The first 2 months of 2024 have been exciting. My queens went into heat and Theodor seemed ready to become a father.
Scheduling matings and pregnancies is a challenging part of breeding. The breeder has to consider the health of the queens first of all. Too frequent pregnancies exploit the body. Too many heats between pregnancies extend the risk of Pyometra which is a womb infection. Queens can take contraceptive pills, or get hormone chips or take melatonine to have less heats between pregnancies but it still seems sometimes like gambling with risks.
Keeping a stud around females is another challenge.
Theodor, the Casanova
Since Theodor is quite young, I was waiting for him to show the signs that he is interested in mating. I didn’t need to wait long. Actually, he already tried mating Mia when he arrived to us at just 16 weeks of age but of course he had no clue then. Not to mention his size. Size matters 😏😂
He kept showing interest, so when the girls went into heat in this season, I let them deal with each other.
Theodors’s first attempts to mating were somewhat questionable. He tried and tried and he didn’t seem to find the correct position to execute the act. But he was extremely ambitious. He tried to accomplish his assigned project and worked on his skills 0-24 and 24/7. After a few weeks of practice, he finally managed to accomplish the task with Missie.
Unfortunately, due to the hormonal changes, he started to mark his territory (peed on my furniture and walls) as well. I didn’t want to separate him from the group, so he had to wear pants for a while, especially when we were not at home.
The mommies
Missie didn’t get pregnant last year, so I was very happy when I noticed the first signs of pregnancy at the beginning of February. I performed all possible tests on her last year, and she was healthy like a buffalo, but she just didn’t feel like becoming a mum then.
Mia is the opposite. She went into her first heat with just 8 months, and she had extreme intense heats. So, as soon as she was old enough to mate, I took her on a honey moon and she became pregnant immediately. This year, however, she wanted to have some more fun with Theodor and she waited with pregnancy until her 2nd heat.
Lilou is still young. I was planning to let her mature more and mate her later this year, but she went into her first heat extremely young, with just 6 months. Even younger than her mum did. Unfortunately, the more I wait with her, the more the risk for womb inflammation grows, so I had to revision my plans with her. She will be mated when she reaches the minimum age. And with that, Mia will become a grandmother 😄
The next steps
Plans change, but there is a benefit in everything. The spring and summer will be full of kittens but it is actually better for Theodor. Once all girls are pregnant, Theodor will get a break.
Being a stud around female cats is not easy. The hormones take over. Poor Theodor behaves like humans do when in love. He cannot think of anything else. He sits next to girls like a body guard, just looking at them, he follows them everywhere, he has no appetite, he is more focused on the playing cats than on the play. Sometimes, he walks up and down howling and, he tries to get what he wants even without permission (and gets slapped of course). Contraceptives will release him, so he can again focus on playing and enjoying food and cuddling.
It is also better for the kittens, as inactive studs are often the best babysitters. We will see how things go.
In any case, it is going to be an exciting time loaded with cuteness and challenges. 😍🐈🐈🐈🐈🐈🐈🐈🐈