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The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

Original poster

Cute battersea kitty seeking healthy boy cat for date!

58 replies

Batterseabluesky · 16/05/2011 11:02

Forgive the apparent absurdity of this message but ... We have a young female cat that we'd like to responsibly have 1 litter of kittens before being neutered* The vet has advised us to find a happy healthy male vs letting her choose herself (from the cue of Tom cats outside our window!!). Anybody local to the area with a suitable happy healthy chap up for the job? She is just a pretty moggy, so a pro breeder isn't really an answer as I dont think they mate ordinary cats (who said the class system was dead??). Blimey I knew finding a decent guy in London was tough- but not for kitties!!
*Before the lectures start, we have prospective adopters lined up and the cats I have had in the past who were allowed 1 litter then sayed were happier than those who were spayed straight away,so please don't bombard me about filling the world with unwanted cats. We will have her done straight after 1 litter. Thank you.

OP posts:
Holtby · 16/05/2011 11:08

Tough luck - here comes the lecture. It's a massively selfish thing to do, when every shelter in the country is bursting with unwanted kittens. You're risking your cat's health and the stuff about them being happier is utter bollocks - having kittens is an enormously stressful experience for most cats. Please reconsider.

ClaireDeLoon · 16/05/2011 11:15

Why do you want her to have a litter? Why?

Didn't you sign a contract with Battersea agreeing to get her spayed at 6 months old?

Original poster
Batterseabluesky · 16/05/2011 11:40

Tough luck? How patronising! It's not selfish. It's natural.I'm doing it for the cat in my opinion and have discussed it with the vet. I have already told you we have good homes waiting. I have owned several cats. Thank you for your opinion, please respect mine.

OP posts:
Original poster
Batterseabluesky · 16/05/2011 11:42

BTW no, I did not sign a contract! Though thank you for suggesting that I would renege on one!!

OP posts:
seeker · 16/05/2011 11:45

There are opinions and there are facts. In this case you are wrong.

Please explain in what way your previous cats were "happier" having had a litter.

bamboobutton · 16/05/2011 11:46

why don't these people get kittens from battersea too?

this just boggles my mind. you rescue a cat, you see hundreds of other cats needing a home and you decide to breed some more kittens!!!

has to be the stupidest thing i've read in a long time.

ClaireDeLoon · 16/05/2011 11:47

helpful link for you from Battersea

coccyx · 16/05/2011 11:47

How ridiculous. Doesn't make it ok because you say you have people lined up to have the kittens!
Let those people go get an unwanted kitten from a rescue place.
If you go ahead with this very ill thought through, selfish plan, then the new kittens may also go on to have kittens etc and then their offspring .More kittens to find homes for!!!

Original poster
Batterseabluesky · 16/05/2011 12:07

When we got our kittens Battersea didn't have any for several weeks (genuinely). I do understand your point about unwanted kittens which is why we are having the male cat spayed this week (this was the earliest he could be done as he was small for his age). It is also why we would not let her have more than one litter.

We have discussed this with the vet. The female cats I have had done right away were less confident and never really grew up. As a consequence they tended to wee in corners etc. Where as the others did not. It's not just a snip, it is removing their whole reproductive system, so it's hardly surprising that it has an effect.

OP posts:
thisisyesterday · 16/05/2011 12:10

yep, sorry, irresponsible.

there are plenty of kittens out there needing homes, perhaps your friends could take one of them.

no need for your cat to have kittens.
you can't possibly tell if your previous cats were happier having had a litter, because you have no idea what they'd have been like without that litter.

you're being very selfish

Original poster
Batterseabluesky · 16/05/2011 12:11

Our cat was not a rescue cat. There were no rescue kittens available. We did try to get one for several weeks. Thank you.

OP posts:
Original poster
Batterseabluesky · 16/05/2011 12:17

Hi it was actually the vet at the time that suggested the behaviour was down to this and said it had to do with pecking order within the group. That is where I got the idea from.

OP posts:
ClaireDeLoon · 16/05/2011 12:24

Do you have a group of cats then?

The pecking order is typically taken to be:
Entire male
Entire female
Neutered female
Neutered male

There is no category or 'neutered female but had one litter first'. Neutered in neutered.

So unless you have unneutered cats already the pecking order shouldn't be a problem, unless you have a very nervy cat in which case getting her to have a litter won't help.

Holtby · 16/05/2011 12:24

(This isn't the bigger point, but I don't really understand why waiting more than a couple of weeks for rescue kittens would be a problem. Instant gratification, much?)

ClaireDeLoon · 16/05/2011 12:25

Sorry: neutered is neutered

Original poster
Batterseabluesky · 16/05/2011 12:33

(We had a window where I would be working from home for most of the time so we didn't need to leave the kittens alone for more than a couple of hours in the first two months. We waited several weeks. We had planned to get them for an entire year before, if you must know. In fact we actually paid rather a lot more to get a suitable house as we wanted them to have enough space and rented our old flat out. So no, not 'instant gratification' but thank you for the highly judgemental and presumptive attitude.)

OP posts:
seeker · 16/05/2011 12:42

"The female cats I have had done right away were less confident and never really grew up. As a consequence they tended to wee in corners etc. Where as the others did not. It's not just a snip, it is removing their whole reproductive system, so it's hardly surprising that it has an effect."

IF - note the IF - this is true then it could only because they were spayed too early. The pecking order thing is also wrong - there is no step in the pecking order which is labelled "neutered femaale but had one litter."

MumblingRagDoll · 16/05/2011 12:47

We have waited for months for kittens.....and have finally agreed to adopt a pair of 6 year old brothers because in the words f the rescue home "People are lining up for the kittens but nobody wants the adults"

EvenLessNarkyPuffin · 16/05/2011 12:50

I admire all those who've tried to reason with you.

You are an utter moron.

Original poster
Batterseabluesky · 16/05/2011 13:05

Sorry, what do you mea 'IF' ? You have no idea who I am yet you are insinuating I'm lying by pronouncing the IF. How bizarre!!

I can't believe how bitchy and rude some of you guys can be (or should I say catty?) because I have a different opinion to you, which WE HAVE DISCUSSED WITH THE VET!
"Utter Moron"? Well, I'm hardly going to listen to someone as offensive as you, am I?

I am glad MumblingRagDoll you were able to house your brothers. It wasn't a viable option for us.

OP posts:
Holtby · 16/05/2011 13:05

Why weren't older cats an option?

EvenLessNarkyPuffin · 16/05/2011 13:07

You aren't going to listen to anyone who doesn't completely agree with you.

seeker · 16/05/2011 13:09

I said IF because you have no way of knowing wht these cats would have been like if they had had kittens before spaying. As far as I know there is no research, either properly scientific or even substatnitally anecdotal to support your view. It is is certainly not been my experience - and I have had lots of cats with many different personalities.

If spaying them before having a litter made them prone to wee in corners then ti woule be widely talked about, surely?

ClaireDeLoon · 16/05/2011 13:09

But quite a few people have politely posted advice that you're ignoring too. Did you read the link to a Battersea information sheet? There was a section about the myths surrounding getting cats neutered.

seeker · 16/05/2011 13:09

You have 'discused it with the vet". Presumably you ignored what he said too?

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