Who wants to wait whilst my kittens are born!

Shelters are ridiculous. Simple as that. We have a cat from a breeder as the shelter rejected ys as we wouldn't let the cat roam. They were convinced a cat need to have 100% freedom to roam. The breeder loved that the cat is not roaming the neighbourhood.

@MakeMineADietCoke OP isn’t actually obliged to follow what you have decreed as ethical behaviour. No one is. It’s a matter of choice and she has chosen something you wouldn’t. I can imagine a few scenarios where I would, too. You know nothing of her situation and why, this time, it felt like the right thing to do.

Aww what a fantastic thread! Thank you OP, it’s cheered me right up 😻 Congratulations to mummy cat and to you as a kitty granny!

Ignore the haters, some people are such joy suckers, they like to pour misery on everything. If every female cat was spayed before she had kittens then there would be no more kittens and the world would be a terrible place. Thank you OP for making the world a little bit better today 😻

Yep. All the time. I was up at 3am watching live and thought how lovely but of course the negative Nancys are up and at it this morning. Shame as it is so tedious but entirely predictable.

Here for more photos 😍
Btw rehoming one from a shelter doesn’t work for people who would like to have a cat because the only ones that might get accepted are single people who never leave their house (and apparently don’t need to go to work). My sister who lives on her own in a big house with garden got rejected because she couldn’t guarantee that she’d never be out of the home for more than 4 hours for the next 10 years. Absolutely ridiculous and I can only assume that people who successfully adopt lie on the form but she wasn’t willing to do that and truthfully said that she obviously can’t rule out being out of the house for an afternoon at some point. Luckily she found someone like OP who was rehoming privately and is now a loving cat mum.

I’m sorry but that’s not the OPs (or any other poster’s) responsibility. When a person shares their experience they are in no way encouraging others to seek the same for themselves. We need to stop pretending we are entitled to something or can aspire to something because someone else on the internet had the same thing or the same experience.

14 years ago I got a male and female siblings, the day they were both meant to have their operations my make cat got hit by a car and I was so upset I rescheduled the operation, when my female cat went in for her pre op check up it turned out she was pregnant, oh I felt awful as she was so young and it obviously wasn't meant to happen.
Anyway she gave birth to 3 very healthy kittens, unfortunately I could not let them go as I saw this as our responsibility as I let this happen, so we kept them all.
They all are speyed or neutered so no more accidents, and they all get lots of love from mummy cat still even though they are all 13 now.
Our GSD also used to clean and cuddle them.
I just love animals as they are so less argumentative than humans.

The kittens are beautiful and I hope your DS is delighted.

It's really sad we can't enjoy things on MN before they are ruined! Happens ALL the time now.

But she won't be able to guarantee what happens to them. Likely at least sone will be irresponsibly bred from unless she pays to have them all neutered before they are rehomed. The people taking her kittens should have gone to a reputable rescue to get one and helped reduce the current crisis instead of adding to it.

There is no benefit to the cat the OP has bred from in this situation.

I’ve just realised we’re on AIBU.

The one board where apparently bun fights are obligatory.

IT’S NOT OP’s FAULT OTHER PEOPLE BREED IRRESPONSIBLY.

She has homes for the kittens.

But they're not going to a rescue!

With respect that is such a condescending attitude. I very much doubt that a thread on Mumsnet is going to influence some random to let their cat breed and it's even more unlikely that a load of hectoring is going to put them off! Ultimately people tend to do what they want to do and all this is achieving is turning yet another thread into a bun fight.

I struggle to believe any vet would think breeding more black and white moggies was anything other than a terrible and selfish idea. They are already the most overlooked in rescue.

It can take a few years for the animosity to fully develop unfortunately. Doesn't mean you shouldn't try it, but perhaps keep one of those potential adopters as a reserve. I've found male kittens get on better with their mums long term, I've only ever seen it between female-female pairs.

I'm sure you know this but do rehome in pairs or into homes who already have a cat! Single kittens can be sad, and not learn manners.

They're very sweet and I look forward to updates!

Almost all black cats have a few white hairs somewhere that I expect you will find as they grow.

When I was little we had a mother and son pair and the son would help tend kittens. People seemed to come from miles around to dump their pregnant cats on us, hearing we would care for them, they were not siblings of the son.

Sorry but you have done something wrong in deliberately adding more cats to a world that doesnt look after the ones it has already.

Honestly, so many kittens already in rescue. It's sad

always the way isn't it. You try and find a cheery thread but it doesn't take long for it to crash and burn. 🙄

OP, I'm glad your cat had, what appears to be, a healthy bunch of kittens! We lost our cat 2 months ago, he was beautiful and I miss him dreadfully so seeing your pictures has brightened my day.
Thank you 😍

The difficulty is someone may come across this thread and decide to let their cat have a litter of kittens because they see these kittens and think they’re cute, or they then buy kittens from gumtree or wherever else, without realising doing so is hugely irresponsible. If the thread is left to run with only positive feedback and gushing “oh wow so cute” comments that’s irresponsible and promotes ignorance. People need to be discussing these things, not pretending they’re not an issue for the sake of not offending someone.

We're not being horrible, OP. I'm glad the kittens are cute and you have found homes for them, but breeding your cat is irresponsible and does put her at higher risk of reproductive health problems now that she's been through multiple heats and birth. Higher risk of uterine cancer and pyometra among them. Why would you risk that for your cat, just for cute kittens that your friends could have got from shelters?

Also, if you are adopting them out, don't do it until the kittens are all spayed/neutered and ideally fully vaccinated as well. Yes, that will be expensive but that's your responsibility when you have a litter. It's likely that at least one of the friends won't do this and this prevents suffering and further irresponsible breeding. So much suffering is caused by animals not being fixed, I know your kittens are gorgeous but you need to think about the wider picture and what you've put the poor little mama through, when she could have been having a nice playful life.

What a miserable person you must be. Trust the nicest MN thread to turn to sanctimonious judgement few pages in.

Congratulations OP. the kittens are gorgeous. I'm hoping to get another cat (kitten) soon but looking for one privately as shelters don't want to rehome kittens to families with kids/existing cats.

My parents kept a kitten in the 80s, a boy, and he went on to make his mum’s life hell, always trying to bully her and drive her off. Her life was never the same.

They're all absolutely sweet. Mumcat has done a good job and so have you @Kittenwatch , staying with her the whole time .