# Sticky  'Just one litter'.



## lymorelynn

If your female cat is not spayed and goes out she will get pregnant. If you think she might be pregnant, she probably already is. Kittens as young as 6 months have been known to become pregnant, and cats can get pregnant after just one mating which takes seconds.

If she has only been out a few hours or days she won't yet be pregnant. Pregnancy begins with implantation, and it takes 12-14 days from first mating for this to happen - she has to release eggs, they have to be fertilised and travel into her uterine horns before they can implant.

You have two choices:


Get her spayed as soon as possible;
Let her pregnancy continue and raise the kittens.

We strongly recommend the first course of action for many reasons, which include:


As mentioned above, she will not be pregnant yet. However if you delay she almost certainly will be.
Most rescues (shelters) are full of kittens needing homes. Anyone who wants one of your kittens could instead give one of these a home and possibly save its life. Some shelters / rescues still euthanase cats and kittens which don't find homes after a given period of time;
Cats normally don't have problems kittening, but if your cat does and needs a C-section this will cost several hundreds of pounds;
If your cat is very young she is more likely to need a section and is more likely to have problems raising kittens when she herself is still a kitten;
Raising a litter of kittens is considerably more expensive than spaying a cat - see below for approximate costs;
It is vital to be able to keep an eye on her when she is kittening, so that any problems can be promptly dealt with;
Caring for and socialising a litter of kittens takes a considerable amount of time and energy.

If you decide to let her have the kittens, your female must be kept in until her kittens are weaned (about 10 weeks old) and she has been spayed. This is for three reasons:


She might have her kittens somewhere outside the house which will make rearing and socialising them very difficult. You will also not be able to keep an eye on her when she is kittening in case your help is needed.
If she has an accident while her kittens are small you will be left to hand-rear them which means feeding every 2 hours night and day to start with. You should be aware that hand-rearing kittens is very hard work, many more kittens are lost than when the mother rears them, and 'bottle babies' often have social problems.
Female cats with kittens often come back into call (heat) quite soon after kittening (while still nursing) and get pregnant again. Females in call are often desperate to escape, and some of them stop looking after their kittens.

My last foster litter was 5 kittens. The female had been wormed and treated against fleas before she was delivered and I already had a spare room, a large dog crate, a set of digital scales weighing in grams, lots of suitable bedding and spare litter trays. My approximate costs today (Mar 2013) would be £265, and I didn't have any vet costs as they were vet-checked and vaccinated after I took them back. This is a rough break-down of my costs:


Cat litter - £25. I brought in bulk on the Internet and this was just about enough to raise the kittens to 8 weeks.
Cat food - 1 4kg sack kitten biscuits, £20. Wet kitten food, £200. Yes, £200. Kittens need a huge amount to eat. They also got treats of raw mince, and cooked white fish which are included in the cost.
Wormer - £20.

These kittens would each have received over £50 of vet care before being homed. They were all vet-checked, microchipped and given their first vaccination. Their new owners got a voucher for their second vaccination and for free neutering, plus they were fed for another week so the total bill for the litter would have been well over £500!

Neutering brings many benefits beyond preventing pregnancy. We believe your cat should be neutered as soon as your vet is willing to operate, and by 6 months at the very latest unless there are medical reasons to delay. If your vet insists on neutering after 6 months, or says your cat should have a call first, or (worse still) she should have a litter first, find another vet.

For females the main benefits other than preventing pregnancy are reducing the risk of breast cancer, and almost completely removing the risk of pyometra which is a potentially fatal infection of the uterus. Since each call (heat) increases her chances of breast cancer spaying before her first call confers greatest protection.

For males it stops their pee smelling, and neutered males spray a lot less than entires. Neutered males also wander and fight less, and are less likely to have a road traffic accident.

Useful links:

My cat is having kittens | international cat care (read all the articles it links to, listed towards the left of the page)
http://www.icatcare.org/advice/keeping-your-cat-healthy (point out the need for worming & flea control)
Neutering your cat | international cat care
http://www.winnfelinehealth.org/Page...pay_Neuter.pdf
http://www.icatcare.org/sites/defaul...neutering1.pdf
Spay and Neuter for Cats: Winn Feline Foundation
*With thanks to OrientalSlave for writing this*


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## MoggyBaby

More and more vets are now offering early neutering for kittens in an attempt to try and reduce the very high amount born every year.

Click this link to the Cats Protection League where simply putting in your postcode will let you know who in your area offers this service.

Cats Protection | Neutering | Find an Early Neutering Vet









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## Ceiling Kitty

I would just like to say that 'just one litter' is rarely that.

1. If you make the decision to let your unspayed queen outside to breed indiscriminately, or keep her with an unneutered male, the chances are she's going to get out again after the kittens are born and end up pregnant for a second time. *That's at least two litters.* Keep them inside, neuter your males.

2. If you want a litter of kittens 'as a lovely experience for the children', your children are likely to want to do the same with their own cats, should they own any when they are older. *That's another two, three, four, five+ litters.* Instead, teach your children the importance of responsible cat ownership and set them an example by neutering your cats.

3. If the 'loving homes' you've found for your kittens all decide to do the same thing and have 'just one litter', you are perpetuating a cycle. *That's another two, three, four+ litters.* You may be able to locate good homes for your cat's kittens, but you now have no control over their 'grandkittens'. They could end up anywhere.

4. If you own the unneutered father as well, and he is going out, he will mate with any unspayed females he comes across. *That's an indefinite number of litters* (plus a nice FIV risk).

It never is 'just one litter', is it? And people who choose to do this AREN'T THE ONES WHO PICK UP THE PIECES. That falls to the rest of us, who are pulling dead kittens out of dustbins, doing the C-sections of the labours that went wrong and having to deliver dead kittens, and euthanasing the surrendered cats with potentially treatable diseases that have no chance of being rehomed because the country's rescue centres are so overrun with cats that they're turning them away.

All the above are things I have had to do, or directly watched a colleague have to do, this year alone.

I'm sorry for the rant, but I'm so sick of trying to encourage and educate about responsible cat ownership when it doesn't seem to sink in. The number of people I've urged to neuter their cats rather than choose that 'just one litter' route, who decide to go ahead anyway, is absolutely breaking my heart.

There is no end.

If you are planning 'just one litter', please PLEASE reconsider!!!


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## kittih

Very well said.

I would add that if someone has the overwhelming urge to watch the "miracle of birth" or let their children experience it then, instead of putting your cat through that why not volunteer to foster a pregnant cat. You and your family can experience the highs and lows with the support of the rescue and help a cat in need. Win win.


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## Calvine




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## Ceiling Kitty

You're right Lynn, and for me this was just a bit of a rant last night - but I guess now we can try to include some practical advice for anyone who is in this situation already, on what they can do to help.

I would suggest:

1. *If your cat is already pregnant, you can still spay her*. This will humanely terminate the pregnancy and prevent any further ones at the same time. If your vet says they cannot spay a pregnant cat, find another; most will. I will not comment on the religious or ethical opinions of other people regarding the termination of pregnancy, but I will give my own, which is that cats are not religious nor do they have any ethics, and for me the welfare of the cat trumps any human beliefs.

2. If she is pregnant and you still wish to continue the pregnancy, *keep her indoors*. She may plead to get out after the kittens are born. Ignore her. If she is allowed out, she can become pregnant again even though she is still nursing a litter. Keep the number of litters you are dealing with to just one: keep her inside and spay her promptly. Cats can be spayed within weeks of giving birth; it will not significantly affect their milk production.

3. If you own the father, *neuter him immediately*.

4. *Give strong consideration to having the kittens neutered before they go to their new homes.* Yes, this will cost you. Yes, it means you will need to keep the kittens for longer than you may have originally planned (they technically shouldn't go to new homes until 12-13 weeks anyway, though many re-home younger). I'm afraid that's part of raising kittens responsibly. Kittens can be neutered from 12 weeks. If your vet won't neuter at that age, don't stop there - plenty will: check the Kitten Neutering Database to find one. http://www.kind.cats.org.uk Neutering the kittens before you re-home them is the only way you will have any control over their reproductive future.

5. Please *spread the word* to friends and family. Tell them that cats can get pregnant from 5-6 months of age; that they can have multiple litters back-to-back; that brothers and sisters from the same litter can mate; that cats have no need nor desire to give birth and this is a human want we've forced onto them. And please teach your children how to own cats responsibly.

There is a reason that Cats Protection, RSPCA, Blue Cross, Battersea, PDSA, International Society of Feline Medicine, Wood Green, British Small Animal Veterinary Association and the GCCF are *ALL* actively trying to discourage the 'just one litter' approach. These organisations and charities are not wrong, they know what they are talking about. Please think hard and twice before deciding to fly in the face of their recommendations.


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