Feline C-sections

Birth by cesarean section, or C-section, is common among women but not so common among cats, although sometimes a difficult birth does require a vet to anesthetize a mother and deliver kittens by incision. This does not harm the kittens, but it does mean the kittens will be temporarily motherless, since the mother has to recover from anesthesia.

The surgery tends to throw her maternal hormones off balance, which means she may be unwilling to nurse the kittens, pulling away from them as they try to grab hold and suckle. Usually she comes around and allows them to nurse, but in some cases she never does, meaning the kittens have to be hand-fed or fostered out to another nursing cat.

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Orientals, in general

These breeds have a distinctive look: a long, slender body, long legs, a long narrow tail, a wedge-shaped face, fairly large ears and (often) a fairly long neck in short, traits you associate with the Siamese. They are shorthaired but distinctive enough to be considered as a separate group.

Think of the stout-bodied, round-headed, round-eyed, snub-nosed Persians as one cat extreme and the lanky, wedge-headed, slant eyed Siamese as the other. In the middle are the moderate-bodied, moderate-headed and moderate eyed shorthairs. However, as you’ll see in the descriptions of the longhairs, many of those breeds have Siamese/Oriental ancestry.

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Pixie-bobs

Felis catus) breed with the wild American bobcat (Lynx rufus)? The answer is a definite “maybe,” and fans of the Pixie-bob breed believe that their lovable six-toed, bob-tailed pets are descended from Pixie, the offspring of a cat and bobcat in the Pacific Northwest. Only one of the cat fancier associations The International Cat Association (TICA) has recognized the breed so far, and a number of people believe the Pixie-bob just happens to look like a cat-bobcat hybrid.

Whether or not they truly carry bobcat genes, Pixie-bobs are gaining in popularity, impressing owners with not only their size (not as large as a bobcat, but still quite large) but also their willingness to ride in the car, walk on a leash, even learn to fetch. These big, active cats have a future, whatever their ancestry and whatever the cat associations may think of them.

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Cannibal moms

mother cat eats the afterbirth. She also eats any stillborn kittens. This offends our human sensibilities, but there is some logic to it: the kitten is already dead, so by eating it she is using it as nourishment both for herself and for the surviving kittens. Rarely, a highly nervous female may devour her own kittens, especially if it is her first litter. Cat breeders make a note of such females and do not breed them again.

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California Spangled

house cat, specifically a spotted wild look. California Spangleds have been available only since 1986, though they are already acquiring a reputation as pleasant, human-loving pets. The name “Spangled” seems an odd choice, frankly, since the breed is only found in muted grays and browns.

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The clean-up

People who have witnessed the birth of kittens admit that it isn’t pretty. For one thing, there are no midwives or nurses available, so the mom is doing all the work herself—which includes licking up the afterbirth and cleansing herself thoroughly. The kittens themselves get licked over thoroughly, not just to clean them but to stimulate their breathing. Not attractive to watch, but it’s all part of the miracle of birth and, after all, this is how your cat came into being.

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Chartreux

You might guess from the name that this is a French breed. The Chartreux does have a long history in that country, including being known as the “cat of France” in the 1700s, and was bred even earlier than that by monks of the Carthusian order. (Hence the name; French Carthusian monks were well known for their liqueur called Chartreuse.)

This cat had virtually disappeared by the end of World War II but has experienced a kind of comeback, and rightly so, for this blue (gray, that is) cat with golden eyes and a sweet disposition deserves to be better known. As seems to be true of the larger breeds, this one is fairly quiet.

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Snowshoe

American Shorthair and you get this lovely creature with light blue eyes and white paws, from which the name is derived. Snowshoes are stockier than their Siamese ancestors, and also less vocal, but they make affectionate and active pets.

This very new breed is still rare, but will no doubt catch on with people looking for an attractive and pleasant companion. So far the breed has not been recognized by most of the cat associations.

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Could we have some privacy?

mother cat as she gives birth, but the mother cat doesn’t want or need supervision, and too much intrusion can disturb her to the point where she relocates herself and the kittens. In a few cases, she may get so rattled that she will eat her own kittens.

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European Shorthair

American Shorthair is the “generic cat” of the United States, the European Shorthair is what most Europeans think of as the typical household pet or street cat. These cats are obviously related because the American Shorthairs are descendants of the cats brought over by European colonists.

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It’s called “queening”

female cat—technically, a queen cat—is quite capable of giving birth all by herself, as is true of most animals. Normally she seeks out a dark, secluded place with adequate warmth. The kittens may arrive headfirst or “breech birth”—either is perfectly fine. The mother severs the umbilical cords with her teeth. The kittens arrive one at a time, not all at once, and there are cases when the mother ceases labor, moves the kittens who have already been born to a new spot, then recommences labor in that spot. It’s possible that the kittens in a litter can be born hours apart—or even days.

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Munchkin

general idea, but not the whole story, of this cat: short, but not a real dwarf, for the only thing dwarf about the Munchkin is the leg bones. Essentially this cat is normal sized but with short legs, the result of a genetic mutation.

There is a lot of controversy about whether it is healthy (or ethical) to deliberately breed such cats, and for that reason the cat fancier associations have been slow to recognize this breed. Yet the Munchkins have their fans, not only because of their distinctive look but also because they are so playful and inquisitive. There are both longhaired and shorthaired Munchkins.

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American Bobtail

Japanese Bobtail has been around for ages, the American Bobtail is a fairly new breed. The parent cat for the breed was a mutation, a bobtailed kitten that an Iowa couple found at a Native American reservation in Arizona.

American Bobtails are stout-bodied cats, with a mottled coat that, along with their short tails, resembles that of the bobcats of the North American woodlands. Unlike the stubby tail of the bobcat, however, American Bobtails have a bushy plume to their tails.

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Dual pregnancy?

Yes, really: a female cat can carry more than one litter. It doesn’t happen in humans, but it sure happens in cats. Here’s the sequence: in rare cases, a female cat goes into heat even though she is already pregnant. (It’s called superfetation.) When she gives birth to the first litter, sometimes the second litter is born at the same time—smaller and less developed, naturally, and often incapable of surviving.

But the second litter may remain inside and be born after the usual amount of time, thus producing both a teat shortage and a milk shortage, since the first litter of kittens is still nursing. Luckily, sometimes another mother cat will “loan out” her teats and milk to the superfluous babies.

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Bengal

Breeds of spotted cats have become popular in recent years, among them the Bengal, which originated from crossbreeding in the 1980s. Supposedly among the Bengal’s ancestors were some street cats of India, so the name Bengal is at least fairly accurate. Bengals resemble wildcats and are fairly large. The very attractive Snow Bengals are blue-eyed and white, with black spots or marbling.

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Abortion

female pet is pregnant, and the morning-after drug ECP can only be used within the first forty hours after mating.

A veterinarian can inject the female with prostaglandin, which usually induces abortion, and it can be done up to forty days after the cat has mated. This isn’t done often because it makes cats sick, and some have died after the injection.

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La Perm

That’s perm as in permanent wave, which is what these cats appear to have. While the American Wirehair has a wavy but somewhat stiff coat, the fur of La Perm is curly but soft. (As with the Wirehair, a genetic mutation caused this.)

The curly hair extends only up to the neck; the hair on the head looks like that of an American Shorthair. (This looks either odd or appealing, depending on your point of view.) Curiously, La Perm kittens are often bald at birth, but in a few weeks they begin growing their curly coats.

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American Wirehair

kitten born in an American Shorthair litter.

The Wirehairs have proved easy to breed, as wire-haired kittens will be born to a mating of a Wirehair with an ordinary Shorthair. Like the American Shorthair, the Wirehair is found in all colors and patterns and has a distinctive trait—a wiry, wavy coat.

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The morning-after drug

female, even if kept indoors all the time, may manage to get loose and get pregnant. (Conversely, amorous tomcats can be clever and persistent in making their way to a female in heat.) In the situation where a female has mated and the owner does not want her to have kittens, the drug estradiol cypionate (ECP) can be administered within forty hours after mating.

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Manx

The name Manx means “from the isle of Man,” Man being in the sea between Great Britain and Ireland. The Manx people are rather fond of their distinctive tailless native breed, though no one knows for sure where or how the breed first originated. (One colorful legend has it that the cat was late in getting to Noah’s ark, and the tail was cut off as the door shut.)

Manx cats are found as completely tailless (“rumpies”), with a small stubb (“stumpies”) or with a sort of halftail (“longies”), but cat shows are limited to include only rumpies, the truly tailless variety. Manx are agreeable and active pets, delighting their owners with their “bunny-hop” gait, the result of their having back legs that are longer than their front legs.

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Who’s the daddy?

English, a female cat in heat can become pregnant by more than one tomcat at one time. That is, a litter of six kittens might have the same father—or different fathers.

Tomcats are not even remotely monogamous, but neither are females, and a female cat in heat has no qualms about being mounted by more than one male, even on the same day. If you understand superfecundation, you will have a better understanding of how kittens in the same litter can look so different.

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Russian Blue

It really did originate in Russia, and was for a while known as the Archangel Blue, after the Russian port city of Archangel. Russian traders brought them to Britain in the 1800s, and no doubt these cats were pleased to live in a locale warmer than Russia (not that Britain is exactly balmy).

The “blue” is, of course, a bluish gray, and Russian Blues give the impression of being deep plush all over with thick fur standing out from the body. These green-eyed cats are shy and quiet and make few demands on their owners.

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Korat

good luck gift at your wedding. This occurred often in the province of Korat in Thailand, which lent its name to this naturally occurring breed.

The Korat is a quiet breed, adapting easily to indoor life and avoiding noisy situations whenever possible. This cat seems to like most humans but not other cats, so the Korat owner is wise to maintain a one-cat household.

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Expectant mom

mating.

This isn’t as certain a sign as feeling the lower abdomen to see if any tiny fetuses are present. Radiography, which is harmless to the mother and the kittens, gives a very accurate picture of how many kittens are in a litter. At about fifty-five days after conception, a kitten’s entire skeleton is visible.

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Abyssinian

Abyssinia was the old name for Ethiopia in north-eastern Africa. Soldiers returning from there to Britain in the 1860s brought back some of these handsome cats, which are probably a naturally occurring breed in Africa.

Whether these were the descendants of the ancient Egyptians’ temple cats (as the story goes) can’t be determined, but they do resemble paintings of them. Abyssinians are usually a rich golden brown, with a darker brown “ticking” that gives the coat a plush appearance. These playful cats usually attach themselves to one special person in the home.

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