just wondering if i can get some advice. i will be taking cat to vet
on tuesday (tomorrow)
as today is a public holiday. but i thought i would post here to get
some opinions in the meanwihle.

i'm not sure if my cat is in heat or not.  here's the background: i
have just adopted her 7 days ago, the lady
she was with had her for about 8 months and said she never went into
heat the whole time she was with her,
and she had been going out (outdoor/indoor cat) frequently. we both
then assumed she must
have been sterilised.  on the first day i got her i took her for a vet
checkup and the vet said that she
couldn't find any stitches so she must not be sterlised and for me to
make an appointment.  i didn
t at the time because i was still convinced she had been sterlised. my
undestanding was that cats
who weren't sterilised and who were outdoor cats were very likely to
become pregnant very easily
(the lady i adopted from lives in a high cat traffic area, she has 8
strays that she has adopted from
the streets). also, i've read that if a cat doesn't get pregnant,
she's just going to keep going into
heat all the time. which has not been the case, according to the lady
i adopted from.

however yesterday arwen started displaying behaviour that *might*
showshes in heat, but i've never
seen a cat in heat  first hand before so i'm not sure.  shes rolled
around on the floor, and went into
bouts of very loud meowing.  after the rolling, i got worried and went
to look up cat behaviour on the internet and that's when it occurred
to me she might be in heat. the thing is, i don't see any white
discharge (from what i've read that's a
symptom) and while there is increased appetite and a lot of face
rubbing on furniture (also symptoms,
based on what i've read online), there is no spraying, and the loud
meowing isn't constant.  it goes for
about 5-10 minutes, and the rest of the time she's quiet for a long
time, then starts up again for another
short period.  the meowing is like a very loud
rrrooowrrrrooowrrrrroow, almost a yowl (but not a howl).
there's also a lot of face rubbing - but she has done that since she
got here, we thought she was trying
to mark her territory. in fact, its really rather peaceful except
for these occasional short spurts.  this whole day from morning to
afternoon she has been very quiet
and sleeping.  from what i've read its constant meowing that drives
owners crazy (its just not very constant
from i can tell), cat trying to escape,etc. in fact, i'm torn between

here's my question: is she ill? or is it possible she really is not
sterilised and has gone not being in heat for so
long (8 months plus) and is in heat now? or has she always been in and
out of heat, but because her
symptoms are "quieter" the lady i adopted from missed them (i really
think this is unlikely)?
other than the meowing and face rubbing,  a rather big appetite, and
the sudden onset of floor
rolling (this happened once last night, and has not happened once the
whole of today), she seems to be fine.
i've only had her seven days so i don't know the fine points of
abnormal behaviour for her though. if she is
in heat, my husband and i are wondering if she has been in heat these
whole 7 days (face rubbing and
occasional loud meowing was there the moment she got here, but rolling
was yesterday only) and we didn't
realize it. is there such thing as cats having a "quiet" heat?

anyway, tomorrow we are taking her to have her eye looked at again
(infection, had received ointment but not improving) and sterilised if
heat is confirmed.