# What age



## ShAzZa_UK (Dec 29, 2009)

What is an appropriate age to breed a cat? Just thinking of breeding my kitten in the future


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## raecarrow (Oct 27, 2009)

ShAzZa_UK said:


> What is an appropriate age to breed a cat? Just thinking of breeding my kitten in the future


If your cat isn't a purebred and you do not have experience as a breeder, I would highly advise against it for MANY reasons. Some of which are:
1) A cat that is allowed to go through heats and birthing, have much higher cancer risks.
2) There are many complications that could happen that could kill your cat and her kittens.
3) Even if you have homes for all your kittens, you are just adding to the problem by taking away homes that could have gotten other cats and kittens from shelters.
4) No matter how special your baby is, there is no guaranttee her kittens will be like her. 

If you want the experience of having a mom-cat birth kittens, I would suggest doing a pregnant mom-cat foster situation.


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## saitenyo (Nov 28, 2010)

I second what raecarrow said. 

I know it sounds like a fun thing right now, but there are serious complications that can occur with pregnancy that could risk your cat's life, and there's the possibility to ending up with sick or deformed kittens. Even with careful responsible breeding (let alone careless backyard breeding) things can go wrong so you need to be prepared for that. Breeding a pet should never be taken lightly, and should only be done after ample research (more than just asking on a forum how old your cat should be) and preferably with the guidance of an experienced responsible breeder. 

There are already so many kittens that need homes out there. You should think very carefully about that fact. Do you have prospective homes for every possible kitten that could be born? If not, what were you planning on doing with them? Are you comfortable with producing more kittens knowing that there are many homeless kittens in shelters, that may be put down if not adopted?

These are all important questions to ask yourself before breeding a cat.


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## Susan (Mar 29, 2010)

I'm sure your intentions are good...but I too would suggest you have her spayed and leave breeding to those who own purebreds and have the necessary training and experience. Too many things could go wrong and you'd never forgive yourself. Let you baby enjoy her life instead.


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## Sol (Feb 20, 2003)

The appropriate age will differ between breeds and of course also between individuals. Female kittens can have their first heat at 4 months of age, but it surely isn't appropriate to breed her so young. It takes some knowledge about cats development in general and more specific on the development of the breed in order to decide what age that might be appropriate.

However, during the years as a breeder I have to say that what age to breed a female has been the least problem. There are a lot more things than age a female has to pass before being appropriate for breeding. She has to fit the standard, be healthy, go through some health exams, have a good temperment, work well with the other cats etc.

Breeding is a tough job and finding a suitable cat for breeding isn't always that easy.


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## catloverami (Jul 5, 2010)

_Sol_, good post. I would also like to add that a breeder has to be knowledgeable about different blood types in cats, and have the female and male tested _before_ mating.

Type B Blood in Cats | eHow.com


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## Sol (Feb 20, 2003)

catloverami said:


> _Sol_, good post. I would also like to add that a breeder has to be knowledgeable about different blood types in cats, and have the female and male tested _before_ mating.
> 
> Type B Blood in Cats | eHow.com


Yes, blood typing at least has to be done before the kittens are born so you know if you have to handfeed the kittens or not. I've done it once (mated a B-female with an A-male) and "luckily" I only had one kitten in that litter so it was managable to handfeed for 24 hours. I had two breeder friends on stand by to help me if there would have been more kittens. I know of breeders who have had 6-7 kittens... they've just had start all over with the feeding routine once they were finished feeding the last one in the litter.


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