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Originally Posted by Benjamin  I do believe my cats have the recommended vaccines besides the spray.
My cat had three kittens in the past. All three of them survived birth but one shortly died a few days later after trapped liquid in the lungs. I kept one of the kittens who is now called Merlin and about 6 months old, healthy and plucking along as cats do. The other kitten was given to my mother after it was ready to be separated.
I wish to breed my cat because theres a nice feeling of accomplishment knowing them kittens came from the mother you have looked after since she too was a kitten.
I have asked the RSPCA before about adoption but their policy won't allow us to adopt any animal with children under the age of five in the house.
Please don't worry, I have no intentions of selling the kittens. I intend to keep two kittens at least and the rest to be spread out across the family who are very interested themselves. If for some reason there are kittens left over then I will just accept more.
At the moment I have two cats, I work from home with weekly updates and I'm very happy with the idea of more animals.
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Benjamin, we're not worried about you needing to sell kittens. We're worried about your cat not being spayed and being able to have kittens in the first place.
I can sort of understand your opinion that there's a sense of accomplishment in having your cat give birth... but if you do a little bit of searching, you'll find that there are there really are so many cats and kittens that need homes (even in the U.K., and even in Cumbria! I'll provide a list) that as most of us have learned - and many of us learned here - to feel a sense of accomplishment at saving cats and kittens lives
by not taking up homes that could adopt cats and kittens that have already been born.
Preventing un-needed kittens is a big part of loving cats, at least the way most of us have come to see it.
Many here have suggested fostering pregnant mom cats and/or kittens as a way of experiencing that same sense of accomplishment - and there is an organization in West Cumbria that states it is in desperate need of foster homes!!!!!!!!!!!
Please scroll through the list of organizations in Cumbria and see the hundreds of animals that need homes here - it says "Hundreds of cats and kittens for adoption in Cumbria on Cat Chat's rehoming pages!" :
http://www.catchat.org/adoption/cumbria.html
Here's another list of organizations in Northern England with many cats for adoption:
http://www.petloversonline.co.uk/rescue.html
And another one:
http://www.animalrescuers.co.uk/html/centresnorth.html
If you want more animals, and your family wants cats, why not consider adopting ones that need homes already?
The sense of accomplishment you'll feel in saving lives rather than creating lives might be something that will feel even more wonderful. It's just not something you had the chance to think about before, but please consider it!
Something else to consider. If your cat gives birth to five kittens, and they're all female - what happens when all those females give birth to 3-6 or 7 more kittens? And what happens when those females give birth to 3-6 or 7 MORE kittens?
It is not just that it is healthier for your cat to be spayed and for your male cats to be neutered (it's just as important! Think of it this way - apart from the health reasons, if you have a son and he gets a girl pregnant, he's just as responsible for that baby, right?) - it is that it is considered responsible pet ownership
everywhere to not allow your non-pure bred cat to breed.
From the U.K. organization, Cat Chat (which provides the list of adoption agencies in the first link), they say
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There are 21,000 reasons why you should get your cat neutered - because that's potentially how many offspring could result from one un-neutered female cat and her descendants in just seven years!
There is a cat over-population crisis in the UK today, which results in 1,000's of healthy but unwanted cats and kittens being destroyed EVERY DAY because there are not enough homes to go round. This sad fact is true also for dogs, and neutering is the only humane answer.
Neutering your cats, male or female, is the best and most humane way of reducing the stray cat population, helping lower the instances of F.I.V. and fight-injuries, and preventing healthy cats from being destroyed.
FEMALE CATS - 'Shouldn't we let her have one litter?'
It is a complete myth that a female cat should be allowed to have one litter. There is no biological or psychological benefit to the cat whatsoever. If you allow your female cat to have a litter, and manage to find homes for the kittens, they have then used up homes that kittens sitting in a rescue centre could have had, which may then end up being destroyed.
Many female cats come into season, get chased far from their home by un-neutered males and end up completely lost, pregnant, and living on the streets. This is how feral cat colonies are formed. They struggle to survive, often hungry, and frequently becoming sick or injured.
Many stray, un-neutered males carry the FIV virus, and female cats are often infected if they are bitten during mating. Males often infect each other with FIV or feline leukaemia when fighting over a female.
A female cat should be neutered (spayed) at 5 - 6 months but can be neutered at any age. Neutering can be done earlier, provided the kitten is in good health, but you will need to be guided by your vet. To prevent unwanted litters, your kitten should be kept indoors until it is neutered. Even if your cat is to be kept as an 'indoor cat', it is kinder to neuter her, as she will still come into season, which is very frustrating for her and for you. Un-neuterd females are also more at risk of developing cystic ovaries and the potentially fatal pyometra.
MALE CATS - if you love them, get them neutered!
When an un-neutered male reaches maturity, he will begin to roam further afield in his quest for females, exposing himself fight injuryto territory battles with other males, and risking his life on busy roads. Those that roam too far will join the UK's estimated two and a half MILLION strays living on the streets today, and face a very bleak future.
Un-neutered male cats are very aggressive towards other cats, particularly other un-neutered males. Their fights result in horrific bite injuries, abscesses, damaged eyes, and infections such as FIV. With no-one to take them to the vet, many injuries become infected, and often result in death.
Male cats should be neutered at six months, but can be neutered at any age thereafter. If your cat is kept indoors, neutering is still the best option. Neutering will prevent him from become sexually frustrated and continually trying to escape, and will also save you from the smelly problem of urine-spraying. Having the snip will not 'change his personality', that is another common myth without any basis in fact. |
They have further links to low-cost spay/neuter services. Here is the link:
http://www.catchat.org/neuter.html
When your kitty comes home, please consider having her spayed as soon as possible rather than waiting to let her have the kittens.
I joined TCS before I owned my first cat (and I knew very little), and since then I've learned a lot.
