Register your Breeding Prefix
You will need to choose a Breed Prefix which is a unique name given to all your registered kittens. For example, all Oz Catz Ocicat kittens are registered with the prefix 'Ozspots'. Therefore, all our Ocicat kittens bear this prefix as part of their registered name i.e. 'Ozspots Tranquil Prince', 'Ozspots Lotus Flower', etc.
Your Breed Prefix application is included in your application to become a registered breeder.
The registration body will check its records, to ensure that your chosen Prefix has not been duplicated or is not too similar to an existing prefix.
Usually there is a maximum number of letters in the Prefix name, e.g. 12 letters.
You will be required to provide a choice of at least three Prefix names in case your first choice is not acceptable. Your chosen cat registration body will assist you in this.
Your Breeding Kitten's First Year
If you have purchased an Australian kitten, you should be able to collect your kitten when it is about 10 weeks old.
If it has to travel interstate, then the kitten should be about 12 weeks old.
If the kitten is coming from overseas, the age on arrival will depend on the exporting country. From the USA, the kitten will be at lest 9 months old before it is permitted into Australia.
From England, the kitten will be at lest 3 months old. In most cases, the kittens from overseas will need to spend some time at the Australian Quarantine Centre in Spotswood before being permitted to go home with you.
If you purchased a female breeding kitten, enjoy your kitten's baby time until she is 12 months old. She may 'call' when she is 6 to 8 months old, but she is too young to mate at this stage. She can visit a vasectimized boy to satisfy her hormonal urges during this time, or you can consult with your vet for a hormone 'pill' that will take her 'off call' until she is older. Usually when she is at least 12 months old, she is ready to mate, although in some case it may be a little earlier than this.
If you purchased a male breeding kitten, he can be ready to work at any age from 6 months old, but usually will reach sexual maturity at about 12 months.
During your kitten's first year, you should register the kitten's pedigree on the PawPeds database at www.pawpeds.com. Using the facilities available at this database, you can do 'test matings' with prospective partners to help you choose the right mate for your cat.
Follow the guidance of your kitten's breeder for her care and diet during this period.
Selecting your Queen's First Stud
In the period leading up to your kitten's 1st year birthday, find a suitable stud cat and negotiate the mating.
The cost of mating your Ocicat queen with a good quality proven stud will be between $1,000 and $2,000 depending on the stud you choose.
You should receive a Stud Service Agreement setting out the terms and conditions of the mating. Make sure the agreement covers unsuccessful matings, return matings, non-survival of kittens, guaranteed number of live kittens, payment terms, etc.
Mating your Queen
When your queen is at least 12 months old, she will come 'into call' and be ready to mate.
Ensure your queen has up-to-date vaccinations, has been wormed and treated for fleas.
Ask to see the vaccinations certificates for the chosen stud to ensure he is also up-to-date.
Arrange transport of your queen to the stud.
Your queen usually needs to remain with the stud for 5 days for a successful mating, but if your queen has to travel by air to the stud, it is not uncommon for the girl to go 'off call', in which case, she may need to remain with the stud for a little bit longer until she comes back 'into call.'
The stud owner will introduce your queen to the stud, remaining with the cats to ensure both cats' safety, and to witness successful matings.
The stud owner will require full payment of the stud fee before your queen leaves the stud property.
At the completion of successful mating, the stud owner will complete and provide you with a Stud Service / Litter Registration form, together with a receipt for your stud fee.
Preparing for your Litter
When your queen returns home, her behaviour may be different. This should pass within a few
days and then your queen should no longer be calling.
Usually at 21 days after successful mating, the first signs of pregnancy are rosy pink nipples on your queen.
Gestation is usually between 63 and 66 days from conception.
Caring for your queen during her pregnancy is much the same as caring for your growing kitten - good quality food, accommodation and love and attention.
There are many good books and websites with excellent information on caring for your pregnant queen and birthing., so check these out. A particularly good website, dedicated to the health of the cat is Winn Feline Foundation
Make sure you are prepared for your Ocicat litter - have an appropriately quiet birthing 'suite' ready for your queen.
Prepare a 'birthing requirements box' and have it ready - it should contain such things as clean face-washers, clean towels, clean cat blankets, Betadine Antiseptic
Liquid, methylated spirits for disinfecting fingers, scissors, etc., cotton balls, Sandoz Liquid Calcium, etc. etc.
Be prepared to hold her paw during her labour, calm her and encourage her.
Be prepared for the unexpected but do not interfere in the birthing process unless absolutely necessary. More damage can be done by inexperienced intervention than by leaving the queen to deal with her own birth.
Remember when reading up on kittening that the worst things that can happen, rarely do - but be prepared in any case.
Be confident you know when to seek professional help if necessary - don't be afraid to seek advice and help and ask lots of questions.
Have the phone numbers of your usual vet as well as for emergency out-of-hours veterinary hospitals ready if required.
In most cases, your Ocicat queen will deal with the birth quite naturally and successfully - she may just need reassurance.
Your Litter
There is lots of excellent information on birthing, so you check these out prior to the arrival of your kittens.
You should expect to see between 2 and 6 kittens for the first litter and between 4 and 6 for each other litter. You need to start feeding the kittens when they are about 4 weeks old.
When the litter is born, you can complete the remaining details on the Stud Service / Litter Registration Form that the stud owner has given you., ie. number of kittens born, males, females, colours, date of birth.
Send the form to your chosen cat registration body for registration of the litter. There is a small fee for this registration.
You will receive an acknowledgement of the litter in the form of a Litter Registration Certificate with a unique Litter Registration number.
You can also register each of the kittens individually with your cat registration body, quoting the Litter Registration Number. You will need to provide your registered Breeders Prefix and choose at least three alternative names for each kitten. There is a small charge for this.
You will receive individual Pedigree Certificates for each kitten which can be transferred to each of the new owners at the appropriate time.
Selling your Kittens
If you join us in our Ocicats of Australia & New Zealand, we would give you support and advice on issues relating to your Ocicat and your breeding program, selling your kittens, importing new kittens, exporting kittens, etc.
In spite of the Ocicat currently being a relatively rare breed in Australia, we find no difficulty in selling all our kittens.
We have enquiries for Ocicat kittens from all around Australia, so new breeders established in all Australian states would be well positioned to service this demand.
Remember, Ocicat kittens should never be seen as 'K-Mart Kittens' or 'Discount Kittens' - they are much too special for that!
We are continuing to promote the Ocicat breed to achieve a better awareness in the Australian public.
Ocicats in Australia and the Gene Pool
When we started our Ocicat breeding program, it quickly became obvious that one of our most urgent needs was to widen the Ocicat gene pool to give the breed a continuing future in Australia and to allow us to continue breeding strong healthy Ocicats for generations to come.
Our first task therefore was to locate suitable breeding stock for import into Australia.
After many months of searching, we found a breeder in England - Christine Hughes of Merrydancercats - who was willing to allow us to adopt two of her very well pedigreed kittens. These kittens finally arrived in Australia in November, 2005 and gave us the diversity in breeding lines that we needed to allow us to breed future generations of strong
uncompromised Ocicats.
Although this was a 'shot in the arm', we couldn't rest there! We have also introduced an Ocicat boy - Abyrose Kiwi Magic (better known as Kiwi Fruit) from the well-known and well-regarded New Zealand breeder, Jody of Abyrose - a black silver boy - a total charmer!!
And a superb black silver girl - Sharic Lady Cheetah - from fellow New Zealand breeder, Karen Earl of Sharic Cattery - what about those tiger eyes!!!.
And more recently, another charmer from New Zealand, Abyrose Marama, a tawny spotted Ocicat queen.
The inclusion of these Ocicat queens and studs to our Australian breeding lines gives great impetus to the establishment of a quality Ocicat breeding program for Australia.
We are also negotiating with several European and American breeders for 'kitten swap deals' to further strengthen our Ocicat gene pool.
Should a new Ocicat Club member want to import their own Ocicat stud or queen, we would be more than happy to provide any advice and assistance required.
Oz Catz' Ocicats Travel the World
In the time that we have been breeding the Ocicat, we have worked towards getting our Australian Ocicats recognised world-wide for their quality and type.
We have sold our Ocicats as breeding cats to American and English top-quality breeders.
And our Ocicat desexed pets have been sought out by people from around the world, including Alaska, Hawaii, Hong Kong, Norway, USA, New Zealand, Holland, Finland, Singapore, etc.
One of our goals is to maintain the standard and integrity of the Australian Ocicat breed allowing us to look forward to continuing recognition and kudos on the world stage for Ocicats.
If an Ocicat Club member wanted to export a breeding kitten, we would provide advice and assistance as required.
Ocicats of Australia & New Zealand
In 2006, we formed a group called Ocicats of Australia & New Zealand or OANZ
This is a group of like-minded Ocicat breeders who have joined hands across the Tasman to provide friendship, advice, experience, assistance to each other and to new Ocicat breeders.
New Ocicat breeders and Ocicat devotees are encouraged to join us and share in the benefits of belonging to the group.
For more information on OANZ click here for a link to the
OANZ webpage
Ocicats and Making Money
A word of warning!!!!
If you have looked at Ocicats and admired their beauty and intelligence and temperament and then thought 'Wow! They sell for so much money! Just think, I could make a living out of breeding and selling Ocicat kittens - how easy would that be!" Think again!!!!!
Breeding kittens is hard work!! It is a 24 hour a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks of a year job!! Every single day there is cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. Then there is feeding, medicating, record keeping and more cleaning.
Hygiene is paramount if you are to raise healthy kittens - hence, cleaning, cleaning, cleaning!!
Social interaction and handling is needed to raise well adjusted, friendly, out-going kittens.
Proper food preparation, food surface and utensil cleanliness are necessary to keep little kittens growing and protected from bacteria.
Regular worming regimes are needed to keep kittens and queens free from parasites.
High quality raw meat - chicken, beef, kangaroo, lamb, etc. - preferably free from preservatives, top quality dry kitten food, as well as the other 'extras' such as chicken necks, wings, hearts, livers, giblets, raw pilchards, sardines, squids, cheese,
yoghurt, eggs, are needed to provide at least 2 big meals every day to every kitten and queen for the period they are in your care.
Clean, well-built, safe play-furniture for kittens to build their muscles.
The services of a highly skilled, reliable vet for emergency caesareans, infections, viruses, desexing operations, vaccinations,
micro chipping, health checks on both queens and kittens as well as a myriad of other things that crop up in the course of raising a litter of kittens.
And of course, you need to maintain health records for each stud, queen and kitten in your care and provide these records to the new kitten owners when the kitten leaves you.
So, if your mind wandered to $$$ as you thought about becoming a breeder - know right now - you are not the right person to breed these amazing cats!!
