Gender Confused Feline

Mindy and Flo-ey joined our family in August of 2005. We had spent a few days with friends on the farm and Arianna and this little tabby kitten were inseparable, so I played my guilt card with Brian and then came home with not only the tabby, but this little grey number as well. She reminded me of the cat I grew up with who lived to about a billion cat years and gave us countless numbers of spring time litters.

Now, I'm not dumb enough to think that free farm kitties are really free. Priceless: maybe ,but certainly not free. I know that by the tender age of six months or so, they hit puberty and do their utmost to hit the streets and get busy. So, I've been tucking away little bits of money for the inevitable trip to the veterinarian where these little girls are going to be subjected to female genital mutilation, er , I mean I'll be a responsible pet owner and get my kitties fixed so as not contribute to cat over population.

True to cat nature, a few weeks ago, the girls started acting in bizarre and desparate ways. The meowing became unbearably loud and whiney, they rolled around on the floor like furry contortionists with little shame, and they begged to go out, completely disregarding curfew. The appointments with the vet were made, and it was just a matter of waiting out the two weeks for our turn in the O.R. and the hope of our beloved pets behaving in less embarrassing ways.

Now, I appreciate any nudges from nature to open a discussion about the natural occurences between genders amongst any creature group. I had taken advantage of the "in heat" behaviors of the teeny-bopper kitties to explain to my own girls some more about the birds and the bees. However, Nothing could have prepared me for their next area of exploration. Flo began to aggressively mount Mindy and bite the scruff of her neck in typical cat mating fashion. Thus began "chapter two" of the birds and the bees.

"Mom!! WHAT are they doing?!"
"Mom, do brother and sister cats have sex with each other?"
"Mom, aren't Floey and Mindy both girl cats?"

And my own question: Do even cats have issues of sexual orientation? and, what qualifies me to
navigate this complex world of gender confused felines? I saved enough for a tubal ligation, but CAT THERAPY??!