DETERMINING PREGNANCY The first external sign of pregnancy you may see is a change in nipple color from pale to dark rose pink, and hair loss around the nipple area making them more prominent. These changes appear about three weeks after successful mating. Three or four weeks following conception it is often possible for a … Read more
BREEDING Before you decide to breed your cat, ask yourself several questions. The first is are you sure you will find good homes for the kittens? Except for the most sought-after purebred cats, permanent good homes are difficult to find. There is an extraordinary excess of cats (and dogs) in this country. More than twenty-seven … Read more
CRYPTORCHIDISM; (RETAINED TESTICLES) A cryptorchid (“hidden testicle”) cat has only one (unilateral cryptorchidism) or no (bilateral cryptorchidism) testicles descended into the scrotum. Males with these conditions should not be allowed to breed because the defect is usually inherited. The parents and siblings of these male cats should also be removed from the breeding pool as … Read more
MALE BIRTH CONTROL Castration (removal of the testes) is the traditional method employed for neutering (altering) male cats. Although castration renders a male cat sterile and unable to impregnate a female and is the socially responsible thing to do, the birth control aspect is of minor importance unless other neighborhood males are also neutered. (One … Read more
ACCIDENTAL BREEDING If your cat was bred accidentally, there are alternatives to having an unwanted litter. If you were planning to have your female spayed, as mentioned before, your veterinarian will usually go ahead with the surgery. Usually this is the best and safest step to take. Particularly in the early stages of pregnancy, surgery … Read more
PREVENTING PREGNANCY Because the estrous cycle shows a large amount of individual variation and since the onset of heat and breeding can be easily overlooked if your cat has free outdoor access, you must keep an unspayed female indoors and isolated from unneutered male cats to prevent pregnancy. Although several companies are working on products … Read more
Cat Pregnancy and Breeding Male (tom) and female (queen) cats usually reach puberty between six and twelve months of age, although some are not mature until fifteen months. The actual onset of sexual maturity and the time of first breeding vary greatly with the individual cat because these are influenced by many factors; among them … Read more
DRUGS YOU MIGHT HAVE AROUND THE HOUSE TRANQUILIZERS Tranquilizers are drugs that work on the brain in several different ways to modify behavior. They have legitimate uses in relieving anxiety and producing sedation, and have been helpful in some instances in changing undesirable behavior patterns. Veterinarians use tranquilizers most often to relieve the anxiety that … Read more
ADRENOCORTICAL STEROIDS Adrenocortical steroids (corticosteroids) include hormones produced by the adrenal glands and synthetic drugs similar to these natural substances. This group of drugs has a wide range of actions on the body, among them effects on fat, protein, and carbohydrate metabolism, water balance, salt balance, and cardiovascular, immune system, and kidney function. They are … Read more
ANTIBIOTICS Technically, antibiotics are chemical substances produced by microscopic organisms that interfere with the growth of other microorganisms. In practice, antibiotics include a large number of substances, many synthetically made, that are used primarily in the treatment of bacterial infections. Antibiotics are miracle drugs when properly used. They enable us to cure infections that in … Read more