I have 5 female Persians and 2 males. Only 2 go into heat and produce beautiful babies. I am stumped as to why the other 3 have only been in season 1 time and are nearly 2 years old.Am I doing something wrong? I would greatly appreciate the help for I am a new breeder.
-
Too many ads? Join our community of cat lovers now to reduce ads by 90%! Click here to join for free!
Cats won't go into season...
- Thread starter baybrooke
- Start Date
Baybrooke, Do you have a good Vet with breeding knowledge? Have you questioned your Vet as to how many breeders use their practice? I'm no expert in this and I have no personal experience but I have done some research. To start off with breeding maturity differs from breed to breed. Do your girls share the same pedigree? Too many generations of close breeding can reduce fertility and cause sterility. Cats are photoperiodic and we can influence their cycles with the use of light. Some say 10 hours is the critical day length. A longer day encourages a heat while a shorter day tends to reduce them. Most of the time cats are on our time with household lights the tendency is to be in heat more often then nature would have them. The interaction of estrogen and progesterone regulates a queens fertility. Some breeders have had success with hormone therapy but you will want to look at the big picture. If this is hormonal it is a serious enough flaw that a breeder would not want to deliberately incorporate her line into their breeding program. Allowing the girls to conceive with hormone therapy could produce pet kittens and help offset the expenses of your breeding program.
These are only my opinions and I am sure there are others here who will have advise for you too.
Having a queen that only goes into heat once a year sounds good to me. I know some girls that have to be manually stimulated out of cycle so they don't run into any complications from too frequent heats.
These are only my opinions and I am sure there are others here who will have advise for you too.
Having a queen that only goes into heat once a year sounds good to me. I know some girls that have to be manually stimulated out of cycle so they don't run into any complications from too frequent heats.
My Reecie started going into heat at 12 months, had her 1st litter at 14 months and went back into heat 8 months after the delivery! I'm just lucky with her - she goes into heat exactly the right time for herself and I dont have to worry about having more than 1 litter a year. But then, this may not relate coz she's SH not long hair. I would suggest you get your girls to a vet for an ultrasound just to be sure!
I believe Persians are late bloomers but I am not sure. That is an awful lot of breeding females to have at once isn't it? Plus it takes until about 2 years I would think to have all the testing and health certifications to be complete. Have you done all of that already?
Where did you get the cats from? Are any of them related? If you are new to this then I don't really think you are ready to begin breeding yet, especially so many at once. How are you seperating the intact males when you aren't breeding them?
Where did you get the cats from? Are any of them related? If you are new to this then I don't really think you are ready to begin breeding yet, especially so many at once. How are you seperating the intact males when you aren't breeding them?
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #5
Hi...My one male is a kitten so he runs the house like all of the cats. I do not cage. I am being mentored by 2 breeders. One of 5 years and 1 of 20 years. They both advised me to get all the girls within 1 year of each other. They have all been tested for everything as were their parents. Many are champions and non are related..All the cats except one are from the 2 breeders but different lines.. I really do not know what else I can do to be more careful or correct. I trust these ladies and admire them a great deal. They both have greeat breeding programs and most importantly, love and care for their cats above all...I suppose I will just go with the others and think they are late bloomers and/or the light/hormone therapy...I am a 15 year licensed veterinary technician and have a wonderful vet. Thank you for your time.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #6
Thank you so much for your reply. It may only be your opinion but it sounds like you know a thing or two.I appreciate your time greatly..Originally Posted by Mia mouse
Baybrooke, Do you have a good Vet with breeding knowledge? Have you questioned your Vet as to how many breeders use their practice? I'm no expert in this and I have no personal experience but I have done some research. To start off with breeding maturity differs from breed to breed. Do your girls share the same pedigree? Too many generations of close breeding can reduce fertility and cause sterility. Cats are photoperiodic and we can influence their cycles with the use of light. Some say 10 hours is the critical day length. A longer day encourages a heat while a shorter day tends to reduce them. Most of the time cats are on our time with household lights the tendency is to be in heat more often then nature would have them. The interaction of estrogen and progesterone regulates a queens fertility. Some breeders have had success with hormone therapy but you will want to look at the big picture. If this is hormonal it is a serious enough flaw that a breeder would not want to deliberately incorporate her line into their breeding program. Allowing the girls to conceive with hormone therapy could produce pet kittens and help offset the expenses of your breeding program.
These are only my opinions and I am sure there are others here who will have advise for you too.
Having a queen that only goes into heat once a year sounds good to me. I know some girls that have to be manually stimulated out of cycle so they don't run into any complications from too frequent heats.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #7
Thank you..I will do an ultrasound on them.I appreciate your advise.
Hi,
I also breed persians. I have a few girls who have silent heats so I have to be on the ball to know when they are in heat. I do a tail test on them regularly to know for sure. If you brush your hand over the base of their tail, their butt will go in the air and they will begin to stamp their back feet, they are in heat if they do this. You could also seperate the non-cycling females and male. Living with a male can bring them into season as well. It could also just be the winter months. I have one female who has her last cycle of the year in October and won't go into season again until February of the next year.
How old are your non-cycling girls?
I also breed persians. I have a few girls who have silent heats so I have to be on the ball to know when they are in heat. I do a tail test on them regularly to know for sure. If you brush your hand over the base of their tail, their butt will go in the air and they will begin to stamp their back feet, they are in heat if they do this. You could also seperate the non-cycling females and male. Living with a male can bring them into season as well. It could also just be the winter months. I have one female who has her last cycle of the year in October and won't go into season again until February of the next year.
How old are your non-cycling girls?
I have 7 cats and every one of them will do this exact thing except my cat with no tail, but they all stand their butts up and stamp their back feet, even the males. They are also all spayed and neutered. I am not trying to question you but A LOT of cats do this.
- Joined
- Dec 11, 2005
- Messages
- 1,469
- Purraise
- 2
I have never seen any do what she's talking about. Surely with all your rescues you've seen a few in heat, when they squat down and try and stamp their feet to get into position with their butt up and tail over kind of thing. My fixed cats will raise their butt to follow my hand while I ran my hands up the tail. They also walk in place or knead. I would imagine what a silent heat would be is a for her to do the same thing with out making those calling cries.
You did get some good advices. and yes, persians are often late starters.
One more advice is to try with vitamin E. Works wonderful in many such cases.
Instead of a whole tomcat you can try with some used litter. Or even used sock. - Socks do usually get a lot of the smells on them...
One more advice is to try with vitamin E. Works wonderful in many such cases.
Instead of a whole tomcat you can try with some used litter. Or even used sock. - Socks do usually get a lot of the smells on them...
Maybe we both have a different picture in our minds of what she is talking about
- Joined
- Dec 11, 2005
- Messages
- 1,469
- Purraise
- 2
Originally Posted by Jen
Maybe we both have a different picture in our minds of what she is talking aboutI don't know. My one boy in particular though will look just like a female in heat when you pet down at his back by the tail.
Five females is a normal number for a small cattery.
I have only two at this time, but that's because my life circumstances forced me to scale down a bit.
I would put the non cycling females in with one of your males, the male you wish to breed them to. IMO if a queen needs hormone therapy, etc. or has problems conceiving then she isn't a good candidate to breed from, just because she could pass these health problems on to her progeny. A good breeding queen should be able to conceive, birth and raise the kittens with minimal help. However, Persians are very slow bloomers. It could just be that your females are taking their time getting started. I would give them more time, especially don't make any decisions right now because December can be a slow month for cats to cycle. Try and see if they go into heat beginning in January...which is just around the corner! ^_^
While adult cats will react to near their tail being touched, it is a lot less intense than a cat in heat - the tail goes in a different position when they are truly in heat, and the legs/feet are a lot more active. It is something I use with my fosters to check if they are truly in heat - and if you have done it before they are, it is very easy to notice the difference.
Latest Posts
-
-
-
-
-
Featured Picture of the Month Competition: April 2024: Cats and Clothing- Latest: catloverfromwayback