Mating Instincts Dogs and cats can and will mate with their siblings once they are sexually mature. Litter mates are not off limits to other dogs and cats, even though they are related.

In the beginning, when the colors were still being devolped, gerbils were inbred to produce the newer colors of that time. So basically, all the gerbils we have are desendants of inbred gerbils. So, sure, breeders may run into problems with schimmles.

Female gerbils mount other females to show which one is dominant and which is submissive. This can be a regular behavior, but it is most common after you clean their cage. They may mount each other when in heat, but this occurs far less frequently when a male gerbil is present.

Inbreeding has a tendency to set undesirable features as well as desirable features and should only be done by an experienced breeder. Inbreeding could lead to smaller litter sizes, immune deficiencies, increased incidences of congenital abnormalities or cats that fail to grow to a normal, full size.

Your cat may even start arranging blankets or being feisty with other animals about her space. Swollen Abdomen: Halfway through your cat’s gestation period, she’ll show physical signs of being pregnant. This distortion may be harder to see on overweight cats.

All cats, male or female have nipples. If she was spayed at a very young age they may be very poorly developed and difficult to find. They quite literally can be the size of a pencil point. Very rarely a cat will have the genetics such that they are missing some nipples but all will cats have at least some.

The End of Lactation Once kittens are eating solid food, they usually don’t try to nurse so the milk production will dramatically decrease in the mother cat. The milk should be completely dried up after a couple of weeks but this is a gradual process. The teats will still be swollen initially and produce milk.