 kittens. Kittens are super fragile, and you can do everything right, but still lose them. And if they do survive, the shelters are already overflowing with homeless cats, so many get euthanized purely due to lack of space.

There is never a reason to not get her spayed. It helps with behavior and it reduces her chances of certain types of cancer as well as prevents her from having any kittens which the world does not need.

I just want to point out that inside cats often find a way to become outside cats. Some never try, but don't rule it out.

Other than that, if she never gets out and you don't get any more cats, I don't see why it would be an issue not to.

spay.

In order to convince you she should be spayed, please look up what you need to do with a q-tip to a queen in heat to get any peace and quiet. It's no fun for anyone involved.

I found that our cat seemed more calm or at ease after she was spayed. I'm not a cat psychologist. From what I observed it seemed better for the cat to be spayed. She had also shown signs of the frisky behaviour. I'd be curious to know from people who didn't spay their cats if that behaviour mellowed out, and how quickly.

day she was exhibiting very interesting behavior, meowing constantly, rolling around and rubbing up against everything,

This is a good sign. she's getting her scent on things, marking it as hers. (hopefully, you included.) This suggests she's cozy enough to stake a claim.

as for spaying- I would suggest it. though I'm sure you could get better explanations and an idea of why from a vet. (also as another said... inside cats sometimes like to escape. met my timeshare cat because he's a carrot thief... and they were my carrots...)