Dangerous to have litter when so young?

Hi - I have a 9 month old male cat and a 6 month old female kitten living together. Both are indoor cats, and both are as yet unfixed. I know most people will advise fixing them, but we were planning on 1 litter from these 2, and then fixing them

My male kitten has started acting like he wants to mate with the girl. He makes a lot of noise (kind of trills) at night, sniffs her scent around the house, and sniffs her bum a lot, and just now, i think tried to mate with her. They were both snoozing on a chair, when he suddenly got up, and kept biting her neck (but he does this normally anyway when play fighting). She was on her back, and it looked like he was trying to do the business, but i couldnt be sure! I think she thought he was just play fighting, as she was kicking him with her back legs and biting his ears etc..

I dont think she is in heat, as she hasn't displayed any of the signs, so his attempts (if thats whats hes doing) will come to nothing, but my questions are that is this behaviour harmful to my girl, and if she comes into heat soon, will it be dangerous for her to carry a litter, as she is still pretty small.

Thanks

Are your cats a specific breed or are you doing this to them for giggles? I've always heard that mothers this young and small can have problems with birthing, and personally I wouldn't do it unless they were a specific breed,. Did you know that if she has babies, even once, it may cause an increased risk in certain types of cancer?

Just thought I'd tell you- if you didn't know.
Also Males that are not fixed can be aggressive, and start spraying behaviour especially since he's showing other mating behavior.

Letting her get pregnant at this age would be like letting your thirteen year old daughter get pregnant. Just because she will be physically capable of getting pregnant doesn't mean she will be emotionally or mentally ready for kittens.

I agree with turtlecat there are just too many cats out there that will never get a home because there just aren't enough to go around. Even if you find them homes when they are weaned (which is easy because they are so cute) doesn't mean that the people who take them won't get tired of them after awhile and then they end up looking for a new home, which is much harder when they are adults. The latest issue of National Geographic lists cats as one of the top mammals that have become pests in the world because there is just too many of them.

Un-neutered male cats are pretty much guarenteed to start spraying and once it starts it is a very hard habit to get rid of, not to mention the aggression, alot of Toms will kill newborn kittens.

Pretty much I know what will come of this thread.
Been there before.
OK YES 6 months is younge to mate for your female.
This Site promotes Neutering and Spaying for all cats except for breeders who breed for a purpose.

1..Is this a purebreed cat?

2..Do you or will you have homes lined up for the kittens you don't plane to keep?

3..What is the reason for mating?

4..Are you prepared for any type of difficulty the female may have during the labor?

5..Are you willing to put her life at risk if your just to breed her for no reason?

6..Do you know their background history of any illnesses they may pass on to their children?

7. Will you have the money if she need a emergency c-section and for any vet visits/shots for her and the kittens?

8. Will you have teh money to buy the food needed for her during pregnancy and after and for extra litter boxes and litter?

Im sorry if these sound a little harsh. Some of the reply's will and may be harsh.Im just wanting to know since my last cat, Who was not a pure breed cat, Had a very dangerous labor and needed vet help and she was also around 6-7 months old.

It is what you can call a Backyard breeding. A stary male mated with her and I knew nothing about her either, nor her mother.
Trust me it would be best to adopt a kitten thean risk your female cats life. Rescuing a life is better than bringing a life into a world already overpopulated with ferral cats and abandon animals. I know everyone wil agree with that.

Ashley

In the photos below I have Babi and Hampster are the results of my cats having babies, Hampster was the one who gave her mother a hard time and Hampster almost died in her mother from being stuck in the birth cannal. IM glad she made it out alive. Almost losing my mother cat was hard on me.

The other cats I rescued and adopted from people who couldnt care for them. Trust me Adopting is better than breeding for no cause.

Giggles? Thats a bit harsh and uncalled for. Note my reason for posting was my concern for my female kitten. I specifically wanted to know if there was any threat to her health, either from the male cats attempts at mating and from becoming pregnant.

I assumed that a 6 month old kitten would be big enough to hold a litter, as the male was pretty much the size he is now by 6mths, but the female does seem to be a lot smaller. However she would be 8 months when she came to give birth, but I appreciate her growth would be compromised bu the pregnancy.

The female is a bengal, and the male is a tabby. Money is no problem, and we were planning on keeping 2 of the kittens ourselves, and giving the remaining to responsible relatives who own or have owned cats before.

As for the other q, no I am not willing to put her life at risk at all, hence my post, as I have looked around on the net and not found a consistent answer. We are not breeding them for kicks, and we certainly don't want to contribute to the number of strays and unwanted cats out there - we are breeding them because we love them, and therefore adult children in the family want to raise and keep 2 of the kittens from them, I guess its an emotional want, but valid nonetheless.

I know there are specific health concerns concerning 'backyard breeding', but to be honest, it happens all the time, we got the tabby from a family home, and we had a male cat also born in this way. It is after all a natural process, I can't belive that all cats except those that are purebred harbour diseases, surely outbred animals are healthier?

Anyway, so i guess the answer then is that for my kitten to get pregnant now would be a danger to her health.

Thanks for the help

Originally Posted by mogwai

We are not breeding them for kicks, and we certainly don't want to contribute to the number of strays and unwanted cats out there - we are breeding them because we love them, and therefore adult children in the family want to raise and keep 2 of the kittens from them, I guess its an emotional want, but valid nonetheless.

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I think that a lot of people don't understand that even though they have homes for the litter of kittens they are planning on their female cat having, they ARE still contributing to the overpopulation and are hurting the number of homeless and stray cats out there. Your cat has kittens and you give them to friends and relatives, but if you had your cats spayed and neutered those family members and friends would have to go to a shelter or elsewhere to get a cat or kitten. If people would quit breeding their females just because "kittens are so cute" then just maybe the number of cats in shelters would drop because those cats would be adopted out to loving homes.

I agree, it is reasons exactly like this one that keep contributing to the cat problem. "only one litter", then the one or more of the people who take the kittens have the same "emotional" want and that is what keeps the cycle going. Breeding should only be done to better the breed, and truthfully that should be kind of limited too.

In a perfect world people would be responsible enough to realize that their actions have a much bigger effect than in this moment.

Sometimes it takes a little harshness to get someone to realize what they are doing is wrong. That being said;

Why would you want to allow your female cat to give birth while many female cats are stuck having to give birth in a cold metal cage all alone in a shelter? Doesn't that make you feel bad? Wouldn't you rather help one of them? They can't help that they are in there, it was people like you who are the reason why those cats are in the shelters in the first place.

Please please don't breed your cats, they are WAY too young and it is a VERY irresponsible thing to do especially if you don't know the background and history of the cats involved. Are they registered? Do they have papers? Do you show them? I am guessing 'no'. The ONLY reason to breed is if you have the most excellent specimen of a particular breed and you are concerned to make it better and have researched the genetics and all of that kind of stuff. There could be a disease back a few generations that could come up again this time around. What if all the kittens end up with some deadly disease or a disfunction? You are now responsible for all these sick unhealthy cats. Not to mention vet bills. And good luck finding homes for cats like that.

You are just contributing to the problem of the overpopulation of the animals. What if your cat has 8 kittens? Say you keep a couple of these babies but then where are all the rest going to go? Those are the one's that end up in a shelter or a FREE KITTENS ad in the paper and who knows what will happen to them. Are you going to be sure all the kittens get fixed? Then there's the spay and neuter of the parents too. I work in a shelter and see the results of the people who say, "oh my cats are great and I love them and I want them to just have one litter."

If you want to witness a birth call a shelter or two and they will be MORE then happy to let you foster and adopt a mother cat who is about to give birth because someone was irresponsible enough to let her breed. Like someone else said, everyone here, for the most part, is strictly against BACKYARD breeding which is what you are doing is called. It doesn't literally mean 'in your backyard' and seeing that you had to ask if 6 MONTHS is too young for a female to be pregnant, you are obviously not educated enough ABOUT BREEDING to allow yours to do so.

And by the way, if you aren't going to be a responsible cat owner and get your female spayed like you should; Are you at least going to make sure you keep the two far from each other until the female is of an appropriate age?

I know this is very harsh, but everyone on this board is thinking the SAME EXACT thing and will also try to convince you otherwise.

BTW-I love your name Mogwai. Are you a fan of the band or did you come up with the name somewhere else? It's really cool.

Originally Posted by Petnurse2265

Breeding should only be done to better the breed, and truthfully that should be kind of limited too.

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Better the breed? I think you mean purebreds - this is not bettering the breed, in reality it is weakening it. Outbreds are by nature healthier, it is the way nature secures the health and survival of a species, and you seem to be condoning the artificial propogation of traits that are valuable to man for cosmetic reasons, which are not in the best interests of the animal. It is the same in the dog breeders field too.

I have decided to consult my vet about this, and look elsewhere as I think I will get nothing but emotive responses and opinions to my query. Similarly I didn't really get a straight answer to my other query in the behaviour forum, as people were too quick to reiterate that I 'need to neuter your cat..oh, and what was your question again?' Its a shame, as otherwise you all seem very supportive and friendly.

Oh, and as for getting cats from cat shelters, certainly I and my older brother who will be moving out soon to our own homes would not have considered a cat if they weren't from our current cats - that was the whole point.

I will concede that you all have valid points that have made me think twice about having kittens, but in future give less moralistic answers, its very offputting. For instance another post here had a 'disclaimer' that the pregnant cat she had a picture of was a rescue and will be spayed. Is there really a need for that? I suspect she was afraid she was going to be flamed, and I can see why!!

bye and thanks for all the fish!

I wouldnt but that is me.. if you said you had two tabbies or bengals that is different ... from what i have learned 18 months is a good age to start for a litter..I got what is now known to be a bengal mix who was ferral she is a hand ful that i didnt know about since i went and got a "cute" kitty at the pound...

Please don't leave on a bad note. We really are a friendly bunch. Just when you spark up a topic that people here are stirctly against, you are going to get some responses you don't want to hear. Also, I think we did answer your question, we just threw in our own opinions too. This is really a great site for getting your questions answered.

By outbreeding you don't know what is back in there genetic line either, at least with the purebreds you can actually trace back for gentic disorders. I am not saying that all the purebreds are excessively healthy either, but if more people took the time to resaerch specific lines then they would be.

Alot of us here have taken in pregnant strays, to clean up someone elses mess. After the kittens are weaned though the mother is spayed and either kept or put up for adoption. You don't have to agree with what we tell you, just like we don't have to agree with you.

What are you prepared to do when your male cat starts spraying around your house? Are you prepared to deal with it, or is he going to end up another cat looking for a home. Once spraying stars it is one of the hardest behaviors to get rid of. Also are you prepared for your female kitten to get mammary cancer as she gets older. Cats (and dogs) that are spayed before their first heat cycle have absolutley no chance of mammary cancer, after their first heat they run the same risks as cats who spend their whole lives un-spayed.

Originally Posted by mogwai

Giggles? Thats a bit harsh and uncalled for. Note my reason for posting was my concern for my female kitten. I specifically wanted to know if there was any threat to her health, either from the male cats attempts at mating and from becoming pregnant.

I assumed that a 6 month old kitten would be big enough to hold a litter, as the male was pretty much the size he is now by 6mths, but the female does seem to be a lot smaller. However she would be 8 months when she came to give birth, but I appreciate her growth would be compromised bu the pregnancy.

The female is a bengal, and the male is a tabby. Money is no problem, and we were planning on keeping 2 of the kittens ourselves, and giving the remaining to responsible relatives who own or have owned cats before.




Thanks for the help

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As long as you have homes set up and can afford it, and know what you are doing. Good luck. It's your choice to breed them.
If you do please promise me you will have weekly vet check up to be sure every thing is going good and have a kit placed aside for when she has kittens so you can step in , just incase sonething goes wronge. Ask your vet questions and everything please take all precautions . Promise me please. And if you do breed please keep us updated so we can help you through any type of problem orquestion you may have.
I believe The members here should respect any decion a persion makes just as long as they do it right.

Ashley

Originally Posted by golden_moon_luv

I believe The members here should respect any decion a persion makes just as long as they do it right.

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The point is that she isn't doing it right by not knowing anything about breeding in the first place. The fact that she had to ask if 6 months is too young for a cat to have babies makes it more then clear that she doesn't know what she is doing.

She can easily ask questions, research , ask the vet, askTCS members. But we cant go down there and force her to fix her cats. If she wants to do this we can at least provide information for her and help her and she said she will be having the cats fixed after it. All I can say is we cant force her but if so help her. Help her understand to care for a pregnant cat so it will go easy. This is a great place to learn and I know that havn a cat fixed is for the better. I had my two girls fixed after debating on either to breed or not and I chose not to.

I would like her to fix her cats but If she wants to breed then i cant do nothing but ask her to have them fixed. I would be happy enough to help her find any information on caring for a litter of kittens and a pregnant mom. It's the least I can do.

Ashley

OK, please keep in mind everyone that we are an educational board. Yes we are about cat welfare and many of us do rescue orphaned kittens and pregnant momcats pretty steadily during kitten season.

There are ways to get the point across without sounding abrasive or above-board. Someone came here looking for answers and instead, left feeling unwanted and unwelcomed. Because of the replies in the thread, the member was put on the defensive, feeling that she was being judged for something she believes is what she wants to do.

The reality of the situation is that 6 months old, and a small statured cat could lead to problems with delivering the litter. Also letting the cat go through at least one heat cycle and not mate (so that she can mature) can lead to nasty problems like pyometra. I personally have seen to many backyard bred kittens and momcats not make it because of genetic issues, that I try to discourage those who want to mate their cats.

And the reality of this issue too is that even if the people have been promised kittens from this litter (if the mating even takes) They are probably not going to go to a shelter and buy a kitten if they can get one for free. So if something goes wrong and the litter doesn't appear, they will just wait for the next "free kitten."

Yes kittens are cute, but you won't be able to guarantee what these kittens will act like. The momcat, if she gets out during mating season, she will mate with other tomcats and could introduce disease into the womb. I know you don't believe she will get out, but they are very persisitant and even with an intact male inside, the tomcats outside will be spraying the sides of your house, because they know you have a female inside. This can cause some major aggression from your inside male as well including spraying the inside of your home.