How many litters does a cat have in a year?

The answer depends upon whether we are talking about domestic or wild cats. And I don't think it is possible to produce a one size fits all answer to the question. In fact, you will see a variety of answers to this question on the Internet. My conclusion is that domestic cats have 2-3 litters per year. Wild cats in general have one litter per year. It is hard to find definitive answers with respect to the wild cat species because even the best reference work that I have doesn't provide answers sometimes on a species-by-species basis.

Image by David Mark from Pixabay.

However, the sand cat and the bobcat appear to produce 2 litters per year but this may not happen every year. In fact, a semi-tame bobcat in a zoo produced 2 litters but Mel and Fiona Sunquists, the authors of a great book on the wild cat species, Wild Cats of the World, said that this is probably unusual. This indicates to me that one litter per year is more normal for the American bobcat.

Theoretically domestic cats could have 5 litters per year but practically it is probably as stated above although Dr. Desmond Morris in his book CATWATCHING argues that they have 3 litters per year and if they have 14 kittens within those 3 litters then within 5 years, there could be more than 65,000 kittens!

You will see that there is a difference between the theoretical numbers and practical numbers.  Many kittens die, for example. And there are variables which influence the number of litters per year. For example, when a group of male lions take over a pride and they kill the cubs, the lionesses are brought into heat. They become receptive to mating. This artificially forces them to have a litter. 

But if their offspring become adults then usually they don't have another litter until their existing offspring have reached the age of 18 months. This would imply that they have one litter every 18 months if their cubs are not killed by incoming males in acts of infanticide.

Should male cats eat wet food?

This is silly question but Google seems to think that people ask it, but I can't understand why. Of course, male cats should eat wet cat food. Male and female domestic cats have the same basic dietary requirements except for when the female is pregnant (see: How do I know if my cat is pregnant?). This post is bound to be short as the answer is so obvious.

This male cat is from somewhere in the galaxy and does no eat standard cat food but Martian foods. :) Photo in the public domain.

Perhaps there is a more pressing reason why male cats should eat wet food: they are more likely to have a urinary obstruction and the more fluids they can ingest the better to help flush the system. In fact, dry cat food is probably more likely to cause a UTI (urinary tract infection) in male cats than females.

• 3 diabetic cats cured with an exclusive wet cat food diet

The response to the question is to say that male cats must eat wet cat food at least as a major component of their diet.

Cat rescuer claims that there are more feral cats in West Yorkshire towns than normal

YORKSHIRE, UK: Debbie Newsome runs Henry's Haven Cat Rescue. They have a nice Facebook page with almost 10,000 followers. I have skimmed through the posts and I can see that it's a really tough job. They deal with a lot of quite sick cats and dying kittens and that sort of thing. It's a very tough world, the cat rescue world, and when you think that this organisation is run solely by volunteers and is not for profit, you have to conclude that they are fantastic people. They put themselves through distressing situations for the sake of cat welfare. They deserve all the credit they can get.

Conjunctivitis in one of the kittens rescued by Henry's Haven. Photo: Henry's Haven.

Newsome has been talking to Jasmine Norden of Yorkshire Live online and she says that they are dealing with an increasing number of cat colonies where parents and kittens are often seriously ill. The message that she is almost begging people to understand is that they must sterilise their cats because if you don't you get more misery in these colonies. 

The cats constantly breed and the kittens often have short miserable lives. They contract these classic stray and feral cat diseases such as the flu (e.g. herpes virus), which invariably ends up with a secondary bacterial infection causing conjunctivitis which damages the eyes and it sometimes leaves them blind which it is horrible. That said when TNR is allowed to happen some feral cats lead decent lives thanks to the volunteers.

Debbie Newsome spends her time trapping and neutering these cats to try and stop this cycle of breeding and dying after relatively short lives. But what is disturbing is that she says that there is definitely an increase in cat colonies. The article does not explain why so I'm going to guess and blame Covid. Covid has distorted the human-cat relationship.

Because of social distancing and lockdowns, the usual volunteers have been unable to do their job in TNR programs. This has left the feral cats to breed and suffer more because nobody is feeding them. TNR programs include feeding. Covid might also result in more people abandoning their cats because of financial constraints.

SOME PAGES ON SPAYING AND NEUTERING

Henry's Haven works throughout West Yorkshire. In the interview you can feel the concern in Newsome's voice. She said that people have got to stop the cats breeding and producing "unwell kittens". She said that: "It's all down to not neutering. If they were neutered, situations like this wouldn't happen."

Her cat rescue is currently working with a colony in Castleford and at first they thought they were dealing with four cats but have since trapped and neutered 7 adult cats and 5 kittens. She thinks there may be up to 20 cats in the colony in total. Some of the kittens in this colony had really bad cat flu as had the adults and there were "quite a lot of dead kittens".

The problem is that these cats are exposed to all the diseases around them because they have never been vaccinated or had any veterinary treatment. When one cat becomes infected, they pass it onto their siblings, while mothers pass the diseases onto their kittens.

Newsome said that she came across kittens in a hut. One of them was dead and the others had "green gunk" coming out of their eyes. And she said that, "It's awful because we're often dealing with picking up dead animals, it's horrible."

Some kittens do recover because they provide great care and some are infected with the feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) and are therefore difficult to rehome as these cats are susceptible to illness and have to be kept indoors. And in some situations they have to be put down because they are too ill.

Finally, Newsome makes the point that if people think that spaying and neutering alters a cat's personality then they are wrong. Their lives are improved by the operation. Personally, I don't like the operation especially on male cats but it has to be done as it affects their appearance. There is no argument about sterilising, however. It has to happen. And people shouldn't delay because if you delay spaying a female cat and you let that cat go outside it is quite likely they will have kittens. You will have more unwanted cats to treat, to care for and to rehome.

She says that people are shocked when they discover what is really going on behind the scenes with respect to these cats. She says that if one person changes their mind and sterilises their cats, she feels that she has succeeded.

Fat cat obsesses over the sight of a grilled cheese sandwich

This cute but obese tabby cat who dearly loves his food is obsessing over the grilled cheese sandwich that is female human companion is deliberately eating in front of him. She is teasing him with it and he has fallen for the bait. You can see his head tilt to the right and in his mind he is eating it as his mouth opens and closes. He would give his right arm to get his chops around a piece of that grilled cheese.

Fat cat obsesses over a grilled cheese sandwich. Screenshot.

And I don't want to spoil the fun but you can see why he has this reaction. In the past, on numerous occasions I suspect, he has got the cheese. He has got what he wants because his owner loves him and can't resist his charming demands. And so over a period of time he has got into the habit of eating human snacks which is why he expects it to happen this time on camera.

Note: This is a video from another website. Sometimes they are deleted at source which stops them working on this site. If that has happened, I apologise but I have no control over it.

I'm pretty sure that he got some of it after the filming was completed! A bit of cheese is fine, of course. They love the fat in it. But you know what the veterinarians say about obese cats? They say that there is an epidemic and that about 40% of domestic cats are overweight. One reason is because they are given too many treats. In fact, that is probably the main reason and the reason behind that reason is because their owners love them and they want to do something for them which pleases them. And many cat owners have normalised obesity. They can no longer recognise what normal weight looks like! I wonder if she realises it.

Unfortunately, you have to be cruel to be kind sometimes because, as is the case for humans, feline obesity leads to secondary health problems such as feline diabetes.

You know that if a diabetic person loses even a relatively small amount weight, on the basis that their diabetes is caused by being overweight, then they will go into remission very often. This is a well tried and tested process. You don't want to look after diabetic cat because there is quite a lot of extra work to do. In fact, I have a page on that by a person who did look after a diabetic cat and he wrote about his experiences.

Massive increase in pet thefts in Australia during Covid

As is the case in other countries, there has been a massive increase in pet thefts during Covid in Australia. This is confirmed by Anne-Marie in Sydney Australia who is a pet detective specialising in cats, dogs, rabbits, ferrets, goats, birds, pigs and horses! I don't think she specialises that all!

Attempted theft of a cat on a front porch caught by CCTV. I believe this is in the US and the picture is here for illustrative purposes only. Image: CCTV in public domain.

She said that she has always preferred animals to people. A good start if you want to be a committed pet detective. I suppose the reason for the dramatic increase in pet thefts in Australia is the obvious one which is increased demand. When more people want to adopt a cat or dog, let's say, demand goes up and if supply is short it leads to criminality. People who have lost work during Covid saw an opportunity to make money Anne-Marie said. So, these are casual pet thieves who I'd would describe as opportunistic.

Annie-Marie pet detective. Photo: Bill Plummer of The Observer.

And demand for pets, particularly dogs, increased dramatically too because of Covid. It's those long lockdowns that did it. The idle mind and the need for company.

But in the UK, it appears that pet thieves are predominantly members of an organised gang. And if people have lost work because of Covid they might find it harder to purchase a dog and therefore they steal an animal. Or they turn to the black market and purchase a stolen dog. And Anne-Marie says that in Australia, for the first time, shelters are empty and pets have become a commodity.

She is receiving or was receiving 50 enquiries a week. She describes various types of pet theft including planned stealing which normally involves a burglary or trespassing on someone's property. And sometimes a person known to the cat or dog owner steals the animal. Maintenance contractors working in the area or even on the home in question might thieve a pet.

You can see the scenario: you're having your house done up and you go out for a while leaving your dog at home. The contractors finish their work on their last day and take the dog. That would seem to be how it might unfold sometimes. And extraordinarily, sometimes pet-sitters steal the animal they are looking after. It'd be the last pet-sitting job they do though.

Anne-Marie says that there is no one method to deal with pet theft. You have to bring together all the elements such as the breed of the animal if they are purebred, the age, the circumstances and the owner's profile. They also gather information about micro-chipping and whether the animal is collared. The character of the pet is also a factor as it allows Anne-Marie to build up a picture.

She sometimes uses drones which are able to pick up a heat signature. That seems like a very clever idea to me and the use of drones has exploded in various contexts. Part of the role of a pet detective is to manage the emotions of cat and dog owners who are probably invariably utterly distraught. Sometimes they find the animal but they've died. Above all, from the owner's perspective, closure is the key. They want to know what happened. They can then move on.

Source: The Guardian via MSN.