Easy-Peasy What a Work!
Today we feature the first story we have ever written on a cattery. For this, we went to the province of North Brabant, The Netherlands, and interviewed Wobke of ‘Cattery Sortjes’, a small cattery which breeds responsibly. This cattery only has a litter once or twice a year and always extensively tests its three female cats.
Their female cats are Muis, a black tortie and silver tabby blotched cat, born in 2016; Minnie, a black-silver tabby blotched cat, born in 2021; and Shadow, a black solid Maine Coon cat born in 2022.
Wobke often gets questions about how all that ‘breeding’ actually works. The responses she gets vary from “whew, what a work” to “that’s easy-peasy”. For Wobke and her family (husband Jurjen and kids Hinde and Eijse) it’s neither or both, they just like what they do!
Med Checks and Other Preparations
Before their female Maine Coon cat gets a litter, they have to prepare a lot. They have their females extensively tested. This consists of blood work and mouth swaps for comprehensive DNA testing and, among other things, FIV and FELV testing.
The three cats have recently had a new DNA test done in which they could also examine coat colors and overall genetic diversity. More standard for the cattery of Wobke is to have their female cats’ health checked before mating, for instance with the help of medical ultrasounds of their heart and kidneys.
In the meantime, Wobke researches the pedigrees of male cats which could be the mating partner of Cattery Sortjes’ female cats. Cattery Sortjes wants to try to have as little inbreeding as possible. The cattery also looks at the characteristics and appearance of male cats. Once they get the vet’s approval, then the cattery can allow their female cats to reproduce.
When the Magic Happens
When a suitable male cat is found for mating, Wobke will bring the female cat to the place of the male cat. This sometimes requires Wobke to drive back and forth for three hours twice a week.
After mating, Wobke brings her female cat back home to the cattery. Then, it is time to weigh the cat every week to check whether she is pregnant. Wobke also keeps her eyes open for any behavioral changes in the cat. After about 3 weeks Wobke hopes to see red nipples on the female cat, which is a sign of pregnancy.
Cattery Sortjes chooses not to do pregnancy ultrasounds because this can be quite stressful for pregnant female cats. With a bit of luck, the cattery will wait 9 weeks for a healthy litter of kittens.
Before the delivery happens, the cattery prepares the nursery, which includes a convenient and comfortable place to give birth, scales, maternity cloths, nutridrops and various neck collars.
Furthermore, Wobke keeps the cattery’s customers informed about the progress and waits for the delivery to begin. When the delivery is almost there, Wobke usually sleeps on a mattress in the nursery next to the pregnant cat.
During this period, Wobke keeps her working schedule free and in between manages her household as well. Normally, Wobke works once a week as a substitute elementary school teacher. Because of this, she and her kids usually tend to have a lot of time for the kittens.
Delivery
During birth other breeders often help the cattery with tips and tricks and they follow the progress as colleagues. At Cattery Sortjes, deliveries often go at a fast pace, sometimes a kitten is born within 30 minutes and sometimes within 5 minutes.
It usually happens that the female cats give birth during the night with Wobke and her daughter Hinde supervising everything. After the delivery, another exciting and busy period for the cattery begins. The kittens need to be weighed frequently to check on their growth.
Sometimes the cattery also needs to feed the kittens with a special kitten formula every few hours. Of course, Wobke also socializes the kittens and finally searches for new homes for the kittens.
New Homes
The process of selecting and finding a new home for the kittens involves quite a bit of talking to interested customers of the cattery. Wobke gives a lot of explanations about the kittens, their characters and their care.
During this time she chats a lot with the customers, sends photos, videos, and makes character descriptions. Wobke wants the new human family to fit the character and behaviour of a kitten. Cattery Sortjes really wants the 'right' match between the kitten and the new human cat pawrents.
In the meantime, Wobke also registers the kittens for a pedigree certification. The newborn ones get an extensive vet check. As an extra service, the cattery provides a kitten pack for the new human pawrents.
When it is almost time for a kitten to leave the cattery and for the kitten to go to a new home, Wobke will have close contact with the new human pawrents. She accompanies them before, during and after this exciting period of getting their kitten.
After all the kittens have found a new home, the mother cat needs some time to recover physically. When she is fit and ready again for mating, the above-mentioned 'routine' starts again with searching for a suitable male cat, all the medical checks, the mating in heat, and the weighing, waiting and taking care of the newborn kittens. 😉
Responsible Breeding Takes Enjoyable Effort!
Wobke underlines that she as a small breeder actually works for a whole year with 1 female cat to give birth. After mating, it's enjoyable for her to wait, watch, and guide the female cat, though Wobke can occasionally be a little impatient in a good way. Finally, she absolutely enjoys the delivery, which feels for her as a warm and welcoming reward.
The newborn kittens always keep being amazing for Wobke. For her, it is a delight to see their colors and to get to know their characters. Besides this, the contact with the new human families for the kittens gives Wobke so much energy and gratitude, and that is the main reason why she is the proud owner of Cattery Sortjes.
You can follow Wobke and her Cattery Sortjes on their Instagram account @sortjes.mainecoons.
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