People new to breeding pets are often confused when their pet delivers its young and either ignores them or kills them.
They ask desperate questions: Why did my hamster eat her babies? Why did my dog ignore her puppies? Why were all my rabbits kits dead?
Age
A young animal may not physically be able to look after their young. They got pregnant but their body may have been so taxed that they cannot produce milk and simply are overwhelmed at the time of the birth.
Poor Nutrition
A pet who was not fed properly during pregnancy may not have the body strength to care for their offspring. Pregnant dogs need to be fed puppy food, pregnant cats need to be feed kitten food, and so on. Some owners try to save money by feeding less and are met with heartache when their pet cannot produce milk to feed its offspring, or delivers early due to the stress with their diet needs not being met.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wickenden/3263648301/
Lack of Interest
What many people fail to realize is that not all animals want to be mothers. Their hormones put them in a position of pregnancy that was not necessarily welcome mentally. As humans we can make the decision of whether or not we want kids, and even then many women opt not to have them, to have an abortion, or to place the baby for adoption. Try to think of the other animals in the same way.
Something Wrong
Sometimes mother animals sense something wrong with their offspring and ignore it. This is often the case when the offspring are born early, are deformed, are weak, or specifically to the runt of the litter.
Accidental Deaths
Any mother animal, but particularly first time ones, are prone to having accidents. The most common accident is that they lay on one of their litter. This is so common in pigs that special farrowing crates. In sheep they sometimes refer to it as “flat lamb syndrome”.
Killed by Dad
In some members of the animal family, dad is the killer. This is particularly common in domestic cats where the father will kill the kittens to bring the female back into heat sooner.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lorri37/33097040/
Summary
If an owner cannot fund medical care, and buy proper food, for their animal during pregnancy, and have money in the event of emergencies, they should not consider breeding their pet at all.
Also anyone interested in breeding their pet must take into consideration that their pet might not want to be a mother. The owner must be ready to take over in such situations and be aware that raising baby animals is time consuming and expensive (cows milk makes most animals sick, you need special formulas).
Before breeding any animal the owner should have taken it to shows to qualify it as an animal worthy of breeding, they should have it tested by a veterinarian for genetic problems, and they should also have interested people on a waiting list for the offspring so the pet is not contributing to the problem of unwanted pets.
Related Reading
How to Care for an Orphaned Puppy
How to Care for an Orphaned Kitten
How to Care for Bottle Baby Lambs
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User Comments
amandeep13
On February 6, 2010 at 8:47 am
Good Stuff
Keep the good work on
cobaltinee
On February 6, 2010 at 9:19 am
Nice tips. Good work!
martie
On February 6, 2010 at 10:06 am
Hi Brenda: excellent article. I was just asked by a client do an in depth report for beginners on Chinchilla breeding. At first, I was going to refuse because I was afraid it would encourage people to breed, then decided that at least this way I could give them good information about how difficult it can be and the responcibilty the human needs to take in the entire manner.
standingproud
On February 6, 2010 at 9:41 pm
You speak the truth.
I must say the image of the pug dog is adorable
Karen Gross
On February 7, 2010 at 12:13 am
Great article. We often forget that animals don’t have human morals.
We had a cat who had six kittens. She gave birth to each one in a separate room. We put them all into the box we had prepared. Mom kept moving them, separating them.I wondered if she was overwhelmed and was leaving them by themselves to die.
PR Mace
On February 7, 2010 at 4:35 am
Excellent and needed article. My brother had a German short-haired pointer, she jumped the fence her first time in season and had 11 mixed black lab puppies. She was to young and didn’t know what to do with them and refused to nurse them. We helped to bottle feed them. My dog Kole was one of her puppies and have had him since he was four weeks old.
R J Evans
On February 7, 2010 at 10:31 am
Excellent information
drelayaraja
On February 8, 2010 at 12:03 am
Well said. If we have a pet, we should take care of them properly.
Frances Lawrence
On February 8, 2010 at 4:55 am
A very good article, breeding pets is a big responsibility.
Xlane
On February 8, 2010 at 9:29 am
good info, always learn new things from your posts. Thanks Brenda.
Dragonologist
On February 8, 2010 at 4:22 pm
Well done! This is sound advice to anyone thinking of breeding, and as another commentor mentioned, it is better to teach than condemn. If people have good information then they are less likely to cause a problem than if they went ahead because there was no information out there.
jedopi
On February 9, 2010 at 1:08 pm
You always write such informative articles on animals. I really enjoy reading your posts.
Sonora
On February 9, 2010 at 3:52 pm
Another informative piece; thanks for the post and keep up the good write! Hopefully, breeders will come across this…
deep blue
On February 13, 2010 at 4:22 pm
An interesting post. Well done, Brenda.
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