Mating cats is a serious and responsible process, so before starting to breed animals, owners need to get a general idea of how everything should happen. If you don’t have animals yet, it will be even more useful for you to learn about this side of their lives.
Before you get a cat, consider whether you will be breeding a specific breed or whether you want to adopt a furry buddy from a nearby shelter. If your plans do not include washing off distinctly smelling marks every day and spreading mongrel kittens in subway cars, it would be wiser to sterilize your pet at six months of age. If you are planning to become a breeder of purebred cats, then this article is for you.
What you need to know
When planning to get a cat for mating, forget about pills that suppress heat. Such drugs can be given, and then no more than three or four times, to cats that are to be sterilized. The fact is that they greatly change the hormonal levels, which causes disorder in the entire reproductive system. Irregularity or complete disappearance of estrus, aggression towards an animal of the opposite sex are common phenomena observed after long-term use of these tablets. This is not a complete list of possible complications. Much worse is that after consuming them, the cat may develop serious health problems.
Cats in heat
If males are hypothetically ready to mate at any time of the day or night, then the reproductive system of cats is somewhat more complex and involves adapting the partner to it. In the same case, if we are talking about a planned mating, the owner of the female must adapt accordingly. Preparation for mating will not be successful if the owner of the pet is not aware of the stages of estrus, which we will talk about later.
During estrus, a cat's genitals are in constant tension.
Stages of heat
There are four stages of estrus in cats, and mating can only take place during one of them.
Table. Stages of estrus in cats
| Stage | Description |
| Proestrus | The stage lasts from one to two days and can be called “introductory”. It is characterized by general anxiety of the cat, not supported by any objective reasons. The pet may rub against the owner’s legs or walk with characteristically bent knees |
| Estrus | The stage reserved for the heat itself and lasting one and a half weeks. It is characterized by the entire list of manifestations described in the previous chapter. It is during estrus that the cat is ready for mating, and mating carried out from 3 to 5 days will be most effective. The peak of estrus is often accompanied by a loud meow, which can be mistaken by owners for severe pain. |
| Metaestrus | The stage of gradual attenuation of sexual desire, which can last from two to ten days depending on various circumstances. Despite the gradual "calming" of the cat, she may still experience secretions from the vagina, which soon stops. During metaestrus, it is useless to plan mating, since the cat begins to perceive the cat’s attempts to establish contact with pronounced aggression |
| Anaestrus | The final stage, which involves complete calming of the cat until the next heat. In this state, the pet has absolutely no desire to participate in mating, and any attempts by the owner to change the situation are unsuccessful |
Failure to comply with the correct time frame can lead to various complications such as disruption of the entire reproductive cycle or false pregnancy , which leaves an imprint on the cat’s health. Frequent disturbances of the reproductive cycle lead to such dangerous consequences as:
- pyometra;
- endometritis;
- neoplasms in the uterus.
One of the worst consequences of untimely mating can also be miscarriage and frequent miscarriages in cats .
How to recognize a false pregnancy in a cat and what methods are used to treat this disease can be read below.
False pregnancy in cats
Features of the course
Unlike the human reproductive system, the cat's does not stop its active activity. Accordingly, estrus continues in cats regardless of their age - among felines there is no such thing as menopause. However, with age, periods of estrus gradually shorten, and the pauses between them become longer.
As cats age, estrus occurs less and less frequently.
Continuous periods of estrus do not mean that the cat can be used to bear offspring until death. The most favorable period for pregnancy in females is considered to be from one and a half to six to seven years of age (again, depending on the breed). Both very young and older cats can have a difficult pregnancy, which will present additional and unnecessary difficulties for the owner.
Video - Characteristics of a cat during estrus
Partner selection
You need to start looking for a partner for your pet in advance. A more mature partner is selected for a young, inexperienced cat, and an experienced “lady” is selected for a young “gentleman”. If this is the first meeting for both animals, contact may not occur.
The easiest way is for owners of purebred cats with a pedigree: the club selects a partner for them. They can also help you choose a cat for a non-club cat. The main thing is that the animal has a veterinary passport with vaccination records. Fourteen days before the intended mating, the cat must be wormed. If there are problems with the ears or eyes, these should also be addressed in advance.
No matter how long the future “spouses” have pedigrees, their children will not be considered purebred without an officially formalized agreement. It can be obtained from the felinological club or found on their website. The contract specifies full information about the parents, the date, month and year of the mating, and under what conditions it was carried out. Enter information about breeders. There should be two such agreements - for both owners. In addition, breeders need to make a copy of their animal's pedigree and a photocopy of their own passport in advance, which they will then exchange.
The parents themselves must be registered in the club, not have any defects that prevent procreation, that is, belong to the breeding or show class, undergo an examination at a veterinary clinic and have the appropriate entries in their passport.
As payment for mating, a kitten is most often taken, the sex of which is chosen by the cat's owner. Sometimes, if there are no kittens of the desired sex in the litter, payment is made in money. The breeders agree on the amount personally.
There are some things to keep in mind:
- You cannot breed a cat younger than ten months; such kittens are not registered anyway;
- No more than three litters are registered within two years;
- It happens that litters from different cats can have the same defects. In this case, the cat is not allowed to reproduce; it must be sterilized. They do the same with a cat.
Mating age
A cat is allowed to breed only after it turns one year old. Some cats can go into heat as early as 7-10 months, but breeding such a young cat is unacceptable: the animal’s body is fully formed by one and a half to two years, too early pregnancy and childbirth will be excessive stress for it. The litter will either turn out to be not viable at all, or will be born with numerous abnormalities. The cat itself, after such an exorbitant load, stops growing, unless it dies during childbirth, and subsequently becomes unsuitable for reproduction.
But you also can’t hesitate in such an important matter: at two or three years old, a cat can show such aggression towards a cat that mating becomes simply impossible. Repeated empty heats from year to year cause great harm to a cat's health. Over time, the likelihood of polycystic disease increases, and this, in turn, brings the animal to the operating table.
Preparation for mating
As soon as your cat shows the first signs of heat, you need to trim her nails. The cat owner should prepare his pet in the same way. This precaution will help minimize the possibility of partners scratching each other, which is inevitable if the cat and cat are strangers. There is no need for bathing: the cat must smell an attractive smell.
Since the cat will stay with the “spouse” for several days, you need to prepare for her the usual food, bowls for food and drink, a tray, litter and several favorite toys. The mattress on which she is used to sleeping will also be useful. All these things, familiar from childhood, will help the cat feel more calm and confident.
An untied cat is sent to the male cat on the first day of estrus. It will take at least two or three days before she can get used to the new environment and let her partner come to her. An experienced “lady” spends three days as a guest - from the third to the fifth days of estrus. Mating before or after this period will not lead to the desired pregnancy.
Useful tips and tricks
All mating conditions must be agreed upon in advance, because once the cat has mated, there is no time left for this.
It is not recommended to bring virgin animals together: it is desirable that at least one of the partners has positive sexual experience.
It will be useful for you to learn how to make your own cat scratching post.
While it is necessary to control the process, the intimacy of the process must be ensured. Ideally, a separate isolated room should be provided for the couple, and first a carrier with a cat is brought in, the door is opened, the bride is allowed to look around a little, and only after a while the cat is allowed in.
In the house where the “marriage” is taking place, you need to try not to make noise, and do not go into the partners’ room unless necessary (only one person can be present to control the process).
The officially recommended number of litters for a cat is three every two years. With the number of matings a cat has, the calculations are much more complicated and interesting.
However, if your cat is not very fertile, it is better to breed him regularly, at least once a week. Males older than eight years usually give birth to fewer kittens than young males, but the age of the “dad” does not affect the health of the offspring.
Important! The productive quality of sperm in a cat after a long period of abstinence sharply deteriorates, but the problem is restored within two days after a successful mating. So, a cat brought on time to a long-term “monastic” but generally healthy cat has every chance of becoming pregnant.
What should a cat owner take care of?
The mustachioed “gentleman” becomes sexually mature by 8 months, but if possible, it is better to wait until mating for up to a year. Early matings exhaust the cat’s fragile body, which is why after a short time he becomes incapable of procreation.
Before mating, the cat must be completely healthy, vaccinated and treated with antiparasitic drugs.
Very rarely, a cat is able to mate on someone else’s territory, so in the vast majority of cases the cat is brought to his home.
Ideally, it is advisable to provide animals with a separate room. Bulky furniture, cracks in which a cat can hide, open windows without bars or at least a mosquito net - all this should remain prohibited.
If necessary, the cat's owner can help the animals, but most often his intervention is not required. You just need to make sure that the cats don’t hurt each other.
Possible complications
Things don't always go smoothly the first time. Some difficulties, however, can be eliminated, but in other cases you need to look for another partner or completely abandon the idea of “procreation.”
1) if the cat is larger than the cat, the partner may experience certain difficulties, because, holding the bride by the withers, he simply will not reach her in the required place. It is better, of course, to take into account the size of the pair in advance, but you can try to help the situation if it is not the cat who holds the cat by the withers, but its owner.
Of course, such a trick can only be accomplished by a very experienced breeder, as well as by a balanced and phlegmatic cat who will allow a stranger to approach her at such an intimate moment.
2) sometimes even a cat of the right size (especially a beginner) may have difficulty choosing where to grab his partner, holding her higher or lower than necessary. Try, without scaring the animals, to tell your pet how to act.
3) often, on the contrary, an inexperienced cat does not allow itself to be tied, because it falls on its side and prevents the cat from taking the correct position. Here, too, you can’t do without help (although it must be admitted that some cats that are especially “gifted” in the love department manage to solve this problem by performing sexual intercourse in the “sideways” position). But more often than not, the bride who falls over on her side still has to be forcibly held in an upright position.
4) an unpleasant situation arises if the bride does not allow the groom to approach her. Unpleasant, because in such cases, animal owners, as a rule, try to shift responsibility from their own animal to its partner.
Of course, it happens that animals don’t like each other so much that they don’t want to “get married” to anyone, but more often there is still a reason for such a problem. The easiest way to determine it is by whether one or the other partner had offspring (if the cat is a proven sire, there is a possibility that the problem is in the cat and vice versa).
In some cases, a specially invited veterinarian may come to the rescue and insert a device into the cat’s vagina that helps the cat penetrate its partner. However, sometimes in order to make friends, animals just need to calm down a little.
5) after a fruitful mating, pregnancy does not occur. If such an embarrassment occurs for the first time, re-mating is usually carried out (during the next heat). However, after the second unsuccessful attempt, you need to look for reasons. They again can be in both the partner and the female partner.
Important! Infertility in a cat can be either congenital or acquired, so having successful matings in the past is not a 100% “alibi” for your pet!
If the cat has never given birth before, you can try to carry out special hormonal preparation before the next estrus; the name and rules for taking the medications will be prescribed by a veterinarian (usually in such cases, Ovarium, Ovariovit and certain vitamins are prescribed).
Infertility of a cat, if there is reason to suspect a partner, can also in some cases be successfully treated if its cause is identified and eliminated.
Meeting with a cat
If a cat is about to be mated for the first time, she may be very nervous: sit huddled in the carrier, and when trying to remove it from there, scratch and bite the owner’s hands. Don't put her under more stress. Give her time to calm down, get used to the unfamiliar surroundings, and take a closer look at the cat.
If the timing is correctly calculated, the cat’s behavior will immediately indicate an increased interest in the “lady”. He will walk around the carrier, giving the cat inviting glances and screaming loudly. In the first minutes of acquaintance, an inexperienced cat can either hide deeper into a shelter, or (if she is a lively and decisive nature) give the admirer a heavy slap in the face. You shouldn’t be scared, much less try to separate the animals, unless they start fighting in earnest right before your eyes.
Symptoms
The cat exhibits obvious symptoms of sexual arousal - it becomes more mobile and restless. The animal's anxiety manifests itself clearly, and sleep is often disturbed. A “walking” cat meows shrilly and loudly; moans; presses against the ground, floor, rolls on it; takes a characteristic position for sexual intercourse; appetite is reduced or absent; ears and paws feel hot due to increased blood flow.
In rare cases, symptoms of estrus are mild. During the pre-estrus period, the pet becomes more affectionate, gentle, and courteous. She follows you around the house, persistently demands affection and attention, rubs against all objects, purring quietly.
Knitting process
Having stopped being wild or flirtatious, the cat begins to show interest in its partner: its front paws are pressed to the floor, its hind paws are moving measuredly, its tail is set to the side, and long screams are emanating from its chest. However, as soon as the cat approaches, she instantly turns into an evil fury, and the partner retreats again, as if having lost all interest in her. This game is repeated again and again until the cat gapes. The cat immediately jumps on his partner and grabs the fold of skin at her withers with his sharp teeth. From this moment on, the cat stops resisting and actively helps him.
During the entire period during which the cat is staying with its partner, mating can occur several times a day. As soon as the cat loses interest in his “lady,” the mating is considered completed.
After mating
As soon as the cat owner is informed that he can take his pet, he must immediately take it away. After mating, the cat often looks tired and even rather shabby. It is necessary to give her time to rest and recover. As soon as the cat has slept a little, you need to carefully examine and treat all noticeable wounds and scratches with disinfectants. The cat also requires an equally thorough examination.
For a couple of days after returning home, the cat may continue to call the cat, even if everything ended as it should. Soon the signs of estrus will stop. And after ten to twelve days you can show your pet to a veterinarian.
Most often, mating ends in cat pregnancy. Otherwise, the cat's owner must provide his pet for re-mating; this time there can be no question of payment.
Whatever fate you choose for your pets, I hope that it was a serious and thoughtful step. And may the appearance of little fluffy balls bring you great joy!
