Cat Reproduction and genetics

Cats are seasonally polyestrous, which means they may have many periods of heat over the course of a year. A heat period lasts about 4 to 7 days if the female is bred; if she is not, the heat period lasts longer.

The male cat’s penis has spines which point backwards. Upon withdrawal of the penis, the spines rake the walls of the female’s vagina, which may cause ovulation. Because this does not always occur, females are rarely impregnated by the first male with which they mate. Furthermore, cats are superfecund; that is, a female may mate with more than one male when she is in heat, meaning different kittens in a litter may have different fathers.

The reproduction process is usually very loud, as both cats vocalize loudly. If one is not used to the sounds of cats mating, it will sound like a cat fight.

The gestation period for cats is approximately 63-65 days. The size of a litter averages three to five kittens, with the first litter usually smaller than subsequent litters. Kittens are weaned at between six and seven weeks, and cats normally reach sexual maturity at 4-10 months (females) and to 5-7 months (males).
The pregnant cat will exhibit physical and personality changes. Pregnant cat physical changes include abdominal enlargement, vomiting, increased appetite, pinking of nipples, and cessation of heat cycle. Pregnant cat personality changes include nesting behavior during the terminal stages of pregnancy and also increased affection throughout the stages of pregnancy.
Cats are ready to go to new homes at about 12 weeks old (the recommended minimum age by Fédération Internationale Féline), or when they are ready to leave their mother. Cats can be surgically sterilized (spayed or neutered) as early as 6-8 weeks to limit unwanted reproduction. This surgery also prevents undesirable sex-related behavior, such as territory marking (spraying urine) in males and yowling (calling) in females. If an animal is neutered after such behavior has been learned, however, it may persist.
The domestic cat and its closest wild ancestor both possess 38 chromosomes, in which over 200 heritable genetic defects have been identified, many homologous to human inborn errors. Specific metabolic defects have been identified underlying many of these feline diseases. There are several genes responsible for the hair color identified. The combination of them gives different phenotypes. See Cat coat genetics.

Features like hair length, lack of tail or presence of a very short tail (bobtail cat) are also determined by single alleles and modified by polygenes.

The Cat Genome Project, sponsored by the Laboratory of Genomic Diversity at the U.S. National Cancer Institute Frederick Cancer Research and Development Center in Frederick, Maryland, focuses on the development of the cat as an animal model for human hereditary disease, infectious disease, genome evolution, comparative research initiatives within the family Felidae, and forensic potential.

It is a common misconception that all white cats with blue eyes are deaf, leading to some people rejecting blue eyed white cats as pets. This is not true, as there are many blue eyed cats with perfect hearing. However, white cats with blue eyes do have slightly higher incidences of genetic deafness than white cats of other eye colours.

via wikipedia 

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