Breeding Cats??

Seeing the live birth of a baby animal is all part of the miracle of life and can be a wonderful learning experience for children, however so much more is involved in breeding than beautiful babies are experiencing the miracle. The reality of breeding is much more involved.

1). Breeding cats are not pets!

Like all unaltered animals breeding animals simply want to do that breed….pass on their genes. Their main purpose is to find a mate so they can achieve this.

What does this mean?

Lots of noise!

Female cats call an ear piece yowling as they look for a mate. Day in and out they will cry until they are bred. Some females will come into their heat every 2-3 weeks lasting for up to a week, while others females never come out of heat.

Males call just as much as females. This is not a loving meow or gentle purr, this is a very demanding yell for a female.

2. Lots of pee!

If you already dread cleaning the cat litter even a few times a week you won’t appreciate territory marking. Females will spray often and not doing so in a litter box (which you also must still clean)

Males are not different. To attract females, they will pee on the floor, on walls, doors, in corners on cat trees, furniture etc. This must be cleaned on a regular basis and the smell of urine can be hard to remove.

3. Escaping or running away.

Both males and females will CONSTANTLY be in search of a mate. If there are not mates in the house escaping the house can’t be put past them. Not only is a potentially expensive cat now outside, they can be attacked by other animals, stolen or hit by a car.

4. Fights and aggression.

Breeding animals are always in competition to get the best mates. No matter how they are raised, hormones and maternal instinct is priority. Males will go as far as killing each other or offspring of their competition. This can even mean aggression towards people.

1. B) You must have a male. No male to breed means constantly cycling females which can result in health issues like uterine infections, putting the female’s life at risk and an expensive veterinary bill.

If you do not have a male, you may have to send the female to be bred or pay for a sperm sample. Both are stressful for your female and expensive.

While some catteries are closed to outside cats, some may take in your female for several weeks potentially exposing your female to illness and disease. The same applies if you bring in a male to your home.

4) Time

You must always be available for when kittens are born. You can only plan ahead so much.

You cannot go on vacation. Kittens can be born at any time and emergencies can quickly arise requiring a veterinarian whether this be 3 pm or 1 am. If you need an emergency veterinary service, this can be extremely expensive.

Kittens can be born with health problem and/or a female may require a c-section

You must have time to keep everything clean to avoid bacteria, viral and other illness/disease among your cats and kittens.

You must have time to socialize kittens and spend time with breeders

5). Care for kittens. This will include

Monitoring their health and development (some kittens may be so ill they may pass away. Can you handle this?)

Making sure they are eating and growing properly (some kittens may require tube feeding or help eliminating waste)

Daily socialization including handling, playing, getting used to various situations such as noises, strangers and other animals.

6. Money

Do you have the funds to feed multiple cats or kittens that constantly are growing and eating?

To buy lots of cat litter and other cleaning supplies?

To take the kittens to the vet for screenings, vaccinations and health exams or if they become ill?

To get them neutered or spayed before leaving for their new homes?

7. Finding homes for your kittens

Advertising and/or maintaining a website or social media presence can be time consuming and expensive.

Will you be ok with having people know your physical address and phone number. Will you be ok with people coming over to your home to walk around and check out kittens?

Are you ready to deal with difficult customers that may be demanding or are constantly calling and emailing you with questions and concerns?

Still want to breed?

Do you have a great understanding of genetics? How about the breed standard? Can you tell the difference between a breed quality, show quality or pet quality cat? Do you understand breeding is more than a beautiful litter and you should only be breeding to further the breed?

There are new USDA/APHIS regulations that effect hobby breeders, these are highly restrictive and you must inform yourself.

Many communities have ordinances on the number of cats you can have. Be sure to check the ordinances before you begin.

Breeding cats can be a wonderful and fulfilling job, but it is much more involved than just sticking two cats together and seeing what happens. There is a lot of learning, research and other considerations to take into account.

For many centuries, cattery has been a passion for many people. Partially as art, partly as a science, breeding brings together what is best in a bond that connects cats and people. It is both a fascination and a challenge. Responsible breeding requires a very precise selection of cats, taking into account their health, character, breed and pedigree standards. The purpose of responsible breeding should be to create cats better than their parents. People who breed cats without taking this into account can be compared to "producers" who duplicate the same product over and over again. Breeding beautiful cats is not only very time-consuming, but also expensive. The main idea of ​​good breeding should be improving the breed, not increasing its size.

The culture should start with gaining knowledge. To breed cats, you need a plan, but you can not create it without having specific knowledge about a given breed. This process takes a lifetime and the responsible breeder is aware of this. In this breeders are similar to artists who, after all their entire lives, devote to searching for the perfect means of expression. The breeder therefore explores the knowledge - both about the appearance, health of cats and their behaviors - as well as genetics in order to breed a perfect, perfect cat.

How to Get Experence

First you need to find a mentor. The mentor should be a person who has knowledge and at least several years of experience in breeding a given breed. Such a person will not only share the acquired knowledge with us, but also guide us through the hardships of the first steps in breeding. It is not an art to buy even a few cats and breed them over and over again. This is not a breeding yet!

Acquiring the knowledge should start with getting acquainted with the breed standard. He defines her ideal representative. Participation in cat shows will allow you to learn about different types of representatives of the same breed and create in your imagination a model of our ideal cat, to which we will strive in our breeding and as an artist we will create more works (generations) in search of this ultimate, ideal ...Study pedigree cats that you like - it will help you to know the lines with which you would like to work.

And most importantly: do not be afraid to ask questions!

Join the club of breeders and lovers of a given breed. Thanks to this, you will establish contacts with many breeders. You will get to know different perspectives on breeding and choose which way you want to go.

Start learning about the breed by purchasing a castrate. It is the best and irreplaceable way to get to know the breed that interests you. You will discover the world of exhibitions from the inside. You will meet exhibitors and breeders. It will allow you to find someone who will be able to become your mentor in a much easier way, and this person will be much easier to trust in you. In this way you will reach a level that will allow you to start your own breeding.

Breeding

Do not buy a breeding cat if you do not have specific plans for your cattery. You must be aware that no responsible breeder will sell your cat to the kennel to someone who did not do their "homework" first.

If you follow the first point, then the second way is short, but breeding is a process for many, many long years and fighting with your emotions, because if you want to achieve anything in breeding (and we understand achievements as raising the quality of the breed), it can not be do this by breeding the same cats for 10 years. Generations change in breeding and this is its essence. Without exchange of generations in breeding there can be no progress, and if it is not there, then breeding is only - unfortunately - a place where the number of cats increases. Are you ready for such sacrifices?

Happy Cats

Calling cats to the world gives you not only the pleasure of dealing with beautiful cats, but above all carries responsibility for cats brought into the world - from the moment of their birth until their life ends. It carries with it both the duty of a very careful and precise selection of houses, for kittens who can not be found in the breeding, as well as serving advice and help to the people whom we decided to entrust with the cat. This applies not only to cats intended for castration, but also, and perhaps above all, cats given for breeding. A responsible breeder will never give a breeding cat to someone who does not understand the nature of responsible breeding!