Hey!
Our cat had five cubs on May 28 and now I have some questions:
Our cat is spotted cat (white, gray, yellow) and we think the male is all black. Two of the cubs are black with white paws, two are white with black and yellow spots and one is white with gray and yellow spots; can you know by color who are females resp. males?
We have planned to castrate her and the one of the pups we keep ourselves at the same time, but have heard that they must be eight to ten months before that, can we put our female on birth control pills for that long?
How soon after birth do you have to start with that?
What does it cost?
Does she have to go to the vet and be examined first?
I also wonder if you can guess her age according to the number of cubs she had, she came to us as an adult outdoor cat so we do not know how old she is.
Finally, I wonder what is best to keep, female or male?
As I said, we will castrate both the mother and the young we keep, but is there any “rule” about female – female resp. female – male thriving best together?
Hi Mandy!
It sounds as if your female has a color that in “cat language” is called a blue turtle and white.
It is almost only females that are turtle-colored – the few males that are born with this color have a chromosome defect and are usually sterile.
Those of the cubs that are white with black and yellow spots resp. whites with gray and yellow spots should therefore also be females.
However, the black and whites can be of any gender. If you lift the tail and look, the females have two openings that sit close to each other, while the males have a slightly longer distance.
You can put the female on birth control pills while waiting for the kitty you keep to be old enough to be neutered.
The pills cost about $10 to $15 for one year of consumption and are prescribed by a veterinarian.
No examination before is usually done, so it is enough to call the vet.
If the female cat is allowed to go out, you should insert the contraceptive pill as soon as possible, otherwise there is a risk that she will run again and become pregnant again.
It is not possible to guess how old your female cat is based on the number of cubs she had. Some suggest that a young female has fewer pups in the litter while others say that they get more.
On the other hand, you can sometimes see that an old female gets fewer and fewer pups in the litters every year, but even really old females can have a litter with many pups in it.
Since you also intend to neuter the kitten you will keep, gender does not matter. There is no rule that it would be better with female + female or male + male, possibly when it comes to adult unneutered cats but then it is the opposite, two cats of the same sex can start arguing about ranking.