Managing matings:Before allowing a mating to take place I always check that I have nothing planned for the time kittens would be due (as I would never not be here when I knew kittens were due) and also check my plans for the 14-15 weeks from when the kittens would be due to when they'd be due to leave at 14 weeks. If for instance I had a holiday planned but if I did the mating then the kittens would only be a few weeks old then I would not allow the mating to occur (or in the case of an unexpected mating like we had I'd cancel my holiday/hospital appt etc).
When introducing a female to a stud she doesn't know it needs to be done slowly as whilst some females are very submisive and will let a stud do whatever they want some dominant females can be absolute spitfires and terrorise the stud. Breeders who often allow outside females to visit their stud usually have 'queens quarters' built into the stud house that the female can be in whislt she gets to know the male and it keeps both cats safe during the introduction period. For breeders who don't allow outside females to visit or who only do on very rare occasions the queen is usually put in a large cat carrier or kitten pen whilst the cats sniff each other out and get to know each other.
Stud boys who have never mated a female before can sometimes need some help positioning themselves (Pinball tried many a time to mate Boopy's head, her back, her side etc unless helped into the correct position
).
Some breeders just allow the male and female to live together for 5 days so they can mate as and when they want, some leave females in until a few weeks before they are due to give birth whereas others only allow supervised matings where the queen is put in with the stud to be mated and then once she has been mated she is taken out and then put back in a while later to be mated again.
Supervised matings are common if it is an outside female you have allowed to visit your male (as you can then keep an eye on her at all times) or if a cat with an unknown corona status or a positive corona status is being allowed to mate with a corona negative cat as then the cats do not come into contact with each others litter trays therefore minimising the chance of the negative cat becoming infected.
When allowing an outside female in breeders need to carefully check the female cat before accepting her to stud to check she is not showing any signs of being ill or having ringworm etc, check that she is up to date on her vaccinations, check she has been tested negative for FIV and FeLV etc.
Not all cats will mate if you are watching them and so you then need to watch from where they can't see you or install cameras so that you know if a mating has taken place (although females make a major racket when they are mated so you can just listen out for that if you are nearby)
