Breeding Mini-Cats

by Eleanor Lippman

There was a time in our lives that we were cat-less. That wouldn’t do at all, so husband and I saw an ad for Siamese kittens. It was hard not to want to adopt the entire litter. They weren’t purebreds but from a litter that was a mixture of chocolate and lilac point babies, each one more adorable than the other. Although we initially agreed on adopting a single cat, the temptation was too great and we went home with a lilac point male and a chocolate point female.

What a delight to watch these little guys play and grow and adapt to their new home. But something was becoming very obvious. Our male lilac point kitty (named Toki-Cat the Second) was growing faster than his chocolate point sister, Skoshi. At first we assumed that this was normal for male cats to grow bigger and faster than females, but we soon had to acknowledge that Skoshi along with her brother was losing her kittenish looks and turning into a mature, although very, very small, adult cat but kitten size. Interesting.  A mini-cat. We were the owners of one full sized male cat and one mini female cat, a cat as cute as pie.

The Real Skoshi

We agreed to have our male cat altered. We agreed that once she was able, we would try to breed Skoshi. Rag doll cats were a relatively new thing and we felt we would turn the world on fire with mini-cats. What was not to like? One evening, we found our mini-cat waiting by the sliding glass door leading to the back yard crying piteously to be let out. This was unusual because we had trained both cats to be indoor cats and neither one ever expressed an interest in leaving the house.

Once Skoshi realized we were not going to open the door, she started the strangest behavior: pulling herself forward by dragging her backside on the carpet, back and forth for hours. Obviously, she had come into heat and was anxious to mate. Lucky for us, Toki-cat was altered and had no interest in his sister’s shenanigans. So we endured her first heat, her crying, her butt dragging, her desire to go out in the world and secure a mate. When it all ended, we made an appointment with our vet to ask for advice about breeding her.

As everyone probably realizes, there is no such thing as a variety of mini-cat. There are Persians, Siamese, Manx, Ragdolls, and probably a handful of other types. But no mini-cats. We listened to the veterinarian tell us that our dear, sweet Skoshi cat was diagnosed with feline leukemia and there was no cure and no hope for her. Her future was that of declining health, dental problems, infections and so forth.

Crushed by the prediction, we took precious Skoshi home, our perfect little mini cat, still the size of a kitten, and vowed to love her and take care of her until the end. As the vet told us, her problems multiplied as time passed, and one morning as she lay quietly on the folded towel that was her bed, she looked up at me and her eyes, instead of being sapphire blue, were emerald green. I took this as the sign she was ready.

So there are no breeds of mini-cats, defined as adult cats the size of a kitten. Dreams dashed, we greeted the news years later that a vaccine against the disease had become available. We’ll never know whether Skoshi never grew in size because of her leukemia or whether, had the vaccine been available in her lifetime, and she grew up healthy mini-cats would have been a popular breed.