Safe Number Of Pregnancies

[Miu]

Hi!
This has been my concern regarding breeders in our city. How many times for a queen must she give birth to maintain ethical breeding? Also, at what age do these queens need to retire and be spayed? Since I've seen some cats doing 3 pregnancies straight and it's clearly concerning me and their owners seem to not mind.

 

[lutece]

There is no rule of thumb about number of litters or years to breed a female cat. Each cat is different. An ethical breeder pays close attention to the needs of each cat.

Most female cats do pretty well when bred once per year. Some cats cycle often and lose condition between litters, but do very well when pregnant and nursing; these cats may need to be bred as frequently as twice a year to maintain good health. Repeated cycling can be very hard on a cat and increase the risk of pyometra (uterine infection), so it isn't healthy for cats to wait too long between pregnancies if they are cycling very frequently. Other cats aren't really cut out to be mothers and their bodies have trouble with the stress of pregnancy and nursing; these cats should be bred less frequently or simply spayed.

As far as how many years to breed a female cat before spaying and retiring her, it really depends if she is maintaining good health and condition as a whole cat. As long as she's a healthy robust cat that does well during pregnancy and nursing, there isn't a specific age when she has to be retired. I have known some female cats that continued to have litters past the age of 10 and were still very healthy and happy. Others don't do as well with pregnancy and nursing, and are better off spayed when young.

 

[StefanZ]

Yes. There is also the aspect you dont want an individual give too big inpression on the breed.
If the great majority of kittens become neutered pets it doesnt matter much.

But if a big part are used in further breeding it counts.

Matador breeding is never good.