When to breed the next litter

Question
I am new to the exciting field of cat breeding and have many questions. My first queen gave birth to her first litter (four kittens) on May 23, 2010.

1. I keep reading that a cat can have kittens (safely) once every 8 months, or 3 times in 2 years. My question is: does this time frame go from mating to mating (birth to birth) or from the time the kittens are weaned to the time of mating for the next litter?

2.) I also keep reading about "getting her condition back", before mating for the next litter. Can you explain this in more detail? What specifically should I be watching for?

3.) Should I be giving my queens supplements of any kind, or is it unnecessary? What about red raspberry leaves?

Thank you so much for your help!

Answer
Dear Emily

Congratulations on your kittens and I am sure you are having a lot of fun with them already.  It is far better to leave a girl 10 months between litters (which I would suggest is from the time of kittening) to give her body time to recover.  By getting back into condition, means her putting all her weight back on and being as healthy as she was before she was mated.  Though outwardly she may seem to be that way quite quickly, breeding from her too soon can exhaust her bodily resources and leave her open to picking up infections easily.  Give her time to recover fully before breeding again.

As to supplements, if she is being given a good quality diet then they shouldn't really be necessary.  Just make sure she has all the foods she likes and she should be fine.

Regards

Marcia