MANAGING THE BREEDING QUEEN AND LITTER:

We often get questions asking to explain the way we manage our breeding females.  The first step is to realistically assess the space you have available.  Breeding Queens will need a quiet private space to be just prior to delivery.  She will want seclusion during the early weeks of her post natal period.  Failure to give her this privacy can result in her becoming agitated and harming the kittens.

Birthing Area - Each female will need this private space.  It is possible that all of your Queens may be delivering very close together.  This means you must have facilities to separate each Queen in an appropriate area where she and her litter will spend at least 2-4 weeks.  They will need room for a litter box, food and water, a nesting box and space for mom to get away from the babies if she wants to.  My absolute MINIMUM area is 3x3x3.  For Savannah Queens, we allow 4x4x4.  We have shelves in this area so she can be above the litter.  This allows mom some freedom to stretch out and relax while still keeping a careful eye on her young ones. 

Delivery -  We always have an x-ray done the week prior to the delivery so we know how many kittens to expect.  When mom starts to act very restless and begins to dig around, we make sure she spends time in her birthing area.  This allows her to become comfortable with the area prior to the delivery.  Begin to take her temperature several days in advance of her due date.  When the temperature drops several degrees and stays down for 24 hours, birth is imminent.

We always have available a box with a lid and a heating pad on low covered with soft towels.  We place any kittens that need warming in there to allow mom more room to maneuver to deliver subsequent kittens.  Some queens will make noise when delivering, some will not.  Some mom's will deliver the kittens in the litter box.  They feel the need to push and equate this to a bowel movement.  If this happens, remove the kitten to her nesting box and remove the litter pan.  We replace it with shredded newspapers in case she decides to try this again.  You can remove the box altogether until the birthing is completed.   If you need to cut cords, we use dental floss to tie them off and iodine to coat the end of the cord to avoid infection.  KY jelly has been used by some breeders to assist a small female in delivering a large kitten.  If you are new to this, we suggest going to the vet for assistance.  Losing a kitten is not worth it, because you may lose mom as well.

 Some mothers will bite if you attempt to assist.  You will have to evaluate your queen individually. Mothers will typically want to have the kittens alone.  Some mothers will want your companionship.  However, queens typically do not want your interference in the actual delivery.  Watch her closely for any problems.  If she delivers a kitten and does not immediately remove the sack or does not cut the cord, you may need to "scruff" her.  This will allow you to get the baby and do what is required. Failure of a mother to produce a baby when she has clearly been in labor for 2 hours is call for a visit to the vet ASAP. 

When the birthing is done, we make up a solution of baby food turkey, NutriCal and a little canned food.  We give this to her where she can still lay with her babies and eat too.  Make SURE she has plenty of liquids to drink.  This will help her milk to come in.  Queens usually don't have visibly swollen mammary glands.  The more the kittens nurse, the more the milk will come in.  If a mother does not produce milk, keep the kittens nursing on her and supplement them with Just Born or KMR.  Use bottles if possible.  If the kittens are too weak to nurse, tube feed them.  Have your vet demonstrate this process so you will be prepared.  A C-Section is not the end of the world, but can cause mom's not to take on their maternal duties for some time.  Some mothers never settle in, though most eventually do.  Make sure you have the number to your vet and a breeder friend to help you with advice. Most deliveries go without a problem.  But, proper preparation can make you feel better and avoid problems.  See the following page for details on handling orphaned kittens.

Click Here --> for Feeding the Orphaned Newborn

Mom's will typically want to be left alone for significant periods to bond and take care of their new babies.   Give them this time, but do check on them periodically to insure everyone is eating and gaining weight.

As soon as mom will leave the babies for brief periods ( a few days to 1 week), I make sure she is allowed out of the birthing area.  As soon as mom is settled, make sure to handle the kittens each day.  This starts them off right with accepting human contact.  As soon as the kittens are on their feet, they are allowed outside of the birthing area as well. 

Mom and babies should be allowed to exercise without interaction with other queens or kittens.  Other queens may mean no harm to the kittens, but it may stress their mother just the same.  I do not allow litters to play together until they are almost 8 weeks old, have been wormed and had first shots.  I also keep litter boxes separate to avoid cross contamination of fecal problems. 

Weaning - Mothers are typically very careful with their babies until they reach about 8 weeks of age.  Then, she encourages them to explore and adventure outside their area.  Encouraging little ones to take their first bites of solid foods takes patience.  Most breeders have their own methods for this.  Ours is to mix 2nd Step Weaning formula as directed.  Then to add a small amount of Baby food Turkey and mix well.  We also add a small amount of Nutri-Cal.  We place this in a small bowl.  The first few feedings, we draw up this mixture in an eye dropper and coax the kittens to open their mouths and eat.  This is a challenge at first, but after a few days, they get the idea.  After a week of eye dropper feedings, we begin to place the food in a bowl on the ground.  We place the kitten near the bowl and put some food on our fingers.  We place our fingers in the kittens mouth until they begin to lick at the food.  This again, takes a few days.  As they lick more and more, we move our fingers down into the bowl and then remove our fingers altogether.  They will pretty quickly move to solids after they have gotten the idea of eating on their own. We feed Innova EVO mixed with Iams Hairball for all of our cats and kittens.                 

Toilet Training - litter box training with kittens is relatively easy.  The argument of which litter to use with kittens is a long one.  We use high quality clumping litter with our adults and older kittens.  With kittens under 6 weeks, we use Chicken Layer Crumbles or Worlds Best Cat Litter or Yesterday's News.  Although there are many anecdotal stories of problems with clumping litter on small kittens, we have never had a problem.  But we choose to ere on the side of caution in this regard.  If a kitten has an accident, place the fecal matter into the litter box and clean the area well with an enzymatic cleaner. 

Raising - Teach young kittens to accept nail clipping early.  This will make everyone's life easier and save your furniture and hands and feet.  Teach them to accept being picked up and that they must remain in your arms until you put them down.  Do not allow them to jump down at will.  This makes them think they can do just what they want when they want.  Not a good thing in a cat. 

Inoculations - We use only killed virus vaccines as first vaccines with our kittens.  You can get the vaccine and give the shots yourself.  We choose to have the vet do the first shots so that they also get a complete exam.  They also are wormed at that visit.  We will then repeat the worming and the next vaccine at home unless we need a health certificate for shipping.  We use Heska UltraNasal vaccine for the 2nd innoculation.  All of our cats receive a rabies shot even though they may never go outside. If a cat bites you and you must go to the hospital, it will be reported.  You must prove rabies inoculations were given or quarantine the animal.  By giving the shots, we avoid the entire risk and hassle.  We NEVER inoculate for FIP.  This has not been proven effective and/or safe. 

Leaving home-  our babies go to their new homes at 12 weeks.  They go with contracts, a blanket with their litter smells on it, food and instructions.  Any problems should be brought to the attention of the breeder right away.  All kittens must be taken to the vet for an exam within 72 hours of arrival.  This protects the breeder, buyer and the kitten.  Keep your new kitten away from all other pets for at least 2 weeks.  You do not want to chance spreading something to your new arrival that your existing cats have built an immunity against.  This also applies in reverse.  Treating one animal for a condition is infinitely easier than treating everyone in your household.  This also give you time to bond with your kitten and slowly introduce them to the household smells and it other inhabitants.

Back in Season - the Queen may come back into season as early as 4-5 weeks after delivery.  Normal time for my girls is 6 weeks.  You need to keep them separate from any resident males during this time or they WILL breed and become pregnant again.  There is some controversy regarding how long to wait until re-breeding a queen.  This is an individual decision best discussed with your vet and breeder / mentor.  We like to wait until a Queen's kittens are in their new homes before considering breeding again.  But this varies by the individual queen.  Some queens come into season and do not go out of season until bred.  These queens may be bred more frequently than a queen that only comes into season and out again.  Two litters per year is generally accepted as safe as long as C-Sections and problems are given longer than normal to heal. 

Retirement - Queens having two litters per year are usually retired by the time they are 3 years old.  This allows them to become someone's beloved pet while still young.  Most breeders will retire and place breeders for the cost of the spay.  This allows owners to get a beautiful pet for a truly bargain price.  We typically will retire a Queen when we have a daughter that is better than her mother to carry on.  This moves our breeding program forward and keeps our Bengals always getting more beautiful, healthy and loving.

We truly hope that this information has helped you understand the needs of the breeding queen.  Add queens to your program slowly and carefully.  Ask questions about what types of births the mother had.  Sometimes these traits can be passed down from generation to generation.  Learn the Bengal Standard and what is desired in a Bengal and look for a cat or kitten who most closely matches this description.  Your best bet is to meet a local breeder who will act as your mentor.  This will be invaluable as you learn.  They will also have a vested interest in your success.  Because your success is their success!