Superfecundity

 

Superfecundity

I was reading ‘The Tale of “Little One” on ‘My Threadbear Life’ and wondered if the pretty little kitten that’s clawing his way into Julie’s heart was an example or a result of superfecundity. He looks like a Siamese, but his litter sister is black and white like their mother. The mother was dumped when pregnant and left to fend for herself.

Female cats (queens) on heat can mate with several different tom cats. A calling queen attracts all the local toms who line up to court her. If you have a pedigree queen who escapes when calling, which she will attempt to do because the urge to mate is  so strong, your heart drops when she stops calling, for by then she has achieved her end and is pregnant. This happened twice with our first Burmese, Alicat.

Children and cat breeding are not a natural partnership. Children do not appreciate the importance of shutting doors before the cat escapes, rather than after, until it’s too late. Even so, as I watched Ali streak across the grass with her beau, I couldn’t help admiring the grace and beauty of the pair as they disappeared to a hidden boudoir.

The first accidental mating produced a beautiful black cat with enormous yellow eyes. The second brought forth two gorgeous tabbies. Thereafter, we redoubled our efforts to contain our two entire queens and shortly afterwards ended our brief foray into cat breeding. We were all able to relax then and Ali and Sweet Pea lived on in peace for many years.  

If a female mates with many different males she can give birth to several kittens whose only common relative is their mother. In effect, they are half-siblings.

Females can be fertile as early as four months, with their first season in the first spring after they’re born. Males can also mature early, but most are sexually mature around eight or nine months. The queens may have two or three litters a year, maybe more, with each litter producing an average of four kittens. Three litters of four gives twelve kittens who will all go on to breed if not neutered. The numbers rise exponentially and soon there is a feral population of cats roaming the streets, breeding, fighting, dying of preventable diseases.

People who say that it’s ‘only natural’ to allow cats to breed at will show a careless disregard for life. Many things are ‘only natural’, like malaria or starvation but are not to be casually accepted with a shrug. Fortunately, there are many good people in the world who volunteer to capture, treat, neuter and release feral cats. Trap-Neuter-Release is effective only if the sterilisation rate is as near 100% as possible.

The same applies to dogs.