Retired now, Malcolm was a
veterinarian at Woods Humane Society from 2005
to 2012. He still resides in Morro Bay where
he has found geographic fulfillment. Pictured
here with his side-kick, Annie. They are both from Woods Humane
Society.
Contact Malcolm
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Extreme Breeding
by Malcolm Riordan
Well it has begun, and waves of kittens are headed our
way!
At humane societies, city and county animal shelters, and
for the networks of people who foster kitten litters, it's
that busy time called kitten season. And what a scene it is.
Litter after litter of angelic sleeping kittens which in
another minute can change into mini-demon feline popcorn.
Littermates are kept together, so the rooms and cages can be
the scene of climbing, horizontal levitations, fissile
vertical accelerations, and diagonal displacements — a furry
electron jungle.Angelic slumbers or demonic popcorn, it brings universal
joy to gaze in on this yearly feline spectacle of
flight-school, judo, dance, and theatre. It seems that every
day kittens gain new moves and new agilities, advancing
acrobatics.
Via these hilarious kitten games they practice and hone both
fighting moves and predatory skills — skills that will soon
enough seem overmatched to their prey. Even before adulthood
they are able to dispatch their rodent and avian victims in
a moment — unless, of course, they feel playful towards the
victim. Many kittens will go on to expand their skills
beyond rodent control to the sophistications of owner
control. But for now it's just kitten season.It is well known that our domestic cats are extreme breeders
and the seasonal tsunami of kittens is demonstration of
their prolific reproductive capacity. If that is only an
abstract concept to you, go and see the proof for yourself!
You don't have to adopt one — but you might. By the way,
adopting two is an idea to consider: they have each other
for amusement so it can be half the work and twice the fun
to super-size your kitten adoption.
These waves of kittens originate with the fact that female
cats have heat cycles twice yearly. The cat's
heat cycling starts when the days begin to rapidly get
longer in early spring – and then again in the
early fall when the days rapidly get shorter. Once the
changing light period has induced a cat's heat
cycle, unlike other mammals such as dogs, estrous will occur
repeatedly at 4 to 30 day intervals for
months or until they are bred.
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Interestingly – and highly effectively - female cats do not
ovulate until the stimulation of mating. Speed-breeding bypasses courtship and,
sorry, no adorable pair bonding to see here either. Cats are
labeled seasonal polyestrous induced
ovulators. Few other species show the mating-induced
ovulation - those would be rabbits and ferrets,
legendary breeders themselves.
With the ability to have two litters a year
with an average of four kittens per nine week pregnancy, and
how the adorable capering kittens you see now will easily
mature to be next year's parents – all makes for the kitten
tsunami effect with notable peaking of births in late
spring/early summer, with another peaking in October.
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