If you are interested in breeding cats or are just starting out as a breeder, these terms and definitions will help you understand words commonly used by cat breeders.
If you are considering breeding your pedigreed cat, there are some terms and definitions that will help you better understand your research into the feline world. Along with the following terminology, you will also want to read, “Cattery Terminology,” and “Feline Health Terminology,” so that you will be prepared for all aspects of raising cats.
A
- Adult Cat – Any cat over the age of 8 months old
- Afterbirth – Fluid and placenta that is expelled after the birth of each kitten
- Allowable Outcross – When one registered breed is bred to another registered breed to lock in specific characteristics
- Alter – To spay or neuter a cat
- Anestrus – When a cat is not in heat (or season)
B
- Back crossing – When a cat is bred back to a parent
- Bloodline – A cat’s ancestry
- Breech birth – When a kitten is born bottom first
- Breed true – When kittens have the same characteristics as their parents
C
- Calling – The sound a cat makes when they are interested in breeding
- Cattery – A place where cats are bred and raised
- Cattery name – The name of a cattery, also used as the prefix of a registered cat’s name
- Closed cattery – A cattery that does not allow cats to come in or out, including for shows or stud service
- Colostrum – Mother’s milk the first few days following birth
- Congenital – A trait existing from birth
- CPC – Color Point Carrier, meaning that the cat carries the color point gene
- Cryptorchid – A male with either one or both testicles not descended
D
- Dam – Mother cat
- Domestic – Non-pedigreed cat
E
- Eclampsia – A disease caused by calcium deficiency that appears during pregnancy or shortly after the birth of kittens
- Embryo – Undeveloped fetus
- Estrus – When a cat is in heat
F
- Fetus – Unborn kitten past the embryo stage of development
G
- Gene - Control growth, development and the physical characteristics of a cat
- Genetics – “The science of heredity”
- Genotype – Genetic composition of a cat
- Gestation – Period of pregnancy
H
- Heat – The period where a female cat is receptive to mating
- Hybrid – Offspring of breeding more than one breed of cat together
I
- Inbreeding – Mating of closely related cats
K
- Kitten – A cat up to the age of 8 months old
L
- Line breeding – Mating cats that are related by at least one common ancestor within the first three generations of their parents
- Litter – Kittens born in the same birth from the same mother
- Litter registration – Registering a litter of kittens with a cat registry organization, like the CFA or TICA
M
- Monorchid – Male cat with one testicle
- Mutation – A genetic change that alters a cat’s characteristics
N
- Natural breeding – Breeding without selective breeding
- Neuter – Removing a male cat’s testicles
- Not for Breeding – A cat that has been sold or registered without breeding rights
O
- Outcross – Breeding two cats that have no common ancestors for at least three generations
P
- Pedigree – A document containing names, titles, colors and registration numbers of a cat¹s ancestors
- Phenotype – Visible characteristics of a cat
- Pinking up – Describes how a cat’s nipples turn bright pink when they have been bred, which happens at about three weeks along
- Placenta – The organ that provides oxygen, food, and waste material to pass between the mother cat and the unborn kittens
- Progeny – Offspring
- Purebred – A cat whose parents are both purebred or allowable outcrosses
Q
- Queen – Female breeding cat
S
- Sire - Father cat
- Spay – To alter a female cat so she can no longer breed
- Standard – The ideal characteristics of a recognized cat breed
- Stud – Male breeding cat
T
- Transfer – To transfer ownership of an already registered cat
W
- Weaning – When kittens learn to eat solid food and no longer rely on their mother to feed them
The copyright of the article Cat Breeder's Terminology in Cats is owned by Darlene Cheek. Permission to republish Cat Breeder's Terminology in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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