Expert: Marcia Owen - 3/18/2008

Question
Still having trouble with my male Ragdoll breeding to the female. He's 12 months old now and still not successful even though for a couple of days each heat cycle he will mount her some.  Do I need to completely separate the two for an extended time and then reintroduce?  I've heard that if they have virtually grown up together (female was 7 months when I purchased male who was 2 months old)the male might have trouble.  Is this true?  Also will there be a problem with the female carrying the kittens if she is a lot smaller than the male?  Thanks, Sheila

Answer
Hi Sheila

Well he is obviously getting the idea but at 12 months he is still quite young as Semi Longhairs to take a little longer to mature.  In this case I'm not sure that separating them will make much difference as he is actually taking an interest in her when does come into heat, so I don't think it is a case of them being too used to each other.  Normally if he wasn't taking any interest in her then I would have said it was worth a try but it doesn't seem to be the case here.  Birmans are on a par with Ragdolls when it comes to sexual maturity and some Birmans are 15-18 months old before they start to 'work' and I know of one that was 2.5 years old before he really got the idea.  These cats sometimes need an experienced female to show them the ropes and I wonder if some of the problem is that your girl is also inexperienced.  Is there any chance of another breeder having an experienced girl that you could put with him?

I don't see that there will necessarily be a problem of a small female carrying the kittens of a larger male.  I have had small girls carry kittens to full term, give birth and raise them successfully so I don't think you really need to worry about that.  It is normal for males to be larger than females anyway.  In fact I have found some of my smaller girls are better breeders than my larger girls for some reason.  Just make sure she has good quality food throughout her pregnancy.

Marcia.