In a normal birth, all the kittens will usually be delivered within two hours, although some cats take three or four hours and others may takes long as seven or eight hours. If a cat labors more than eight hours without delivering a kitten, something is wrong. Call the vet for instructions. Similarly, if there is an interval of more than three hours between kittens, the cat is in some difficulty and you should seek veterinary advice.
The cat should be given a health examination early in her pregnancy. Examine her for fleas, lice and ticks and keep her free from these pests. Ask the vet to examine a stool specimen for signs of worms or other internal parasites. Remember, acaroids and hook-worms can be transmitted to the fetuses. Worming is not advisable after the second week of pregnancy, however, since there is danger of aborting the fetuses. If your cat shows signs of worms later in the pregnancy, do not worm her until after the kittens are born.
You may want to breed your cat to produce various colors or color combinations. Color breeding can become complicated, and it’s therefore better to limit yourself to the simpler examples. Suppose, for instance, you have a white long-haired cat and would like some white kittens, but have been unable to find another white long-hair tomato with your cat, a friend has a red long-haired cat. If you breed your white cat to this red one, what can be expected in the way of color in the kittens?
If you own a pedigree cat, you will probably want to breed it with purebred cat of the same breed. If you plan to exhibit any of the kittens in the various cat shows, study the breed standards. Each breed has a standard of perfection - that is, a set of requirements which would add up to the perfect cat for the particular breed. This perfection is rarely achieved, but cat fanciers keep trying. Many of them have come very close to the standard of perfection.
Purebred cat fanciers follow certain established breeding principles. First of all, a pedigree cat is one having both parents of the same breed. The breed is a group of cats with common characteristics which distinguish them from others. For example, the fawn coat, blue or seal points and blue eyes of the Siamese are breed characteristics. So are the absence of a tail in the Manx, the rabbit like fur of the Abyssinian and the blue or mauve coat of the Russian Blue.
Unless one has a pedigree cat and is mating it to another purebred, mating usually takes place unobserved by human beings; but it is often heard. As mentioned before, mating can be very noisy. There is ritual connected with the mating of cats roaming at large. The queens it’s in the centre of a ring of tomcats, each of which awaits the chance to mate with her. When the opportunity arrives, one of the toms leaps on the female and catches her by the scruff of the neck. Toms usually fight over the queen.
CRYPTORCHIDS
A cryptorchid is a male cat in which both testicles have failed to descend from the body into the scrotum. Crypt orchids are sterile. Usually, the undecided testicles have either atrophied (wasted away or decreased in size) or the body heat has destroyed the sperm. The condition may be hereditary or a result of disease or injury.
The male, or tomcat, may be considered sexually active all the year-round. Sexual maturity may occur in the tom when he is between six and twelve months of age, the average being from ten to eleven months. Toms under six months of age may show sexual interest. They will tussle with a female or male kitten, mounting their backs and perhaps simulating the sexual motions. These actions do not mean your torn is abnormal or oversexed. It is just nature’s way of preparing the cat for his future role as a procreator of his species.
The female’s heat periods can be eliminated by having her ovaries removed. This operation is called spaying. It is a simple operation when done early, and the cat is indisposed for only a few days.
Sexual maturity occurs in the female, or queen, at a much earlier age than in the male. On the average, females have their first heat period or estrous cycle when they are between six and eight months of age. Determining factor in the appearance of the heat period is the length of the days. Just why this is so has never been determined, although it may be that nature intends that kittens be born during the warm seasons.