WHAT IS A BREEDER?
A
Breeder (with a capital B) is one who thirsts for knowledge and never
really knows it all, one who wrestles with decisions of conscience,
convenience, and commitment. A Breeder is one who sacrifices personal
interests, finances, time, friendships, fancy furniture, and deep pile
carpeting ! She gives up the dreams of a long, luxurious cruise in favor
of turning that all important Show into this years "vacation". The
Breeder goes without sleep (but never without coffee!) in hours spent
planning a breeding or watching anxiously over the birth process, and
afterward, over every little sneeze, wiggle or cry. The Breeder skips
dinner parties because that litter is due or the babies have to be fed
at eight. She disregards birth fluids and puts mouth to mouth to save a
gasping newborn, literally blowing life into a tiny, helpless creature
that may be the culmination of a lifetime of dreams. A Breeders lap is a
marvelous place where generations of proud and noble champions once
snoozed. A Breeders hands are strong and firm and often soiled, but ever
so gentle and sensitive to the thrusts of a kits wet nose. A Breeders
back and knees are usually arthritic from stooping, bending, and sitting
in the birthing box, but are strong enough to enable the breeder to
Show the next choice kitten to a Grand Championship. A Breeders
shoulders are stooped and often heaped with abuse from competitors, but
they're wide enough to support the weight of a thousand defeats and
frustrations. A Breeders arms are always able to wield a mop, support an
armful of kittens, or lend a helping hand to a newcomer. A Breeders
ears are wondrous things, sometimes red (from being talked about) or
strangely shaped (from being pressed against a phone receiver), often
deaf to criticism, yet always fine-tuned to the whimper of a sick
kitten. A Breeders eyes are blurred from pedigree research and sometimes
blind to her own cats faults, but they are ever so keen to the
competitions faults and are always searching for the perfect specimen. A
Breeders brain is foggy on faces, but it can recall pedigrees faster
than an IBM computer. It's so full of knowledge that sometimes it blows a
fuse: it catalogs thousands of good bonings, fine ears, and perfect
heads... and buries in the soul the failures and the ones that didn't
turn out. The Breeders heart is often broken, but it beats strongly with
hope everlasting... and it's always in the right place ! Oh, yes, there
are breeders, and then, there are BREEDERS !!
I LOVE MY KITTY
I
love my kitty, she makes my house a home. She always is my best friend,
I never feel alone. She makes me smile, she makes me laugh and she
fills my heart with love….Did some breeder breed her or did she fall
down from above?
I’ve never been a breeder, seen life through
their eyes, I hold my little kitty and just sit and criticize. I’ve
never known their anguish, I’ve never felt their pain, the caring of
their charges through snow and wind and rain. I’ve never sat the whole
night through waiting for babies to be born, the stress and trepidation
when their still not there by dawn. I’ve never felt the heartache of a
little life in my hands, this darling little baby, who weighs but 60
grams.
Should you do that instead of this…or this instead of
that, alone you fight and hope one day he’ll grow to be a cat, and bring
joy to another being and make a house a home, you know it’s all up to
you, you’ll fight this fight alone. Formula, bottles, heating pads,
you’ve got to get this right, two hour feeds for this little guy,
throughout the day and night. In your heart you know you’re almost sure
to lose this fight, to save this little baby, but God willing you just
MIGHT.
Day one he's in there fighting, you say a silent prayer,
day two & three he's doing well, with lots of love and care. Day
four & five...he's still alive, your hopes soar to the heavens, day
six he slips away again, dies in your hands day seven. You take this
little angel, and bury him alone, with aching heart and burning tears,
and an exhausted groan; you ask yourself "Why do this? Why suffer all
this pain? but see the joy your kittens bring...It really self explains.
So,
when you think of breeders and label them with greed, think about what
they endure to fill anothers need. When you buy a kitten and with your
precious savings you do part, you only pay with money, we pay with our
heart.
PRICING - WHY SO MUCH?
WHY DO KITTENS FROM REPUTABLE CATTERIES COST SO MUCH?
"You get what you pay for"... this statement is so true when it comes to our beloved fur kids.
Our
first costs come from setting up our breeding program. Not only do we
have to spend a lot of time doing research (health, nutrition, breeding,
kittening, cattery management, etc…) and speaking to other
knowledgeable breeders, but we also need to find a wonderful vet who
will work with us. We also need to set up our cattery. Whether we have
an “in home” cattery or have built a detached cattery (additional cost),
to keep our cattery in “tip top” shape takes A LOT of hard work and
money!! Cleaning supplies, vacuums, scratching posts, kitty beds, toys,
litter boxes, litter scoops, combs and other grooming tools, shampoo’s,
blow dryers, carriers, etc... These things must be replaced often. We
are looking at spending hundreds of dollars, possibly thousands, each
year on these items.
Time to buy our cats! A good breeder knows
what they want. What their “hopes and dreams” for their breeding program
are. What pedigree’s would work best and what look they are going for.
To buy a queen of breeder/show quality we are looking at spending
between $1500-$3000 PER CAT. Most times, to start a good breeding
program, it is necessary to buy a few queens. We also need to buy our
stud(s) which again, costs between $1500-$3000. This price does not
include shipping or paying customs if the cats are from a different
country. Lets just say some one starts out with four females and two
males. This would cost a breeder approximately $12,000.
We must
prepare for our new arrivals and keep them in isolation for a good month
during which time they would see our vet for a complete physical exam
to ensure they are in fact healthy. A fecal will be done to rule out
internal parasites such as roundworm, hookworm, whipworm, tapeworm,
coccidia, giardia and toxoplasmosis. Many times, even if a fecal is
negative, de-worming is done as a precaution. Blood will be taken to
test for FIV and FeLV so that we can rule out these two deadly diseases
that are quite easily spread. A fungal culture is done, just in case
ringworm is present. Many times, precautionary treatment is given just
to be on the safe side since fungal cultures are known to give false
negatives. Ringworm is highly contagious and is zoonotic (spread to
other animals and people) so it‘s better to be safe then sorry. A dose
of Revolution or Advantage is often given to treat for external
parasites, such as flea’s and mites. Maybe due to the stress of going to
a new home we have to treat for an upper respiratory infection as well -
this is quite common. Swabs to rule out PKD are sent away to a lab so
that we can ensure that only PKD negative cats are used in our breeding
programs. And even after we have done all of this, there is no guarantee
that there will not be reproductive/infertility issues, and if there
are, we are simply out all of the money that we just spent!
Here is a break down for ONE cat upon arrival at my vet clinic:
Exam: $35
FIV/FeLV and Blood Analysis fee: $47
Fecal and Giardia snap test: $41
De-wormer: $15
Fungal Culture: $61
Sporanox (preventative treatment for ringworm once a day for three weeks): $130
Revolution (preventative treatment for external parasites): $10
Clavaseptin (twice a day for ten days, in case new cat has a URI): $10
PKD test: $40
TOTAL (excluding taxes): $389
Right off the bat, for those SIX new cats to enter our cattery, on average we are looking at spending about $2670!
Thorough
cleaning and disinfecting is done weekly, some times more often then
that! And daily cleaning is also necessary. Buying cleaning products is
not cheap when you are trying to keep a cattery clean and free of
infectious disease. When you house a large(r) number of cats together,
the chance of illness increases. Kind of like a child daycare… when one
kitty gets sick, the rest follow. And then comes the vet visits and huge
lot of medication that have to be administered faithfully to
effectively treat our fur kids. Unfortunately, when showing or bringing
in new cats there is always a chance, even if isolated, that an
illness/fungus/parasite will be brought into the cattery. If this
happens, ALL members of our “fur family” must be treated as a
precaution. Part of “treatment” is cleaning and disinfecting the entire
cattery and possibly (if dealing with a fungus) bathing ALL cats AND
kittens, some times two or three times PER WEEK!! NOT EASY, NOT CHEAP. Remember, even if a cat APPEARS healthy, they can be CARRIERS!!
Another
way that we try to keep our beloved kitties healthy is providing top
quality foods. Cats, in the wild, eat mostly meat and only
vegetables/fruits from the inside of their preys stomachs. They do not
eat grains. Diet is a BIG PART of keeping our cats healthy! If you have
ever “browsed” through a GOOD pet store, you will know, that to buy a
food that is made truly for the well being of our furry friends, costs
quite a bit of money. To feed eight adult cats for two weeks, we are
looking at spending a minimum of $70 on dry cat food. If you bring
kittens into the mix, the price goes up substantially because they
require a higher calorie intake then adults do! And many breeders will
also add supplements to their cats diets as well which again, is an
additional cost.
Buying litter can be quite expensive as well. To
keep our catteries clean and as “smell free” as possible - this is
quite a large expense for us. It is said that each cat should have their
own litter box. For some breeders, this is impossible as their entire
floor would be covered in litter boxes. So, even if two cats shared one
litter box you can just imagine how much litter a breeder would go
through each day! And don’t forget our sweet fur babies… those boxes are
filled before we can blink when multiple kittens are using them! We
spend a great deal of time just scooping litter boxes, most times, twice
per day!
Annual vet checks and vaccinations are done on ALL
cats. On average, this would cost about $80 PER cat IF all checks out
well. And when it is time for our kittens to see the vet, most times
they go between two to three times before leaving our care. If they go
three times, the total cost PER kitten would be APPROXIMATELY $150. This
does not include cost of de-worming! And many breeders will use
Revolution to prevent the kittens from getting external parasites as
well. Some breeders also give high dose PROGRAM as it is often used for
ringworm prevention (a fungus that seems to be every where, an in
particular, at cat shows!). We want to do our best to ensure our kittens
leave our care as healthy as possible.
To deliver kittens
safely, not only do we have to be home and often stay awake night after
night to be on “labor watch“, but we have to buy birthing supplies
(disinfectants, needles, syringes, thermometers, scales, scissors, cord
clamps, penicillin, iodine, blankets, paper towels, heating pads, kitten
formula, etc…). We have to be alert (coffee is also bought in large
supply!) and have to be knowledgeable enough to know when some thing is
not right. Maybe a kitten is stuck, or contractions have stopped - both
of these things require a visit to the vet ($$$). An emergency vet visit
is NOT cheap and would cost approximately $60-$150 alone! A c-section
very well could be needed, which would cost any where between $400-$1500
depending on the location, the vet and whether it is an “emergency”
(most times it is). Maybe momma was never really pregnant, but had an
infection in her uterus, that mimics pregnancy, called “pyometra”. This
requires immediate treatment and nine times out of ten, the queen must
be spayed. A pyometra spay is not inexpensive (approximately $800-$1500
when all is said and done) AND there is no guarantee that the queen will
even survive!
Raising kittens is NOT an easy job and over the
years, purebreds have been so reliant on their “humans” to help in the
birthing process that if we are NOT there many things can go wrong and
sadly, kittens can and will die! Our momma’s often don’t know to take
off the sac or to“cut” the cord. Some moms are just terrified of these
little “things” that just came out of them and occasionally despite what
we try, those momma’s just won’t take care of their kittens! Some moms
have low milk supplies and some, no milk at all. If we are lucky, giving
shots of Reglan may increase the supply but if not, tube feeding is
necessary every couple hours through the day and night for WEEKS to
ensure our new fur babies are getting all the nutrition they need to
grow into healthy fur kids. This requires us to be home ALL the time! We
must watch carefully for signs of upper respiratory issues, pneumonia,
constipation/diarrhea, hydrocephalus, FIP, stunted growth, lameness,
etc… Any “problem” with a kitten is a SERIOUS problem and a fast
diagnosis and prompt treatment is essential for survival.
Many
breeders will show their cats which costs a small fortune to do! If you
are lucky enough, a show will be close and you can attend the show for a
couple hundred dollars. But it is not uncommon for a breeder to spends
thousands to attend ONE show that is a distance away! Most breeders buy
their own “shelters” for the show so they do not have to use the cages
that the show provides. Shelters cost a couple hundred dollars EACH.
Once they arrive home, into isolation the cats go. They have just been
exposed to many other cats who could be carrying many different
contagious illnesses/parasites/fungus! Watching them carefully and doing
preventative treatment is most often done.
I am certain that
there are many other “costs” that I have not included. However, I hope
that this will just give you an IDEA of WHY kittens from reputable
catteries, where the breeders CARE about the health and well being of
their cats and where the breeders LOVE their fur kids greatly, cost so
much. The COST alone to start and keep a healthy, happy cattery is most
times MORE then selling kittens cover. So, breaking even would be a
blessing but most of us are not that lucky. SO, our time and hard work
to provide you with happy, healthy, well socialized kittens is FREE.
When you are buying a kitten from us, you are simply helping to cover
the costs involved in producing good quality, healthy, lovable kittens.
There
are MANY kittens out there in shelters, on the street, on farms… who
are in need of loving homes. And although all the “extra” work and
financial costs wouldn’t be included in the “price” of the kitten like
it (most times) is when buying from a reputable cattery - you would be
saving the life of a very deserving homeless kitten. I think this is
wonderful and urge you to consider this unless it is a purebred kitten
you are specifically interested in and even then, there are rescues
where many purebreds are looking for loving forever homes!
Unfortunately, with taking in a homeless kitten you don’t know what you
are getting. You don’t know your kittens history or ancestors or what
hereditary/contagious disease, fungus, parasites, etc the kitten may
have. I don’t know what we would do without all the rescues and
volunteers out there who devote so much time and money to these precious
lives!
In the end, the decision is up to YOU. I wouldn’t at all
be upset if a potential kitten buyer decided to go the route of
adopting a homeless kitten instead of buying a kitten from me BUT at the
same time, if some one wanted a kitten from me (or any other
“reputable” cattery out there), I would hope that they would understand
WHY the price of our kittens is what it is!
PLEASE NOTE: Be
careful when getting a kitten from any one! Whether a shelter or a
“reputable” cattery! Do your research. Know what questions to ask! Even
the most reputable “appearing” cattery can have unhealthy cats! Just BE
CAUTIOUS AND SMART!