Top Tips for a Safe Cat Pregnancy and Birth

There is no basis for the claim that "pregnancy is beneficial for female cats." If cats are bred during estrus, they will endure a long and painful cycle of pregnancy and childbirth. Which is more inhumane, one might ask?

Are you certain you can find a suitable home for the newborn kittens?

Individual family breeders often face these dilemmas:

Newborn kittens are incredibly cute, and many people come to take them home. If you don't charge for them, you worry whether others will cherish this free life; however, if you do charge, you feel guilty, as if you're selling a child.

And if there's no suitable home for the kittens, are you sure you can afford to feed them yourself?

Suppose the "honored mother" at home gives birth to octuplets. Can you find suitable homes for all of them? If not, are you prepared to accept the sudden increase in the number of cats in your home?

If you insist on not neutering, these cats will multiply exponentially when they reach breeding age. You must consider whether your home is large enough, especially in today's expensive housing market.

Prenatal Knowledge: Understanding the Cat Estrus Cycle

Cats' sexual development is influenced by factors such as nutrition, breed, growth environment, and individual physiological and psychological factors. There is no standard time for the first estrus, but most cats reach sexual maturity and start to estrus between 6 to 12 months of age, with some latematuring breeds not reaching estrus until after one year.

Female cats are seasonal polyestrous animals, with each estrus lasting 3 to 7 days. During the estrus season, they usually come into heat every two weeks, with most estrus occurring in March, April, June, and July.

Research shows that the estrus period in female cats is also related to the intensity of light. In some regions where the weather is like spring all year round, many female cats are almost in heat yearround, while male cats generally do not have an estrus cycle and are only stimulated by the estrus of female cats.

Prenatal Examination: Deworming and Vaccination in Advance

Deworming

Fleas and ticks can transmit tapeworms and infectious diseases, while tapeworms and roundworms can be transmitted to the fetus through the placenta. The solution to internal parasites is to purchase special deworming medication from a veterinary hospital and administer it orally, which can effectively eliminate most parasites.

For external parasites, there is now a "Frontline" spoton treatment that is convenient and effective.

Vaccination

Administer the cat triple vaccine and rabies vaccine in advance. Only after the vaccine protection is fully effective (about 10 days later) can mating take place. This helps the mother produce strong antibodies against infectious diseases, which are then passed on to the kittens through colostrum.

Special Disease Checks

Special disease checks are for female cats that have bred but are infertile, have had miscarriages, or have had reproductive system diseases.

The checks include:

(1) Infectious diseases. Brucellosis, toxoplasmosis, leptospirosis, etc.

(2) Female cat reproductive organ diseases. Uterine pyometra, ovarian cysts, endometritis, vaginitis, vulvitis, etc.

Genetic Diseases

Genetic diseases can be checked based on bloodline, including cryptorchidism, cataracts, deafness, polyuria (congenital), epilepsy, autoimmune diseases, systemic mange, etc.

If a cat is found to have a genetic disease, the breeding plan should be stopped, and spaying surgery should be performed. While it is easy to take care of one cat with a genetic disease, it is much more difficult to take care of a group.

Choosing a Mate: The Importance of Compatibility

Did you know that many cats have strong opinions about choosing a mate? They often show no interest in the "arranged marriage" chosen by their owners and may even fight, but they have a strong preference for the opposite sex they like.

Therefore, to avoid domestic violence between cat couples, the principle of "matching" should be established on the basis of "mutual consent" first.

Breed Compatibility

Matings between different breeds is a highly complex subject, best left to cat researchers.

Crossbreeding violates the principles of purebreed mating. If misused by unscrupulous cat dealers, it can affect the breeding quality of the entire breed, and the resulting "mixedbreed" cats may become street strays.

Age Compatibility

Male cats generally reach full maturity around 18 months old, while female cats mature around 12 months old. Female cats younger than one year old may have an incomplete pelvis, which could cause dystocia.

Although cats have strong reproductive abilities, there are reports that some female cats can still give birth normally at 14 years old. However, this is an exception. If a female cat is over five years old and has no breeding experience, the risk of pseudopregnancy and dystocia will increase significantly, and the breeding plan should be abandoned.

Body Size Compatibility

If the body sizes of the male and female cats differ too much, it may cause injury during mating.

If the female cat is very small and the male cat is very large, dystocia may occur during late pregnancy, which could threaten the lives of both the mother and the fetus.

Condition Compatibility

Choosing a soninlaw is somewhat similar to "martial arts recruitment." A healthy, strong, and handsome male cat should be the first choice, which can help maximize the avoidance of genetic diseases and align with the core idea of family planning: eugenic breeding.

Tips:

There are exceptions to the "matching" principle. When breeding Scottish fold cats, it is not advisable to mate two fold cats, as this may result in skeletal genetic diseases in the kittens.