What will these kittens look like?

[KittyJ]

I know! I would but my parents don't want to drive four hours away to get a cat! There are only cats in the north part of our state. My aunt is the one breeding the Siamese mix and supposed "ragdoll". I don't have the heart to tell her that the cat isn't pure. So I'm still going to adopt a kitten from the litter. She is going to give me the first pick of the litter so hopefully, at least one is pointed. Two would be great. I have seen a pointed kitten for adoption up north but, as I said, they aren't going to drive four or more hours for a cat. I would rather adopt a pointed kitten from a shelter but she's going to breed them.

K KittyJ i cant wait to see the pics !

I can't wait to post pictures!

 

[Maurey]

I don't have the heart to tell her that the cat isn't pure.

I'm fairly sure she'd have to know -- the fake papers had to come from somewhere. That, or she's at fault for not doing the bare minimum of research before buying a cat to breed, which, imo, is just as bad, given all the things that can go wrong, and the general feline overpopulation.

It's an unfortunate situation, regardless. Hopefully she'll neuter them after this litter. At least the kittens should all go to a good home.

 

[lutece]

I know! I would but my parents don't want to drive four hours away to get a cat! There are only cats in the north part of our state. My aunt is the one breeding the Siamese mix and supposed "ragdoll". I don't have the heart to tell her that the cat isn't pure. So I'm still going to adopt a kitten from the litter. She is going to give me the first pick of the litter so hopefully, at least one is pointed. Two would be great. I have seen a pointed kitten for adoption up north but, as I said, they aren't going to drive four or more hours for a cat. I would rather adopt a pointed kitten from a shelter but she's going to breed them.

Does the male (brown tabby longhair) belong to your aunt, too? Or does she just own the blue point female?

(by the way, "Siamese mix" isn't really accurate for most pointed cats, since the colorpoint gene is so widespread in the domestic cat gene pool at this time that most pointed cats don't actually have significant Siamese ancestry.)

 

[KittyJ]

Yes, they both belong to my aunt.

Yes, I know. She adopted the Siamese mix from a friend of hers. Her dad was a Siamese and her mother was a longhaired calico.

I'm fairly sure she'd have to know -- the fake papers had to come from somewhere. That, or she's at fault for not doing the bare minimum of research before buying a cat to breed, which, imo, is just as bad, given all the things that can go wrong, and the general feline overpopulation.

It's an unfortunate situation, regardless. Hopefully she'll neuter them after this litter. At least the kittens should all go to a good home.

I just don't think I can tell her. She'd be heartbroken. She didn't buy the cat to breed him, she just decided to breed them since she also had the Siamese mix. I'm sure that they'll be fixed after this litter. And, yes, they will go to good homes.

 

[lutece]

I really do understand your feelings here, and why you don't want to say anything to your aunt about the papers.

The main thing at this point is to do what you can so that this type of breeding doesn't go on for additional generations. Given that from your aunt's point of view, the kittens are "purebred Ragdoll" crossed with "lilac point Siamese mix," someone else might very well buy one of these kittens from your aunt... and then decide to breed it to another "Ragdoll" or "Siamese mix"... and then advertise and sell "Ragdoll x Siamese mix kittens" ... this is the sort of chain of events that leads to a lot of backyard breeders selling "Ragdoll mix" and "Siamese mix" kittens. Most backyard breeders are very well-meaning and nice people, who just don't know any better.

So even if you don't want to hurt your aunt's feelings about the paperwork for her male cat, maybe you can gently guide your aunt towards spaying and neutering her kittens before they are placed, since that's what responsible breeders do?

And do what you can to help guide her towards spaying and neutering her own cats after this litter?

 

[KittyJ]

She isn't going to sell them! Because the mother isn't pure anyway. She's just going to give them to friends and family.

I can try to encourage her to spay and neuter the kittens but I know she doesn't have a lot of money for that. Of course, I'll help to encourage her to spay and neuter the two she has. I think they could afford that. She does want to keep a female from the litter so they'll have to be fixed.

 

[Maurey]

FWIW, there are low cost neuter clinics around, as well as things like care credit (unsure if that applies to neutering, but worth looking into). Some pet insurance policies may cover neuters, as well, but that's very uncommon.

 

[KittyJ]

Yes, I have looked into low-cost spay and neuter. The closest is two hours away. I don't know if the cats could handle driving two hours there and two hours back but I'll mention it when the time comes.

 

[lutece]

She isn't going to sell them! Because the mother isn't pure anyway. She's just going to give them to friends and family.

I can try to encourage her to spay and neuter the kittens but I know she doesn't have a lot of money for that. Of course, I'll help to encourage her to spay and neuter the two she has. I think they could afford that. She does want to keep a female from the litter so they'll have to be fixed.

Believe me, I'm not trying to give you (or your aunt) a hard time! It's obvious that you want to do the right thing, and I'm sure your aunt is a nice and caring person. We all do the best we can.

When she gives these kittens away to family and friends, though, what's to say that some friend or family member won't do the same thing as she did... "now that I have this lovely Ragdoll x Siamese mix, I might as well breed it and have a litter..."

So, whatever you can do to help get the kittens neutered / spayed is a plus... such as finding out about neuter / spay clinics, putting out the word among the friends and family that the kittens ought to be spayed / neutered, etc.

 

[KittyJ]

Oh, no! Of course, you aren't! I'm sorry if you thought that I thought you were!

We'll cross that bridge when we get there? I'll see what I can do about the spay and neuter.

 

[Willowy]

Raising kittens costs WAY more than spay/neuter, so if she's not doing well financially I'm kind of worried about the babies :/.

My mom and I once took a van full of 13 cats to a low-cost spay/neuter clinic about 3 hours away and everyone was fine. So as long as you can get a ride that should be ok.

 

[KittyJ]

They are doing fine financially! The kittens can be spayed and neutered.

 

[lutece]

My mom and I once took a van full of 13 cats to a low-cost spay/neuter clinic about 3 hours away and everyone was fine. So as long as you can get a ride that should be ok.

I agree, two hours isn't bad at all, as long as someone is willing to drive. In fact, if the low cost clinic is a long drive from your area, it would be probably easier for everyone involved if the kittens and mom all went together before the kittens were placed, rather than waiting for the kittens to go to their new homes first.

 

[KittyJ]

Some cats do good in the car, some don't. We'll just have to wait and see. I know the DLH would do great. They drove, roughly, six hours away to get him.

I picked up a stray in town and drive about 20 minutes home, and she cried the whole time.

 

[lutece]

Most kittens will cry for a bit and then settle down and go to sleep. A 20 minute drive can sometimes be more harrowing than a 2 hour drive!

 

[KittyJ]

Okay. Maybe she could get the mother and kittens used to driving in the car. I heard of a cat who almost died because he/she was so scared of being on the road.

 

[lutece]

Socializing kittens to be accustomed to car trips is a great thing to do when you are raising a litter. Most cats have to ride in the car sometimes and it's good if kittens get exposed to all kinds of experiences. She'll need to take them to the vet for their kitten checkups and shots, anyway.

 

[KittyJ]

Yepper-doddle. I think the same places I looked at do vaccinations, too.

 

[cataholic07]

She should spay/neuter the kittens and then just have people pay for it or at least some of it if money isn't an issue for her. This way they get fixed. And ensure you tell her that mom isn't a purebred nor is dad anything but a DLH, hopefully that will help solidify her spaying/neutering them. Are you sure the girl carries the longhair gene? Was she genetically tested?

 

[KittyJ]

She know that the mother is not pure. And, yes, we are sure that she carries the longhaired gene.

If she wants to spay and neuter, I'm sure that they can pay for it, if not, I can or her parents can, if need be. We are not a poor family. There will be no need for TNR or "go fund me".