Cattery
In the minds of the vast majority of people who are completely far from breeding, at the mention of the phrase “cattery” they get images of shelters, hundreds of cats and thousands of kittens, cages, unbearable stench, unsanitary conditions and heavens know what else. Therefore, when choosing a kitten for themselves, many are afraid of nurseries, or rather, they are afraid of the images about nurseries that they are used to. It seems to many that this is a kind of place where at any time there are kittens of various breeds, ages and colors to choose from, as well as a place where you can bring and “surrender” a cat at any time.
But it’s not like that at all!
Immediately make a reservation, I will talk about respectable breeders who love their pets and move forward the development of their chosen breed, and not about breeders who pursue completely different goals.
What is a cattery?
At its core, a cattery is a “nominal” activity of a specific breeder registered within the framework of one of the felinological organizations (although there are also collective catteries registered by several breeders) for breeding cats. In fact, the average cattery consists of several cats, usually of the same breed, which are supposed to be used in breeding for the purpose of developing this cat breed, its preservation and improvement. After registering the cattery, the breeder gets the right to use the name of the cattery registered by him in the nicknames of kittens born within its walls. So, as a rule, the full nickname of a kitten consists of the name of the kitten itself, as well as the name of the cattery where he was born. The name of the cattery, as a rule, is indicated in front of the common nickname. Thus, for all kittens born in a particular cattery, the part of the nickname-the name of the cattery will be permanent. If several catteries are involved in the birth of a kitten, breeders can agree to indicate the names of two catteries in the nickname. This also happens if a kitten is purchased by one breeder from another. So, for example, you can decipher such a long nickname as Businka Terra D’oro Santo as follows: Terra D’oro Santo is the name of the cattery where the kitten was born, B in Businka is the letter of the kitten’s litter (in some felinological organizations, kittens’ litters are tied to the letters of the English alphabet in the appropriate order, and for all kittens of the same litter, the nicknames begin with same letter).
Where is the cattery located?
A cattery is not a basement, not a farm, not a shop or an agricultural building somewhere on the periphery of a settlement. A cattery is an apartment or a private house of a breeder. The home where they live with their entire family and the cats. They cats are never caged and move freely throughout the house. They sleep on the bed next to the owners, run around the house and are free to play anywhere they choose – after all, we want to buy an affectionate and friendly baby, not a kitten that hasn’t been socialized or is afraid of human hands.
You will be surprised, but according to the rules of most, if not all, feline organizations, a cattery can be registered with just one breeding cat! Therefore, you will not see hundreds of cats and kittens there.
Purpose of a cattery
The purpose of the existence of the nursery. Most believe that the purpose of the existence of the cattery is to sell kittens, i.e. money. And here we are, looking at advertisements for the sale of thoroughbred kittens, multiply in our minds their cost by the number, and think – wow! Yes, it’s a whole business. But I can assure you that this is nothing more than a delusion. An average breeder will never succeed in building a business and living at the expense of cats, and this is not required, because the breeder is a completely ordinary citizen of his country, who, like everyone else, has a profession or specialty and earns money from his work. Breeding is a hobby, both financially and time-consuming.
You will be surprised, but according to the rules of most, if not all, feline organizations, a cattery can be registered with just one breeding cat! Therefore, you will not see hundreds of cats and kittens there.
If it wasn’t profitable, they wouldn’t do it! – breeders often hear in response. But, since the purpose and motive of breeding cats is not initially a material component, breeders continue to engage in this difficult, but such an interesting hobby, despite the lack of any profitability. So what then? First, love for cats as such. Secondly, love for cats of a certain breed. And, thirdly, the desire to develop this breed of cats, to preserve and improve it, to learn to see it and understand trends, the desire to get a cat close to the ideal, to leave its mark on breeding. For some, all this seems like stupid absurdity and a useless exercise. But for breeders, this is an important part of their life. In the end, everyone goes crazy in their own way and probably has every right to be. Someone is rafting down the rivers, someone is constantly traveling, someone is painting pictures, and the breeder strives to get the perfect cat. As part of the cattery, they breed, as a rule, one, maximum two breeds of cats. But there are also multi-breed nurseries specializing in several breeds – this is more an exception than a rule. I’ll explain why. Seriously breeding several breeds is very difficult. Keeping enough cats in the house together for at least minimal progress and development of the breed is a very difficult task even within the same breed, let alone several. Therefore, as a rule, nurseries are still monobreed. Thus, from the foregoing, we conclude that the nursery is not a shelter or a farm. It is, most often, two or three cats that live freely in the breeder’s house as a pet and full family members. The purpose of the existence of the nursery is a feasible contribution to the preservation, improvement and development, as a rule, of one breed in which it specializes. Therefore, there is no endless flow of kittens there, there is only, as a rule, one litter from each cat per year (according to the rules of some felinological organizations, three litters are allowed in two years).
Business or Hobby?
Of course, kittens are born in catteries. You can’t get away from this and without it you won’t achieve any pedigree progress. The birth of kittens is not a thoughtless process, but a well-planned one. An experie…
Of course, kittens are born in catteries. You can’t get away from this and without it you won’t achieve any pedigree progress. The birth of kittens is not a thoughtless process, but a well-planned one. An experienced breeder thinks through the generation and sets themselves a certain specific goal. Therefore, some kittens do not leave their home, but continue to participate in breeding. Of course, the other part of the kittens are offered for sale. But what is it, business or hobby?
The answer to this question from my point of view is quite apparent – a hobby. Although sometimes, after four or five years of successful breeding in the best periods, it may come close to self-sufficiency.
Don’t believe it? Calculate the costs yourself using the example of a typical nursery for a novice breeder – two breeding cats at home.
- Purchasing the felines: Cats with breeding rights are expensive. Sometimes very expensive! Depending on the breed, prices for one kitten, on average, start from $2,000 and up.
- Participation in exhibitions: a cat must be exhibited at least twice – this is a requirement of a number of felinological organizations and clubs to receive so-called divorce ratings. But if you have a cat of quite a show or a rare breed, you want to show it much more often – this is for both advertisement and networking. Moreover, I believe that a beginner simply needs to constantly participate in exhibitions – this is how views on the breed and its development trends are formed, experience and knowledge are adopted from experienced breeders and experts. Therefore, one way or another, exhibitions are part of breeding and a huge part of the budget. The average cost of participation of one cat in the exhibition is $75+. Add to this the costs of veterinary examinations and obtaining certificates from the veterinary practitioner (this is mandatory for all cats participating in exhibitions), as well as the overhead costs of traveling exhibitions held abroad, in which you have to participate in order to close high titles (transportation costs, hotel, food, etc.).
- Purchase of necessary accessories for cats and future kittens: trays, complexes and climbers, playpens for kittens, carriers, nail cutters, beds, exhibition professional cosmetics and much, much more.
- Naturally, high-quality nutrition: good dry food, meat, decent canned food and preserves, cream, cottage cheese. As well as filler for trays. For one cat, on average, it takes at least $100-200+ a month.
- Veterinary services that are expensive, especially if the pet gets sick. At a minimum, this is the vaccination of adults and all newborn kittens. I will single out the costs associated with obstetric care as a separate line, since it is not uncommon to have to resort to the help of surgeons and perform a cesarean section on a cat. This is not counting the fact that postpartum problems may arise and you will have to treat the mother cat. Artificially feed the newborn kittens, that is, prepare a mixture for them every two hours, and also massage the tummy. In this connection, ask at work to provide labor leave or take leave at your own expense.
- He cost of documenting breeding: membership fees to the club, registration of a cattery, registration of kittens, registration, registration of metrics and pedigrees for kittens.
- Marketing expenses: creation of a website for your own cattery, domain registration, hosting services, advertising and promotional products (business cards, pocket calendars as handouts at exhibitions).
And after all this spending and incredible effort, a cat may never get pregnant at all, a cat may give birth to one kitten, a cat may have a difficult birth, and none of the kittens may survive. Don’t think it’s that rare. Unfortunately, there are many such cases.
And even if everything goes well, the cat will give birth to normal healthy kittens (on average 3-4 kittens).
How much do you think they will have to cost to at least bring the breeder closer to payback?
