Why do breeders find new homes for adult cats?
Most people who breed live normal-sized homes and apartments. They can (and should) only keep as many adult cats as they can give plenty of love and attention. A breeding program requires a certain number of adults to keep viable: you need a few queens, perhaps a stud or two.
Imagine, now, that you are a breeder and that you have decided that six adult cats is your limit. You feel you can care for and give six adult cats all the love and attention they deserve. You have six breeding cats right now, and one of them has a littler of kittens. In that litter is a female kitten with great potential. You decide that this cat will become a breeder for you, and that you will spay the queen whose quality is not as good. After all, it is important for a breeder to constantly improve the quality of the breeding cats.
You have spayed the queen, but now you have seven cats. You decided six would be your strict limit and know it is important to the emotional health of your cats to stick to your original notion that you can only keep six. The cat has produced a few litters of kittens for you, so it is time for her to retire to a home where she can be the beloved pet in a one- or two-cat household, a center of a family's attention, rather than the seventh cat of a breeding program.
Or some cats just do not like living with a number of other cats. They are people cats, not cat cats. They would prefer to have a human all their own, instead of being one of a pack.
Deciding to pet out an adult cat is an act of love on the part of the breeder. The hardest part of the breeding is letting go of your cats, especially the adults - because good breeders become attached to every cat they produce. But it is important to an ethical breeder to recognize the need to keep the numbers down to a level where every cat gets the individual attention they deserve. Breeders must have the emotional and physical health of their cats uppermost in their minds.
Most people who breed live normal-sized homes and apartments. They can (and should) only keep as many adult cats as they can give plenty of love and attention. A breeding program requires a certain number of adults to keep viable: you need a few queens, perhaps a stud or two.
Imagine, now, that you are a breeder and that you have decided that six adult cats is your limit. You feel you can care for and give six adult cats all the love and attention they deserve. You have six breeding cats right now, and one of them has a littler of kittens. In that litter is a female kitten with great potential. You decide that this cat will become a breeder for you, and that you will spay the queen whose quality is not as good. After all, it is important for a breeder to constantly improve the quality of the breeding cats.
You have spayed the queen, but now you have seven cats. You decided six would be your strict limit and know it is important to the emotional health of your cats to stick to your original notion that you can only keep six. The cat has produced a few litters of kittens for you, so it is time for her to retire to a home where she can be the beloved pet in a one- or two-cat household, a center of a family's attention, rather than the seventh cat of a breeding program.
Or some cats just do not like living with a number of other cats. They are people cats, not cat cats. They would prefer to have a human all their own, instead of being one of a pack.
Deciding to pet out an adult cat is an act of love on the part of the breeder. The hardest part of the breeding is letting go of your cats, especially the adults - because good breeders become attached to every cat they produce. But it is important to an ethical breeder to recognize the need to keep the numbers down to a level where every cat gets the individual attention they deserve. Breeders must have the emotional and physical health of their cats uppermost in their minds.
