Practice Makes It Easier

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Are you afraid of giving your cat an injection? Or sub-Q fluids? Does tube-feeding intimidate you? How about giving a cat a pill? If your pregnant cat has problems during labor are you prepared to help pull the kitten out? There are so many things that the cat breeder needs to learn in order to better care for breeding cats, that it can sometimes seem overwhelming.

The good news is that if you can muster up the courage (and knowledge) to try, almost everything becomes easier to do with just a bit of practice.

When you first start breeding cats, there are things you will need to learn to do.

Some things are easy to learn; some skills are a bit scary; some can be darn-right frightening.

Some newbies dive into the learning process eagerly. Others will carefully tip-toe through the forest of skills they must acquire, hesitant to try anything that is new or scary.

The consequences of never learning some of the more intimidating techniques can be serious. If you are afraid to try to tube-feed, it may mean that you lose newborn kittens that could have been saved.

The single truth that is the same for everyone, is that while the first time you do something new may be very uncomfortable, the more often you do it successfully, the easier it will be to do next time. Your confidence and technique will grow and improve with practice

Saving Time & Veterinary Bills

You can always take the cat to the veterinarian to do the simple medical things such as giving injections or sub-Q fluids or taking swabs — or you can learn how to do these things yourself. Learning how to do it saves you both the vet bills and the time it takes to go to the vet.

Knowing how to do it yourself may also save a life. Even if you are willing to accept the cost and time to go to the vet, often there is a delay while you wait for the vet to open or to get an appointment, and that delay may make the difference between life and death.

Veterinary / Medical

Some experienced cat breeders almost know more than their own veterinarians. While you don't need to go that far, there are many basics that you can learn that will help your cats have healthier lives and fewer trips to the veterinarian. Some of the skills you will want to learn include:

Grooming

Grooming needs will vary from breed to breed, but there are simple basics that apply to all breeds:

Breeding & Kittens

Most veterinarians have little experience in their practice dealing with the normal challenges of breeding and birthing of cats. That means the cat breeder needs to acquire and practice many of the needed skills. Sometimes, even if the vet knows what to do, because timing is important, the cat breeder needs to know how to perform the technique.

Final Thoughts

Be brave. Seek information. Be open-mined . . . take the first step and the next . . . then practice until you are comfortable with the procedure. Every cat breeder starts out knowing nothing.