# British Shorthair Is In Heat



## pipje

My British Shorthair (Pip)will be a year old in about 2 weeks and she.. is in heat! 

She has a pedigree and is allowed to be bred. This will be my first time breeding (have had kittens from our 'normal' cat though) and I want to do it right. From the information I've read, I would have to register a cattery, be a member of an organization (will probably join the same one where Pip's pedigree is from), go for a number of tests (HCM, FeLV, FIV and PKD) etc.etc.etc. 

I have a question about the actual breeding age. I have not seen if there is an official age/weight for breeding? As mentioned, Pip is almost a year old and she is 3.5kg. In my opinion, she is still too small/young and I would prefer to wait until after the summer. However, I have also read that if the cat isn't bred after 2 subsequent cycles, this might cause problems with her ovaries. The cat pill is also said not to be a safe option. 

Can anyone give their opinions on this (as well as information regarding the breeding age/weight for British Shorthairs) ?


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## kelzcats

A year for Bsh is a good age as long as she is fit and healthy there is no official age just dont breed before a year,she should be fine,dont let her call too much as she will start to lose weight,and yes i can also cause problems with the overies.You will need to know her blood group because of neonatal isoerythrolysis.Do you have her pink slip? just because she has a pedigree doesn't mean she is gccf reg active?


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## pipje

Thanks for your quick reply!

I have a contract between the breeder and myself that she is allowed to be bred. I'm based in The Netherlands and I think the rules are different here (no pink slip thing?).

You're right about the blood group thing. I completely forgot to list it down.

I would really prefer not to breed her right now as we have an intercontinental 2-week holiday (getting married!) in May so it's definitely not a good time.

I've attached pictures so that you have a better idea on her size (she is probably the same size as my no-breed cat who is already 6.5 years old but my older cat is on the smaller side). These pictures were taken about a month ago.



















Diet: They eat a combination of wet (either raw or Bozita. Bozita is the only one which doesn't iritate my older's cat's stomach) and dry (mostly Orijen..maybe 20% Royal Canin kitten for variety). Healthwise, she's good. No problems, active (but not too active), alert and affectionate.


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## Izzie

Sounds to me like you are not quite ready to breed yet as it appears you still have things you need to sort out / learn.

You can't leave this girl calling without mating for too long, as it may endanger her health, so you might want to consider spaying this one, and getting a breeding queen later when you are a bit better prepared.

She is a stunning kittie though


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## kelzcats

Izzie said:


> Sounds to me like you are not quite ready to breed yet as it appears you still have things you need to sort out / learn.
> 
> You can't leave this girl calling without mating for too long, as it may endanger her health, so you might want to consider spaying this one, and getting a breeding queen later when you are a bit better prepared.
> 
> She is a stunning kittie though


Just what i was thinking!


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## kelzcats

Your own life and needs go out the window when breeding, you may want to re-consider breeding it's a big commitment.


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## pipje

I understand the need to do things 'properly'. I am quite picky about that as well. However, I do think everyone starts somewhere and everyone has some kind of life (perhaps children or a job or heck, even cleaning house!). 

I'll have to think about it. Spaying her is also a big decision as it is irreversible. We are not planning to have a large cattery. At most, perhaps 2 females and possibly one beautiful red BSH in the future but it is more likely that we will stay with just this one female for the next 2 years. I have been researching for over a year now (sporadically) and I'm going to do more research now!


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## notsure

I think your biggest issue here is the timing - your girl has started calling and will most likely continue to do so every 3-4 weeks, so unless you plan to allow her to call a fair few times (which is dangerous for her health), then you are going to have to mate her in the next few months which isn't good with the timing of your planned honeymoon.

If you did have to mate her, would you be prepared to put off your honeymoon until after the kittens have left home (no earlier than 13 weeks) as if you are unlucky and she calls frequently, mating her on her 3rd or 4th call would have you expecting kittens in mid to late May. 

I would recommend that you take a read through some of the stories of the many experiences from breeders on this forum to make sure that you fully understand and are ready for the commitment that it takes to do it right (my reading has led me to conclude that everything else fits around the breeding rather than it fitting around everything else). 

Also make sure you understand the worst case scenario for every situation - ie needing kittens delivered by c-section, having to raise them by hand etc, and fully understand the financial, emotional & time commitments for each case. If you're lucky you won't ever have to rely on that knowledge but if you do at least you understand what you are letting yourself in for.

It may be that you are actually ready for the commitment in which case good luck to you, if not then get your girl neutered sooner rather than later, enjoy your wedding & honeymoon and then when the time is right, start looking for another girl to start your breeding program with.


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## OrientalSlave

Her breeder should be able to help you with nearly all of this.

What are you planning to do with your cats when you are on honeymoon? It might be something that would be OK if she was in kitten - not near to giving birth, but early to mid pregnancy.

Tests - in the UK the FIV / FeLV have to be done in the 24 hours before the queen goes to stud, if it's the same where you live then those are not an issue at present, but you can get her gene tested for PKD if there is a need. Again, in the UK if she came from lines demonstrated to be clear (both parents gene tested for example) there wouldn't be a need. And you can probably also deal with the HCM tests now. 

You can also deal with all the administrative stuff. Again in the UK with the GCCF one doesn't have to belong to register a kitten - nor even have a prefix. It costs more if you don't have a prefix and the kitten gets this years administrative prefix plus your choosen name. However you need to find out what the process in your country is. Do you *have* to join? Do you *have* to register a prefix / suffix? How long does this take?


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## lizward

You could consider using Ovarid to delay things. It isn't usually recommended for a maiden queen but I used to use it on a regular basis and I know other breeders who did too without problems. Or, if you are able to leave the cat at home or with a friend while you are away, just make sure you don't take her to stud until April and you will be OK. The main thing is that you need to be around when the kittens are born, you don't have to be there for the whole pregnancy.

Liz


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## pipje

Thanks for your replies. I am in contact with a good breeder who speaks English (the one where I got Pip from cannot speak English and is not handy with the computer at all) and she says to wait til Pip is at least 15 months old (better if she were 2 years old). I will find out how she gets her cats to wait. 

Unfortunately, the trip in May can't be postponed as that is our wedding. Besides the fact that we've paid for most of it, there's also the question of guests flying in from all over the world for this so cannot do that to them! The cats will be staying in our house during the 2 weeks we are away and the cat nanny will drop by twice a day. We tried this for the first time last year and it went exceedingly well. I don't really trust leaving the cats with family or friends (other than the fact that the cats don't like either)as I know they will leave their windows and doors open (summer after all) and I know they think we spoil our cats (because of the food/litter) or that we abuse them because we don't let them out I find that having a cat nanny is more.. trustworthy on the whole. 

Probably the earliest and best time she could get mated would be at the very beginning of April. This would be her 3rd, possibly 4th call which might be too many times. Will have to see what the breeder says. Also possible that she won't call as I have heard of cats who go in heat only a few times a year. If she mates early April, she would give birth early June.


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## pipje

I wrote a post earlier this morning but it didn't appear for some reason or other. Hmm.

In short:

I am in contact with a good breeder now with the most beautiful cats (Pip's breeder doesn't speak English and is totally not handy with the computer) and she says to wait til Pip is at least 15 months old-preferably 2 years. I have asked her how she does it and will probably follow what she says. 

For us, the earliest ideal time to breed Pip is early April. This way she will give birth in June and if need be, I can handfeed the kittens and I also have the whole of August off. We cannot possibly cancel the wedding (it's not the honeymoon) as it's been paid for (mostly) and because our guests are making the effort to fly in from many different countries. Don't think we can ask them to cancel their tickets at this point hahaha. They would probably kill us 

During the 2 weeks we're away, there will be a cat nanny dropping in twice a day to feed and play with the cats. We tried this for the first time last year and it worked wonderfully.


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## notsure

Good to hear that you have found a breeder to mentor you, amoung other things they will be able to help you through any paperwork required by the body responsible for registration in your country, and to find the most approriate stud for your girl.

Hope everything goes well with your plans, and that we get to see kitten pics later in the year


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## Taylorbaby

if she is calling now, you cant wait until 15 months 2years of age to mate her as she can become very very ill, what reason is there to wait until this age?? If she wasnt calling, then you just wait, or if she was tiny (then I wouldnt mate her anyway and british studs are MASSIVE and prone to c-sections anyway - big heads!) there isnt any reason to really wait as long as she is over 10 months of age, had a few calls, and a nice size, mature for her age. if that is in place then go for it. You cant leave a girl to call and call for too long, so maybe have a think, breeders dont get holidays! Its all about the cats!


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## pipje

It's been pretty much decided that we will breed Pip in April. The breeder says that this is basically a choice between 2 negative things but it should be fine. Very tempted to get the pill as Pip is not a quiet caller (my old cat, while she did call and was also annoying, was never quite this bad! ). In any event, there will 2 more calls at most before she can be bred. My vet also says this is not a big deal.

Have also found a nice stud for her and am discussing details like pedigree/faults/plusses etc. with the breeder now. Until then, I will just spend my time registering with the feline federation, cattery name, various tests and so on. Quite excited about the whole process

Here are some pictures of my girl (can you tell me if you see major faults in her?):





































Size in comparison to my 6.5 year old no-breed female:


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## OrientalSlave

She looks nice in the photos, but it's not possible to assess a cat other than very generally without handling it. Has she been shown?


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## pipje

No, she has not been shown. My breeder (that is, the one I got Pip from) told me that no showing allowed because it's very stressful etc. but then just earlier today, I went to check my contract and it looks like I AM allowed to show her after all.


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## OrientalSlave

Personally i would show her at least once, to get the judges opinions. Showing can be stressful, but the best show cats really enjoy it - they like the fuss they get. However you can't show her when she's pregnant, or for 13 weeks after they are born which can make fitting shows in quite hard. 

If you plan showing her, she needs to be used to travelling otherwise it really will be stressful for both of you. Unfortunately most of the time our cats travel it's to the vets and something nasty happens there. I used to take mine on holiday with me so I used to get them used to travelling bit by bit, always with treats when we got home.


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## Taylorbaby

pipje said:


> It's been pretty much decided that we will breed Pip in April. The breeder says that this is basically a choice between 2 negative things but it should be fine. Very tempted to get the pill as Pip is not a quiet caller (my old cat, while she did call and was also annoying, was never quite this bad! ). In any event, there will 2 more calls at most before she can be bred. My vet also says this is not a big deal.
> 
> Have also found a nice stud for her and am discussing details like pedigree/faults/plusses etc. with the breeder now. Until then, I will just spend my time registering with the feline federation, cattery name, various tests and so on. Quite excited about the whole process
> 
> Here are some pictures of my girl (can you tell me if you see major faults in her?):
> 
> 
> 
> pipje said:
> 
> 
> 
> No, she has not been shown. My breeder (that is, the one I got Pip from) told me that no showing allowed because it's very stressful etc. but then just earlier today, I went to check my contract and it looks like I AM allowed to show her after all.
> 
> 
> 
> people cant tell you faults over the internet, you need to go to a show, or ask her breeder your mentor, but you have to show or how do you know what you are producing?? showing isnt actually that stressful, depends on the cat, they spend the day in a crate basically, so its the car jounrey, crate, judge holding them, it isnt like they are being thrown about or put in with cats they dont know etc! So Id show her first
> 
> and id 100% not give her any form on pill, esp if she hasnt had a litter before.
Click to expand...


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## pipje

Very excited. Have registered our cattery, applied to be a member of the feline organisation plus registered for a show in April If we get a go from the show people to breed Pip, we'll get her mated the next time she calls (after the show). Breeder says that Pip has somewhat large ears (but that this is also a common problem with BSHs) so would most likely need a stud with small ears. 

Thanks for your information.


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## Nina Nikita

Hello

My lovely one year old British Blue cat (female) will be in heat soon. 
We live in Berlin, Germany. We are looking for a pedigree British Blue male cat to breed her. 
She is pedigree, and has all papers that notify her as one. 
If you have a Pedigree Male British Blue cat, and would like to breed it with ours. 
Please let us know. Thank you.


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## pipje

Hi Nina, 

You should contact the british shorthair club attached to your cat club (that is where her pedigree is from). They usually have a list of male British Shorthairs who are allowed to be bred. Then, it's up to you to contact the one whom you think is the most suitable and see if they are willing to breed with you or not


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## spid

Hi NIna,

Does her paperwork state that she is on the active register? If GCCF this would say 'progeny not for registering' or something like that if she wasn't. That would mean she would be sold as a pet not for breeding. Did you breeder sell her to you knowing that you wanted to breed form her? If so, then she is the right person to go to to make sure that you end up getting the best stud for you girl, as she will be able to advise you on lines, genetics etc (to make sure the stud isn't too closely related to your girl etc). If not, then I'm afraid you are barking up the wrong tree. Most reputable breeders won't allow a non- active queen to go to their stud - it's against the guidelines set done by the various registries. 

Most of the people on here live in the UK - so you might want to find a German forum to ask on.


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## kelzcats

Taylorbaby said:


> if she is calling now, you cant wait until 15 months 2years of age to mate her as she can become very very ill, what reason is there to wait until this age?? If she wasnt calling, then you just wait, or if she was tiny (then I wouldnt mate her anyway and british studs are MASSIVE and prone to c-sections anyway - big heads!) there isnt any reason to really wait as long as she is over 10 months of age, had a few calls, and a nice size, mature for her age. if that is in place then go for it. You cant leave a girl to call and call for too long, so maybe have a think, breeders dont get holidays! Its all about the cats!


I agree with everything you have said apart from bsh being prone to c-sections because of big heads....this has never been the case for me and i have been breeding for 6 years. The kittens heads are not that big in comparison to the body.

My boy is more then 7kg massive and my girls half that weight and have always been fine.


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## alisondalziel

Sections are often needed if the queen is on the small size.


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## kelzcats

alisondalziel said:


> Sections are often needed if the queen is on the small size.


Yes i agree totaly but i wouldn't say the bsh kitten has a overly large head unlike the persian.....

Sections can apply to any breed i wouldn't say it's more common in bsh breed because of the head size dont you agree you being a bsh breeder?


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## we love bsh's

Touch wood..iv not had no c sections yet.

And one kitten was 127g.This was with a first time mum.


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