Basic Feline Sex Ed question -- I'm confused!

[AmberLee]

I regret to inform you that I'm learning that I know less about cats than I thought I did...

There is a white cat that has been haunting our neighborhood for a couple days calling raucusly. I assumed she was a neighbor's female in heat. Cassy (neutered in kittenhood, 3+ years ago) has been interested but not ... involved. He looks out the window at the noise, but exhibits less interest than he does for noisy birds, or dogs, for example. Livvy (spayed in kittenhood, 3+ years ago) rolls over and goes back to sleep during the calling. Thus my guess that the noisy caller was a female.

Last evening, I started wondering if it were a female calling why there were no other cats around. But, since Cassy's fixed, should he be responding at all? Am I misreading the situation? What's going on under my camilla bush?

[Barbara]

Whenever a tomcat sings his song outdoors, Filou and Tigris are startled. They run to the window and try to look. I think it has nothing to do with sex but with dominance. They are watchful when they think an unneutered male could come close to their territory.

[bisi.cat]

Cats hear the calling over vast distances...male and female cats are calling to find each other...last year a feral female cat was howling around the neighborhood...it's such an agonizing sound...
I've wittnessed that Nellie and some neighbor cats promptly react to this...as being spayed and neutered they have no sexual interest, but the cat was roaming THEIR territories in an unacceptable loud manner...
So I guess Barbara is right here, it's a territory thing...

[IttyBittyKitty]

We've had desexed girls (and boys) exibit interest in the catcalls of a queen or tom on heat. It is defiitely a territorial thing, but it is also a curiosity thing ... if a dog was making a helluva racket outside, the kitties would probably want to know what is going on!

I wouldn't worry about your kitties Amber! You'd know about it if they were responding sexually