Hi all, would really like some advice here.

I would really like to adopt two cats, and have found two lovely burmese who need a home. They are 3 years old and ex-breeding queens, now neutered.

What difference will it make that they are ex-breeding queens? Will it affect their temperament? Will they have a different body shape?

Please forgive my ignorance - I have not owned cats before but I am really keen to make sure I make the right decision.

Clare

I think that it's great that you want to adopt two older girls
Their body shape should remain the same after spaying and as for their temperament they may not change at all or may become more placid. Burmese are very sociable cats and if these two have always been together I can see no real problems in taking them on. Two of my earliest Siamese were retired queens and both were absolutely adorable and very loving.
Oh and welcome to the forum by the way

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How we behave toward cats here below determines our status in heaven. - Robert A. Heinlein
http://www.lambchopsiamese.webs.com

Good luck if you go ahead with it and good on you for taking on adult cats

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Black with white around his private area



Black Tortoiseshell




R.I.P Patch my well behaved boy dog
R.I.P. Abby and Rebel my beautifull litter sister cats

I can't help on the question of ex-breeding queens, but just wanted to say that I have 2 burmese brothers (neutered). They are the most loving, playful, sociable and entertaining cats I have ever known - I can't imagine my ever having a non burmese cat after these two. I love them to bits - we are a family with two teenagers and they are the babies of the family. My 17 year old son, who is far too old for cuddling his mum, will cuddle cats till the cows come home.

If they're like mine the fact that they're 3 years old won't make much different. Mine are now 7 and they still romp and play and have mad chases like kittens. They're so close to each other and to us and have brought us so much pleasure. If they're anything like our babies, go for it, you won't regret it.

I hope you do rehome these two cats, as ex breeding females they deserve a loving forever pet home. (I hate the way breeders just discard cats they no longer want to breed, speaks volumes ). As people have said above, Burmese cats have the most wonderful nature, and make wonderful pets. You will adore them.

The only downside I can think of,due to them being they ex queens who have had litters, and spayed late in life, they are at a higher risk of developing mammary cancer. If female cats are spayed at 6 months before being allowed to have litters, it almost rules out mammary cancer altogether. Any cat spayed over 2 years old, has no protection from this cancer, which early spaying offers!


"Protective Factors

Early spay is the single most significant protective factor. Spaying before age 6 months results in a 91% reduction in risk. Spaying before age 1 year results in an 86% reduction in risk. Spaying before age 2 years leads to an 11% reduction in risk. Having given birth to kittens has no effect on mammary cancer risk. Spaying after age 2 years does not reduce the risk of mammary cancer development at all".


80% of mammary tumours are malignant, sadly. And is a fairly common cancer in female cats who have not been spayed, or spayed later in life.

Sorry, I don't want to scare you, but you did ask!

Have you got a link to anything with the figures - x per thousand or something like that. When you say it's a 'fairly common' cancer does that mean more common than others or is there really a high rate. There's nothing in what you quote which gives a real picture as all those figures are just relative to each other. I'm wondering if I and every other breeder I know have just been very lucky. Maybe there's a genetic element.

That is hardly fair. If you want to move on through the generations you simply have to rehome, otherwise you end up with ridiculous numbers of cats and a welfare situation somewhere down the line. Breeding queens have a pecking order which depends on the number of litters they have had, and once spayed they rapidly go down the pecking order, the top cat could become the bottom cat quite quickly and that will cause her stress. If she is rehomed while still young to a pet home, that doesn't happen. Please don't imagine that rehoming our cats is something we take lightly, it isn't, it is very difficult. I am going to have to rehome some of my adults before the Spring and I am not looking forward to it at all.

Certainly agree with this one!

That's interesting because with humans, early childbearing has a major protective effect against breast cancer. Still, the risk is surely still low and if pet insurance is taken out, any financial implications are covered. I have been breeding for 19 years, have only rarely rehomed an adult so far, and have never yet had a cat with mammary cancer.

Liz

It really depends on the cat you adopting,their own personality, the way they have been treated in the past etc. You are more likely to have problems with them if they have come from a dodgy back street breeder who keeps them outside where they hardly get any attention to one that has come from a home where they get all the attention they want.
The only thing that I have noticed from being a re homing coordinator for many years that can be an issue with ex breeding stock is that they tend to have a higher risk of spraying in the house, but that isn't the case for every ex breeding cat though.
At the end of the day they are two cats that need and home and if you are willing to give them a home, it shouldn't really matter where they have come from.
Its also important to know that even the worse treated cat can bloom in the right home,so if you want them and are prepared to put the work in then I would go for it
Good luck with whatever you decide

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Storm is an ex-stud and we are so blessed to have him! I would adopt ex-studs and queens without a seconds hesitation again, at the end of the day you are also getting a cat considered to be at the top of the league in terms or looks and personality of the breed, as those are the traits breeders want to pass on to kittens!

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Mummy to;

Sooty 9.6.1996 - 28.04.2011 Rest in peace my love!
Storm (Sueragdandy Phantom) 28.02.2010
Benji (Kassaro Benjamin Franklyn) 08.03.2011

It is a fairly common cancer in unspayed females, or later in life spayed cats. Who have had KITTENS.

"In cats, mammary cancer is the third most common cancer, with the most common victim being a senior female cat around age 10 to 12 years." (Quote from second link, since you want me to back up what I say).


Google it, if you don't believe me. But I will give you a couple of links to get you started:

WSAVA 2001 - Prognostic Factors for Canine and Feline Mammary Cancer

01 Mammary Cancer in Cats - VeterinaryPartner.com - a VIN company!