If you got your cat from a Pet Store, it is a very unfortunate fact that they commonly get their kittens from kitten mills. These kittens/cats are rarely of a quality that is high enough to breed. A kitten or cat that you found, was given to you, or was from a shelter or rescue situation is also very unlikely to be of a quality that the standard requires to perpetuate a litter. In the above mentioned situations, there is little or no information regarding your cat/kittens heritage to make a sound breeding decision. With little or no information, you have no history of possible faults physically or visually that may be in the lines of your cats ancestors. How without this information, can a proper mate be chosen? It can not.

If your kitten/cat came from one of the above situations, is it fair to ask more than it spend the rest of it's life in a safe, secure, loving home as a beloved pet?

Perhaps your cat came from a breeder but, the breeder has determined this cat as a pet. Your breeder knows best. he/she knows if your cat or kitten has what it takes to be a successful breeder. If the breeder has marked the papers as not for breeding, heed the breeders advice. This cat is not for breeding and must be altered. Your breeder knows the genetics of your cat better than you.

When choosing to breed, you do take chances with the life of your pet as well as possibly a disastrous outcome with the litter. The experience of breeding your pet does not always turn out as happily as we may expect.

Each year, there are hundreds of cats put to sleep 98% of which are NOT purebreds. Therefore, it is not justifiable to breed your pet simply to breed. Many people think of breeding because they would like to have another cat "just like" theirs. Even when we breed two purebreds, the offspring can vary widely from their parents. When breeding two cats of an unknown heritage, "just like" your cat it is essentially impossible to accomplish a kitten "just like" yours. Your cat is one of a kind with a heritage that can not be repeated. In a mixed heritage cat, it is very likely that the littermates didn't even look like your cat!

It is more likely that what you love about your cat is his/her personality more so then anything else. If you are looking for another cat of mixed heritage, you are encouraged to go to your local shelter.

It is important that when considering breeding, we enter into the endeavor with the desire to preserve and better the breed, that we enter this endeavor equally with knowledge of the health and conformation of the siblings and ancestors of our cat. Even then, there are no guarantees that this cat will produce a positive contribution to the breed. It is important that we consider carefully what we will accomplish by breeding our cat. If it is merely to produce kittens, you should not be a breeder, nor should your cat.

What is a Breed Standard

What is Considered A Responsible Breeder

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