Is my CAT in danger?

Hi Everyone...

I took my cat to the Vet to get her checked out. She seem like she put on weight and has not seem like herself for the last month. When my Vet told me she was pregnant and is almost term (judging by the size of the babies) my heart sank. She is only a 14 months old, and even worse, the father is her own father. I did not share this with my VET. I was too embarrased.

Now before you guy start sending me he hate posts, let me tell you how this happened. I accept full blame for this. I gave my wife as a birthday gift a Blue Silver Tabby Himilayan male. The Breeder also gave me the runt (Female Tabby Himilayan) from another liter, free, as her tooth was crooked and could not sell her that way. Long story short, my wife failed (actually WE) to get them both spayed and they had a liter together. From this liter we gave two of them to good homes (family members). We kept one female (Izzy).

So after that episode, the mother and father were fixed. I also reminded my wife 4 months ago to have Izzy fixed which I thought was done, until now. I travel a lot for my work, so my wife cares for our cats. I had not noticed any different (heat cycles, whinning or crying) of my precious Izzy until about 2 wks ago when I really started to take notice she had gained weight was not herself. Anyway, she is pregnant by her own father. This makes me sick.

Should I consider termination if ther are any birthing defects that I am not aware of? It looks like she will have a liter of 3. My family is prepared assist in the round the clock care for the Izzy and her liter.

Izzy is one of the most unique cats we have ever owned. She is more loving than her father and she uses the liter like a human uses the toilet. She balances on the rim of the liter box on all fours and does her business. She never steps into the liter box! She means the world to us and I just want to do the right thing for a change.

I'm sorry to dump this on you guys.

I doubt anyone would be low enough to send you hate mail. Accidents do happen, and inbreeding is common in multicat homes. A few years ago I had a litter of orphaned babies. I waited till the 6 month mark to get them all fixed (my vet was a stickler of this). When I took them in, two of the females were pregnant. The only cat that was responsible for this was the one male in the litter. I had the females spayed regardless. It isn't the same as a women having an abortion, no matter what the arguement. Cat's do not have consential sex, they mate. They do not get raped- they mate. Inbreeding is never a good idea unless you are breeder and you know what the lines are and what you are doing. It is an individual choice, but I would sure talk to your vet. I doubt he or she would hold anything against you- because as I said, accidents can and do happen.

The short answer is probably not -- many breeders will very selectively inbreed to enhance traits they want to magnify. At 14 months old, she is old enough by most breeder's standards of ethics to be bred safely.

That all now being said, if a spay/abortion is not an option due to it being too late in the term, then you should probably go ahead and put this girl on a high-quality kitten food in both canned and dry formulas to help her put on the resources she will need to nurse her litter. Keep her on it for as long as she is pregnant/nursing and feed her as much as she wants, whenever she wants it.

There is a fairly good article on what to expect and how to prepare here:

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=80724

If it is not too late in the term, please consider having your girl spayed now.

I agree with Gaye. If she is indeed too far along to spay....make sure she is kept indoors only and away from intact males (and any males that have been neutered within a month because males carry active sperm for up to a month after being neutered) until she is safely spayed. Cats are induced ovulators (they do not need to be in heat to become pregnant) and can become pregnant again as early as a week after giving birth..so best not risk it.

Katie

Okay, just to clarify what's going on here, you have three cats, a himilayan male, a himilayan female, and their daughter Izzy? And the parents are both fixed, but you think Izzy is pregnant?

How long ago before she conceived was the male fixed? It can take about 30 days for the hormones to leave their system, meaning up to a month after the neuter he still could have gotten her pregnant. If it was much more after a month after his neuter, he's not the father. Are you positive that the original two male and female cats have been fixed? Just asking, since you said you thought Izzy was also fixed and she wasn't.

Since she's almost term spaying might not be possible. Get her on a good-quality kitten food as has already been said, and hope for the best. If there are serious problems they will possibly be stillborn or Izzy may kill them (do not be upset by this, they are cats and this is how they take care of themselves) or abandon them. But it probably isn't much more likely than with any accidental breeding. Hopefully you can find good homes for the babies, and make sure she gets spayed after they're weaned!

I'm sorry you are upset by this! I would be angry too.

Just so we're clear. The male (Romeo) was never neutered. The mom (Juliet) was spayed after she had her litter.

I'd like to blame my wife for not getting Izzy fixed 4 months ago when we had planned, but Dr. Phil would probably suggest I had a part of that. lol

Really, I appreciate the sound advice from those that responded and don't feel as guilty about the father daughter mating that took place.

Anyway, I just spoke to my Vet and came clean. She said that it was definately Izzy was too far along. My Vet said she would take of Izzy and watch over her during her labor and she would help find good home for her kittens. She said, she would care for them for free and spay her afterwards, if I allowed her to have one of the litter. Is that ethical? lol

Thanks again...

Sounds more than ethical to me - on top of everything, you've got a home for at least 1 kitten.

Originally Posted by kobecat

Just so we're clear. The male (Romeo) was never neutered. The mom (Juliet) was spayed after she had her litter.

I'd like to blame my wife for not getting Izzy fixed 4 months ago when we had planned, but Dr. Phil would probably suggest I had a part of that. lol

Really, I appreciate the sound advice from those that responded and don't feel as guilty about the father daughter mating that took place.

Anyway, I just spoke to my Vet and came clean. She said that it was definately Izzy was too far along. My Vet said she would take of Izzy and watch over her during her labor and she would help find good home for her kittens. She said, she would care for them for free and spay her afterwards, if I allowed her to have one of the litter. Is that ethical? lol

Thanks again...

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Is there a reason why Romeo was never neutered? I would go ahead and get that done so that there is no risk of this occurring again.

So the vet has offered to foster Izzy through her pregnancy and provide her spay after she has weaned her kittens in exchange for a kitten?? I think that is a fair solution...especially if the vet doesn't have any intact cats at home.

Katie

Since Izzie's parents are brother and sister from the same litter, and then she herself was bred by her father, that is a really high inbreeding coefficient and there may very well be stillbirths, and deformities such as club feet, cleft palate etc which may need emergency vet care. That may be a factor to consider if your vet wants to raise the litter.

Good luck, I hope all goes well.

pondwader---- unless I read it wrong I think he said that the mother and father were from different litters. one was the runt of ANOTHER litter is how it was worded I think. I had to go back and double read it to make sure myself. LOL


Just wanted to say GL and sounds GREAT with what your vet offered!

Hi.. Just a follow up. Thanks to everyone for their concern. Izzy had a litter of 5, but 2 of them did not make it.

Here are some pics.







I posted these in the "fur pictures only" section, but I just wanted to say thanks to all.

adorable!!!

You Mom cat and her babies are adorable !!! Sorry for the kittins who didnt make it RIP. Keep sending pictures !!!!

Wow how beautiful! Inbreeding is heavily misunderstood and there is a lot of false information about it. I read a great article on one of the breeder associations discussing in-breeding and line-breeding. Technically it is the only way to know if your line is clean of defects. Because you had 2 stillbirths there were some defects in the line (not that it matters to you as it was accidental, but its valuable information to a breeder). The ones that survived are clear, or almost clear of genetic fault, I think you have to inbreed one more generation to know for sure.

I'm probably not explaining it very well... But there is some interesting information about it. In our society it has a heavy negative connotation. And its true many breeders are afraid use this practice but most just don't understand it properly. Others would have issues with the ethics of inbreeding vs. linebreeding from a moral standpoint, I would probably put myself in that category but that probably makes me a bad breeder. I nevertheless try to understand the genetic implications of such a practice and its value to a program.

Originally Posted by kobecat

Hi.. Just a follow up. Thanks to everyone for their concern. Izzy had a litter of 5, but 2 of them did not make it.


I posted these in the "fur pictures only" section, but I just wanted to say thanks to all.

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I'm glad everything turned out ok....make sure that when Izzy is done with nursing her kittens..that she is fixed.

Katie

After Izzy had the C-Section to try and save the 2 kittens, my Vet fixed her. She is doing great and is such a good mama!

Originally Posted by kobecat

After Izzy had the C-Section to try and save the 2 kittens, my Vet fixed her. She is doing great and is such a good mama!

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Ok...I didn't read that. I'm sorry about the 2 that she lost..but I'm glad she is ok and so are her remaining kittens.

Katie

I am so happy that they are okay. Your cats are beautiful. So the vet still has them and is caring for them at his own home right?

Are you going to be getting your male neutered too?