A Michael Broad Blog
Cat cannibalism is nearly always a form of abnormal maternal behaviour. Most often it concerns the queen (breeding mother cat) consuming her young. Often it is the first-born kitten. Apparently, it occurs quite commonly, particularly in catteries. The definition of “cannibalism” is the eating of another animal of the same species for food. The …
Domestic cats give birth 2-3 times per year. As for the wild cats, it is normally once per year
Today, a month after the event, this story is still all over the news media. It is the story of five conjoined kittens born at an Arizona animal rescue: Little Whiskers Animal Rescue in Maricopa. They were connected by the skin of their belly and one had to lose a leg in order to …
I have to research this as I don’t have first hand experience and my research indicates that it is normal, although rare, for a cat to have one kitten. Cats can have between one and nineteen (!) kittens in a litter (see below). The average is four. There may be two or more reasons …
The average (and ideal) litter for a queen seems to be about four kittens. Robinson’s Genetics for Cat Breeders and Veterinarians tells us that ‘statistics kept on pedigree cats indicate that most breeds tend to produce litters of about this size’. The author makes an interesting observation which is why they used the word …
The question is a search term on Google i.e. not my wording, and is two questions rolled into one which I have reformulated: Which domestic cat has given birth to the largest litter of kittens? Which domestic cat was the most prolific in terms of giving birth to kittens? Both are listed in Guinness …
There are several possible reasons why a mother cat might eat her newborn kitten. I cover the reasons on this page.
Bearing in mind widespread spaying and neutering – surgical procedures to stop the procreation of unwanted cats – it would nice if there was a safe and effective cat birth control drug in 2019. But when I research the subject I see caution and uncertainty. I also see work in progress but no settled, …
