Cat in heat

Gardiner 2001

Our British short hair cat has gone into heat in last day or so and proper today. She will be three years in a few months. Is it not early in the year for cats to go into heat or is it more or less start of it again from this year on as such? We would like to let her have one set of kittens before we have her neutered but with another British short hair cat as we would like to keep one of her kittens with her for company during the few hours we are not there during the day. If she had more our parents and and other members of our family will take them as we're all cat lovers. How would you get that done? We were thinking of just buying another cat and having the cat as her friend but we just thought if she had a kitten she would take to it better as was from her and before we got her neutered we thought maybe it would be fair if she actually got to be a mother at least once. Are we going about this the wrong way? Any tips?

em_cat

Gardiner 2001 wrote: »

Our British short hair cat has gone into heat in last day or so and proper today. She will be three years in a few months. Is it not early in the year for cats to go into heat or is it more or less start of it again from this year on as such? We would like to let her have one set of kittens before we have her neutered but with another British short hair cat as we would like to keep one of her kittens with her for company during the few hours we are not there during the day. If she had more our parents and and other members of our family will take them as we're all cat lovers. How would you get that done? We were thinking of just buying another cat and having the cat as her friend but we just thought if she had a kitten she would take to it better as was from her and before we got her neutered we thought maybe it would be fair if she actually got to be a mother at least once. Are we going about this the wrong way? Any tips?

Why not neuter and get a kitten from a shelter. Then you are being responsible & giving a home to one in need. Her taking to one of her own litter isn’t necessarily the going to be easy. That’s my take on it.

Knine

Can you contact the Breeder of your cat & see if she can recommend a suitable stud?

Gardiner 2001

Thanks for the replies, i was more hopeing to get a breed of a cat like herself to mate with her not one from a shelter.

Checked the person out on adverts where we bought her from but doesnt seem to be a member anymore, she was from Poland so maybe went home since then and closed her account down.

No was just wondering is there a way that people go about letting their cat have kittens with a cat similiar to there own or is that not the case as i didnt particualry want to be spending another few hundred on a British short hair as then i would just get her neutered as we would have 2 cats then instead of letting her have 1 set of kittens then get her neutered?

sillysmiles

I'm confused. If you buy a stud cat for her, so that she can have a litter so you can keep a kitten then you have three cats not two in the house.
I'm not sure, but to mammy cats not eventually get pi**ed off at their own kittens and want them out of the house.

Which to you want - to breed from her? Or for her to have a companion? Personally I think they are different things.

Bunnyslippers

If you're worried about spending a few hundred on a kitten then a litter is going to cost you an awful lot more than one pedigree cat!!! Not to mention if things go wrong then it could cost you an arm and a leg - do you have the time to hand rear a whole litter if you lost the mother?! A rescue cat is by far the best way forward, letting a cat have kittens does not benefit the cat at all and often mothers tolerate their offspring but are not always best buddies and sometimes hate each other so no guarantee that keeping one will offer company. At 3yrs old your cat will be calling for the rest of the year every few weeks - not very fair on her at all!

If you are still wanting to breed then you need to go to the breed club for your cat and talk to them, they will point you in the direction of a suitable stud that has been health tested etc. - your cat I'm assuming is also health tested and a perfect example of her breed?

As for finding homes - I'd be rich if I had a euro for everyone, especially family members, who says they want a kitten or puppy from a litter only to back out at the last moment when reality hits - can you keep the whole litter and the cost of vaccinating/chipping/neutering etc if no-one wants the kittens? As a breeder you will have that responsibility!
IMO neuter the poor girl and rescue a kitten, all my reject rescues are the most grateful cats you can possibly get you won't regret it!!:D

loveisdivine

If you really want to breed her you're best off going to the breed club.

But this notion of "letting her be a mother at least once" is honestly nonsense. No offence, but the idea that cats are like some human females and pine for a child of their own is just false.

When she's in heat she has a biological urge to mate. When sh'es not in heat she doesn't. She's not sitting there longing to be pregnant and raise a few kittens. With all due respect, it's just trying to put human feelings onto a cat.

aonb

OP have you had a cat birthing kittens before? you will need to do your research to have your set-up ready. You will need to have an area prepared that mother cat can go to have her kittens, her kittens will have to be kept safe and warm and comfortable until they are ready to be weaned at approx 4 weeks. There will be cleaning up to do after the birthing and then the cleaning up/maintenance of the litter while they are with you. Whilst the huge majority of cats will have their litters with no problems, there is a possibility of birthing issues/problems. Are you sure you will have homes for all of the kittens in your litter? All things to think about...

If you are interested in breeding Persian kittens, these two sites may be helpful:

http://www.gccfi.com/

http://www.sabcci.com/actual_breeders_page.html

Gardiner 2001

aonb wrote: »

OP have you had a cat birthing kittens before? you will need to do your research to have your set-up ready. You will need to have an area prepared that mother cat can go to have her kittens, her kittens will have to be kept safe and warm and comfortable until they are ready to be weaned at approx 4 weeks. There will be cleaning up to do after the birthing and then the cleaning up/maintenance of the litter while they are with you. Whilst the huge majority of cats will have their litters with no problems, there is a possibility of birthing issues/problems. Are you sure you will have homes for all of the kittens in your litter? All things to think about...

I understand we will really have to think long and hard to if we should let her have kittens or just get another cat for company for her.

Zapperzy

A lot of cats don't actually appreciate company of another cat unless they were both reared together as kittens. A multi cat household can bring about lots of stress related health problems.

Regarding cats craving motherhood, it's all instinct driven by hormones. Remove the hormones and you remove the instinct. Some animals eat their young, you can't apply human feelings in all cases.