Hi Lucy. Welcome to TDK. Right now it's the middle of the wee early morning night hours here on the western side of the Atlantic puddle but in about three hours there will be lots more folks awake and online. And some of our TDKers from Down Under will be checking in at what is the end of their work day. So be patient and lots more folks will come online to help. Just keep this thread bumped for them to see.
As to how to put up a profile pic, sorry, I haven't a clue! Others can help with that.
SPA visit is our polite way of mentioning the trip to the vet for a cat to be spayed, if female, and neutered, if male.
Some of VERY important things to consider before breeding Mia and Marley:
* Breeding Mia too young will be damaging to her health; she will be physically mature enough to get pregnant and bear kittens months before she is fully grown; it's rather like having a very young teenager get pregnant long before physically and emotionally mature
* With that in mind, how do you plan to avoid them breeding until they are older; trust me, they both can and will do the intimate kitty tango by the time they are no more than about 5 months old
* Have you thought through a valid plan for finding their offspring homes? No matter how appealing it is to have kittens from these two, it would not be fair to the kittens if you are not sure you can provide good, loving, safe, well provided for homes for each kitten, no matter how big the litter. I know a cat of ours we had when I was a child had a litter of 7 kittens!
* If you have trouble finding homes for all the kittens from the at least one litter you hope to breed, what is your back-up plan? Are you willing to keep some or all of them if need be? Do you have room? Can you afford the expense? Do you have both the time and will to keep up with all the extra cleaning and work keeping house with that many more cats?
* Are there any legal restrictions in your community regarding being an animal breeder?
* Have you spoken with your veterinarian about your breeding plans? Do you have a good relationship with him/her? Can you afford the expense of extra vet bills related to breeding a litter of kittens and giving them and/or Mia any needed vet care?
* Even with Mia there to be the mom cat caring for her brood once she is a momma cat, realize that often a first time momma cat needs help feeding her kittens; young momma cats often don't make enough milk and the kittens must be given supplemental feedings by bottle every few hours around the clock; and I do mean every few hours -- two to four hours apart -- around the clock day and night. Will you be able to do that?
I'm not trying to tell you not to breed Mia and Marley. But I do highly urge you to think through all such aspects first and to do so quite quite soon, as you will need either to have Mia and Marley spayed/neutered soon or keep them separated until they are truly ready to breed. And, trust me, a female cat in heat is loud and cranky and miserable. And an un-neutered male will start scent marking spraying your home. And that is nasty smelling. And once he starts spraying he will keep it up even if you later have him neutered.
I realize I'm sounding very dire and negative. I don't mean to be. But my family went through this years ago when I was young with some cats we had. We didn't know much about proper cat care yet at that time and learned some of these lessons the hard way, both for us and the cats!
Posted 2 years ago by Marnet #
