Expert: Marcia Owen - 12/3/2007

Question
My neighbor recently adopted 2 very young kittens from the same litter, one male, the other female.  I encouraged him to neuter them lest they become a "breeding mill".  He said his vet informed him cats from the same litter will not breed.  I find this hard to believe.  Is it true?

Thanks so much for your time.

Debbie

Answer
Hi Debbie

You are oh so right!  Yes litter mates will mate.  It is not like humans where we have a sense of correctness and don't do it, they are animals and when they are sexually mature they are driven to replicate themselves and will not recognise that they shouldn't mate with their siblings.  Many breed databases contain instances where brother and sister have been mated as there are so few cats to breed from in a rare breed.

Marcia.