To let my cat have kittens

[Mittens1969]

This is a more lighthearted thread than my two previous ones, but I'm fully expecting to be flamed by some posters on here, especially those who work in cat rescue centres.

I've had cats all through my life, I have 4 furry friends atm. I've finally given into temptation to let one of my cats, a 1 year old black and white female, to have one litter of kittens before having her spayed.

We used to let our cats have a couple of litters of kittens when I was growing up, and we never had any problems finding homes for them. I've never done this with cats since I've grown up, I've had a number of cats and I've always had them spayed/neutered.

But this time I couldn't resist. And I already know it won't be hard to find homes for the kittens and I intend to look after them for as long as necessary. I'll have 2 DDs who want to keep them of course.

So that's my AIBU basically. I would also be interested in suggestions from people who have done this.

I've just read "There is no way i was going to force her into aborting her babies".....

God preserve me-and animals- from "animal lovers".

god preserve us from the holier than thou brigade.....

I don't think you know what "holier than thou" means!

But the thread here is about cats, not humans (which is a long, contentious, emotive thread for another day) animals which have the biological imperative to breed, not the emotional need, or the physical necessity, it's inbuilt into their dna.(like all living things) If we are going to be pet owners, then first and foremost we need to be responsible pet owners and that is looking after their health, including their reproductive health. Why is it ok for you to allow your pet to get pregnant different to anyone else? Because you will be able to give them away? Because you can pay for their upkeep? Because you are a "good" person? The bottom line is there are more than enough cats in houses, shelters and living ferally in the world. Please dont add to that population just because you ascribe human attributes to an animal or because its a learning experience for your kids. The poor cat isnt asking to have kittens, to have a barbed penis in her vagina or to risk her health. A human can make choices about reproduction, cats cant.

I think the OP has already made her mind up :(
On the plus side, for me it is refreshing that most of the replies are sensible.
Yabvvvvu OP and you know you are. This would be a fucking stupid and irresponsible thing to do.

The cats too young for a litter, if those people want kittens tell them to go to a rescue

^^ This, a thousand times over.

There was a thread a few days ago from a poster whose cat had kittens after an unexpected pregnancy. It started off all 'squeee kittens', but the labour took 24 hours, one kitten died during birth after being stuck for hours, another within hours of birth and then the mother rejected the remaining kittens and now the OP is hand rearing and desperately trying to keep alive the remaining three. That means feeding them every two hours, day and night.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/3028373-Shit

Young cats often don't make particularly good mothers. Left to their own devices, cats operate in a matriarchal society and older females help first time mothers. Without this help, they often can't or don't want to do what is needed to nurse kittens on their own.

I don't understand this at all? Are you saying you're going to find a stud and breed your cat properly? I personally think that's a bad idea when so many cats need homes but if you're going to do it properly with health test for your cat and the stud it's odd for moggies but I've heard of weirder things happening.

If you're suggesting letting an unneutered female out to be impregnated by one of the local stray or feral cats, who are likely to be carrying FIV and other unpleasant illnesses then I think that's incredibly stupid and borders on cruel.
If it's the latter then I imagine you already know that it's stupid and are just hoping to wind people up.

I tell you what would be a really good learning experience for your kids OP, getting the cat neutered. Teaching them all the reasons why that is important - use some of the facts posted above from the RSPCA report. Teach them that when you have a pet you do what is best for them and in their best interests rather than treating them as some sort of toy or amusement, there to provide you with your desired quota of cuteness.

So your only reason is it would be fun for the kids.
You would put the health and safety of your pet at risk. You would make her suffer pain and discomfort to entertain your kids?
That is completely unreasonable.
And at the end of her life my cat needed over £60 of medication a month, she couldn't groom herself and would randomly wander round the house shouting. You may find people to take on a cute kitten. But that? Many people will say yes to a kitten then dump them or try and rehome them later.
You're being unfair on the potential kittens as well as your cat.
Get your animals neutered.
Let your kids watch TV programmes to entertain and educate them.

" I've finally given into temptation "

Yeah, your own temptation

" it will be fun and educational for the DDs"

Awful reason, just please don't.

Finally?
Poor bloody cat is only a year old.

*YABU
*
There's plenty of unwanted kittens and cats as it is, and it doesn't even matter if you 'have homes' for them all already - that's taking away a home from a kitten or cat that needs it.

Kittens are cute, that's not reason enough to let your cat have them.

I have to assist spaying pregnant cats and euthanise the kittens if their gestational age is enough because people couldn't be arsed to get them spayed.

Again YABU. YABU, why do people post these threads then moan when people tell them!?!

Completely selfish idea. You have no idea the strain you are putting on your cat's body. Go to a rescue if you want to see kittens and get your cat spayed.

We used to let our cats have a couple of litters of kittens when I was growing up, and we never had any problems finding homes for them.

And how many of those kittens were still in the same homes 10-15 years later?
How many of those kittens were not neutered and had their own kittens?
How many of that next generation found secure lifelong homes?

By producing one litter of kittens you are potentially creating welfare and overpopulation problems for generations of cats.

But as long as you get what you want, who cares about the indirect suffering you inflict eh? After all you will choose not to deal with the consequences - you can leave it to overstretched charities and volunteers to clean up after you.

Excellent educational lesson for you kids!

No, I'm not moaning about you all telling me that I'm being U. I've been thinking through what you're all saying.

A lot of the issues you've talked about won't come up. I've never seen any unwanted feral cats around here, and she's been through one heat already.

Actually heebie, I and I suspect many others are fully in favour of limiting family sizes to one you can adequately afford, both in a financial and an emotional sense. Most people do; the average woman at the age of 45 will have had 1.9 children which I always think is a daft statistic but there we are.

And there are attempts to prevent babies being born if they are unwanted - or just not in a position to be cared for properly hence access to termination, contraception and so on.

The children languishing in a care centre is something of a myth. There are in fact more adopters than children needing to be adopted. We do need foster carers, conceded. Problem is, foster carers need one or two things as well. Spare room. No job. No younger children. It can be hard to find someone with these requirements !

In the wild, the populations of most animals are stable because survival of the fittest really does come into play. Feral cats having kittens would see many die in the birthing process and then after that initial traumatic entry into the world, if the mother was killed the kittens would die too. Road traffic fatalities, injuries from fighting with other cats (even if the initial injury is not fatal if it reduces the ability to hunt then the cat would slowly starve) and predators such as badgers and foxes will take young kittens, some bigger birds of prey will, but the most common cause of death is starvation. Even so feral cat populations are a problem.

That's another reason it is in all our interests to keep the cat population down. As you can tell from my name and jy posts here, i love cats, i have cats. But they are a problem as predators and the British garden bird population suffers. Thank God mine aren't really hunters (females tend to be worse than males in my experience - maybe house cats are more like lions than any other big cat.) I have five boys and one girl and whenever I find some poor mouse I know who is responsible!

If you have a feral cat population near you try to call CPL. They will come out and neuter the cats for you. This means you can provide food, they will keep the vermin down, but you don't have to worry about litters of kittens.

They are gorgeous and lovely. But honestly, within five months they look like a completely adult cat. It just isn't worth it in any sense.

A lot of the issues you've talked about won't come up. I've never seen any unwanted feral cats around here

You are delusional at best, it makes me so sad that people with as little knowledge and experience are allowed to own pets.

Doing something because you did it 20 odd years ago and t was fine, is just about the most stupid justification I have heard. Be a responsible cat owner and get the fucking thing neutered. The world does not need more poorly bred Joe average non health tested cats.

Jesus wept that last thing the world needs are idiotic amateur pet owners having litters of kittens.

The only benefit is so you can go "awwww cute look at the fluffy, look how many faceboook likes I've got from fluffy photo".

Why not look into fostering kittens if you really actually give a shit?

I have read some idiocy in my time, but the 'give her a chance at motherhood' brigade are as thick as shit, aren't they?

Yes, but I can actually beat that for thickness with the story of someone I worked with who didn't bother to get her two indoor cats neutered even though they were opposite sexes because they are brother and sister from the same litter and she thought they wouldn't mate with each other . Predictably, female cat ended up having a litter.

This is not for your cat's benefit, this is because you want kittens around the place. Have you considered fostering instead? It would be really selfish to go ahead with your current plan. You think you can easily rehome the kittens - but those people could instead be rehoming kittens stuck in a shelter.

I'd be crying with laughter at giving the cat a chance at motherhood if it wasn't so fucking ridiculous. The cat does not want a chance at motherhood. Most cats with litters of kittens are fucking sick of them by the time they are old enough to be rehomed. Stop imposing human concepts onto animals, it's immature and incredibly stupid.

Point taken. Maybe I will do that. I really have been thinking through what you're all saying. I was thinking of volunteering in a cat sanctuary at one time.

I don't understand the logic that it is cruel to deny a cat motherhood, but somehow not cruel to let her have kittens and then take them away. If they could feel human-like distress at the first, surely they'd also feel it at the second?

Geillis when I mentioned to someone that I was taking my brother and sister cats to be neutered, they said with a horrified face, 'they wouldn't mate, would they?' as if cats should be fully aware of the proprieties around incest..

Can't preach to the stupid.
OP is selfish and stupid enough to breed her not-mature-enough cat. What can you do stop her?

Idiot.

I'd be crying with laughter at giving the cat a chance at motherhood if it wasn't so fucking ridiculous

My very clever and animal lover friend bloody wanted one of her cats to have a chance of motherhood. My feelings towards her and her common sense plummeted. Stupid cow ended with the cat PG and having two litters in very quick succession (4 months apart) because she wasn't quick enough getting her neutered and didn't like the idea of aborting the 'babies'....

Anyway now their flat is over run with cats and it stinks, and none of the cats seem that happy.