I want to breed my cat and keep all kittens

I want to know if anyone here has done this or know someone who has and how keeping all kittens turned out for them.

I am new to this website and its way past my bedtime so I will add more info tomorrow, I just wanted to ask this here before I went to bed as I am curious.

I did not purposely breed a cat, but I took in a litter of feral kittens.  I kept all but one that my daughter has.  They get along great and are fabulous cats. They are also a lot of time and money.  I buy about 160 cans of food a month, not to mention litter. If we plan a trip out of town we have to have a sitter stay at the house. I spent over $500 last month in vetting. 

Is there a specific reason you want to breed your cat?  Is she a pedigree?

I came about my litter from an un-spayed female feral, which has been spayed now.  If I had a choice I probably would not have chosen to be momma to a whole litter of kittens. I fixed my beautiful male indoor non-pedigree cat because there are so many unwanted cats in shelters that would love a good home. I will leave any breeding to the professionals that know bloodlines, gene pools, ect...

WillowTree94 said:

I want to know if anyone here has done this or know someone who has and how keeping all kittens turned out for them.

I am new to this website and its way past my bedtime so I will add more info tomorrow, I just wanted to ask this here before I went to bed as I am curious.

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Hi Willow,

Is your cat a purebred that is registered to breed?

I don't know if you're aware but, this site is very pro-spay and neuter.  You'll surely run into opposition breeding your cat without the right credentials to do so.

Please, reconsider if this is the case.  Keeping an entire litter of kittens is very costly in both food and medical expenses.  If you want more cats, adopting kittens from shelters or rescue organizations is probably a better choice.

I've linked to a good article of the benefits of spay/neuter.  

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/spay-and-neuter-your-cats

Make sure you're OK with having 10 cats (or however many she has). A litter of 4 is average so with her you'd have 5. But a litter of 7-8 isn't unusual. So just be ready to have a lot of cats. It costs a lot in spay/neuter, food, litter, vet care, etc.

I kept a feral mama cat and her 4 kittens. No big deal really. If you don't have the female kittens spayed before they hit sexual maturity, there can be some rivalry issues between them and Mama Cat, but if everyone is spayed/neutered at the right age it should go smoothly. Also, they aren't very similar to their mother in personality. So if that's the reason you want her to have babies, don't count on reproducing her personality.

It's mating the mother cat I'd have more of a problem with. Do you have a disease-free male picked out? Just letting her run free is dangerous---the male who mates her could have FeLV/FIV and pass that on to her and the kittens. Pregnancy and birthing are risky; I'm not sure I'd put one of my cats through that on purpose.

Honestly, if you really want to have a litter of kittens, you could look into fostering a pregnant female for a rescue agency. If she's already tested for FeLV/FIV, that's a lot less of a risk .

WillowTree94 said:

I want to know if anyone here has done this or know someone who has and how keeping all kittens turned out for them.

I am new to this website and its way past my bedtime so I will add more info tomorrow, I just wanted to ask this here before I went to bed as I am curious.

Click to expand...

Hello! Wecome!! I, too, would like to ask why you are looking to breed you cat and keep all her kittens. Keeping a mother cat and her kittens, as mentioned above, is costly. We all love our cats dearly and would love to have little versions running around but most of us here are very pro spay and neuter because there are just too many cats out there that desperately need homes already. A cat does not need to have a litter before she is spayed. I would kind of understand a bit if you were planning on selling the kittens if she is a purebreed (is she?) If you just love having kittens around, adoption would be a better choice than breeding both for your cat and for the lucky kitties who will be getting a forever home with a human and a kitty mom!

Hi,

Above mentioned posts have some very good information. Make sure to consider everything properly before starting breeding your cat; it has a lother of risks you might not want to put your cat through.

Now to your question. I know someone who had 2 litters at ones, unplanned. She didn't want to keep them, but had to as she couldn't find new homes for them. It's no problem for the cats or kittens if you get them helped in time and don't add too many (big groups can cause stress, same as hormones can. Also, if there are any contagious diseases around, expect all to turn out sick. More cats add to health risks). Kittens might be born healthy and feed of mom, but eventually, a cat will cost more and more. Do make sure you can pay for everything, including mayor surgeries when needed, as you should only plan on keeping the kittens if you can surely care for them.

Fiv and Felv should be tested on both the male and female shortly before putting them together. As an official breeder, I also test on things such as hcm and pkd. You might want to consider this as I'm sure you want your kittens to be as healthy as they can possibly be.