12 Fields Every Breeding Record Needs

A breeding record earns its keep on the day something goes wrong, and that day is usually 8 weeks later when you cannot remember which queen was bred on which date. Twelve fields cover almost everything a cattery needs: breeding date, progesterone, scan date, count, birth weight per kitten, weaning weight, vaccine lot, and where each kitten went. Everything else is optional detail.

The 12 fields, in the order you fill them

#	Field	When recorded	Unit or format
1	Queen ID and litter code	At mating	e.g. A-07 / L-2026-03
2	Mating date and time	Same day	Date, 24 h clock
3	Mating type and stud ID	Same day	Natural / AI, stud code
4	Progesterone value and draw date	Day of test	ng/mL, to one decimal
5	Ultrasound date and result	Day 21-25	Heartbeat yes/no, fetus estimate
6	X-ray date and count	Day 55-58	Integer count
7	Due date and actual birth date	Both	Date, days of gestation
8	Birth weight, sex, time	Within 2 h of birth	Grams, M/F, 24 h clock
9	Weigh-in at 4, 6, 8 weeks	Weekly	Grams
10	Vaccine product and lot number	Each dose	Brand, lot, date, site
11	Deworming and treatments	Each dose	Product, mg/kg, dates
12	Placement: new home, date, contract	At handover	Name, city, neuter agreement

Why the mating date is field two and not field ten

Every other date in the record is derived from the mating date. Gestation runs about 63-65 days from ovulation, and 58-68 days from mating is the range most vets will accept without calling it abnormal. If the mating date is wrong by 5 days, the due date is wrong by 5 days, the scan window is wrong, and the X-ray at day 55 is taken at day 50 when the skulls are still too faint to count. Write the date and the time on the day it happens, not on the weekend when you tidy the paperwork.

If several queens run with one stud, the date needs a time as well, because two matings 12 hours apart can matter when you are timing a progesterone series or planning a C-section.

Progesterone: one number, one decimal place

Queens are induced ovulators, so a mating does not guarantee ovulation. A single progesterone test is used to confirm that ovulation happened; a series is used to time the breeding. Most protocols draw blood every 48 hours once the queen stands for the stud, and treat a rise to roughly 1.0-2.0 ng/mL as the ovulatory window, with values above 2 ng/mL taken as evidence that ovulation has occurred. Record the value and the draw date together, because a number without a date cannot be interpreted.

Thermometer readings and behavior are not substitutes. A queen that stands and calls has not necessarily ovulated, and a record that says only mated on the 4th tells you nothing about whether the litter is 3 days early or 4 days late.

Birth weight and weaning weight

Weigh each kitten within 2 hours of birth and write grams, sex, and time of birth on one line. Take the 4-week, 6-week and 8-week weights on the same day of the week, before the morning feed. The numbers to compare against: 90-120 g at birth, 350-450 g at 4 weeks, and 700-900 g at 8 weeks for a typical domestic litter. A kitten that is 20% below its littermates at 4 weeks is the one whose placement should be delayed, whatever the new owner has been told.

Weaning weight is also the field that tells you whether a queen's milk was adequate across litters. Three litters from the same queen with 4-week weights of 420 g, 400 g and 300 g is a pattern, not bad luck, and it belongs in the decision about whether to breed her again. Tracking numbers per kitten is easier with a kitten weight tracker than with a notebook full of crossed-out figures.

Vaccine lot numbers: the field nobody fills in until they need it

Record the product name, the lot number printed on the vial, the date, and the injection site for every dose. If a litter develops a reaction or a breeder is asked to prove vaccination before a kitten flies, the lot number is the only thing that ties your record to the manufacturer's batch. Kittens are usually vaccinated at 8-9 weeks and again at 12 weeks, with a third dose at 16 weeks in high-risk situations; write the date you actually gave it, not the date on the schedule.

The same applies to deworming: product, dose in mg/kg, and dates. A record that says dewormed twice is worth almost nothing when a new owner asks which product and when.

Placement: where each kitten went

The last field is the one breeders skip and later regret. Record the new owner's name, city, handover date, and whether a neuter or breeding agreement was signed. If a kitten is placed as pet-only, the contract line is the difference between a discussion and a legal problem two years later. Keep the record for at least 3 years, and keep it separate from the sales folder so that looking up a litter does not mean scrolling through invoices.

The minimum viable record for a small cattery

If twelve fields feel like too much, keep six: mating date, scan result, birth date, birth weight per kitten, 4-week weight, and placement. Those six answer the questions that actually come up: when is she due, how many, did the litter grow, and where did the kittens go. Fill the rest in later if you keep the queen.

The method that survives busy weeks is one A5 card per litter, taped to the front of the pen, with three columns: date, weight, event. Write with a pen, photograph the card every Sunday, and put the photo in a folder named by litter code. Two minutes a day beats a perfect spreadsheet opened once a month.

Six steps to start tonight

1. Print one card per active litter with the 12 field labels already on it.
2. Write the mating date and time the day it happens, and derive the due date from it.
3. Record every scan and X-ray with the date and the actual finding, not just the conclusion.
4. Weigh each kitten at birth, then weekly on the same weekday before feeding.
5. Photocopy the vaccine vial label into the record instead of transcribing the lot number by hand.
6. Log the placement and the contract status before the kitten leaves the house.

If you are still planning the mating, the heat cycle timeline gives you the dates to write down, and the stud's own history belongs in stud cat management so that inbreeding and repeat litters are visible at a glance.

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