Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Aug;58(8):1156-1160.
doi: 10.1111/rda.14401. Epub 2023 Jun 18.

Effect of pregnancy length on the early development of Bengal kittens

W Wójcik  1   2 , J Riedel  1 , K Pałka  3 , V Pipková  4 , A Adamczyk  5 , M Domańska  6 , M Kizierowska  7 , A Kurek  1
Affiliations

Effect of pregnancy length on the early development of Bengal kittens

W Wójcik et al. Reprod Domest Anim. 2023 Aug.

Abstract

In cat breeding, an important step is reproduction and obtaining healthy offspring. The main factor determining the survival of newborn kittens is the normal course and length of pregnancy. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of gestation length on the early development of kittens. It was shown that kittens (premature kittens) later double their body weight (p < .01), have lower daily gains (p < .01) and higher body weight during eye-opening (p < .01), which occurs later than in kittens born on time. In addition, due to a shorter period of prenatal development, they require more time until the day of eye-opening, which, together with the length of pregnancy, was defined as development age.

Keywords: development of kittens; feline reproduction; pregnancy.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

REFERENCES

    1. Donoghue, S., & Scarlett, J. M. (1998). Diet and feline obesity. Journal of Nutrition, 128(12 Suppl), 2776-2778. https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/128.12.2776s
    1. Kaelin, C. B., McGowan, K. A., Hutcherson, A. D., Delay, J. M., & Barsh, G. S. (2022). Ancestry dynamics and trait selection in a designer cat breed. bioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.12.12.520105
    1. Lawler, D. F. (2008). Neonatal and pediatric care of the puppy and kitten. Theriogenology, 70(3), 384-392. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.theriogenology.2008.04.019
    1. Little, S. (2011). Feline pediatrics: How to treat the small and the sick. Compendium: Continuing Education for Veterinarians, 33(9), 1-6.
    1. Mugnier, A., Cane, T., Gaillard, V., Grellet, A., & Chastant, S. (2022). Birth weight in the feline species: Description and factors of variation in a large population of purebred kittens. Theriogenology, 190, 32-37. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.THERIOGENOLOGY.2022.07.008

LinkOut - more resources