So you have taken the plunge and decided to start breeding cats. I bet you are excited and, if you are honest, a little bit scared too. Good. That tells me you are taking it seriously, because breeding cats is a huge responsibility and a lot can (and will) go wrong.
Here is the thing that keeps me up at night. Most newbie breeders repeat the same handful of mistakes, over and over, when those mistakes are entirely avoidable. If only they would listen to the breeders who have already walked this path and slipped on every banana skin going, there would be far fewer unhappy ex-breeders and far fewer unhappy ex-breeding cats.
I will try my best not to sound like a grumpy old man. I will almost certainly fail. But if you are serious about giving breeding your best shot, read on.
This article sits alongside my complete guide to breeding Siamese cats, so if you want the full picture, start there and use this as your list of pitfalls to dodge.
1. Going in blissfully ignorant
Plenty of new breeders have no clue what is actually involved. They have done no research at all, so they have no chance of avoiding the pitfalls. At some point you are going to face damage to your home, expensive vet bills, no social life, and cats and kittens that die. These are inevitable hardships. If you do not know they are coming, you cannot decide in advance whether you are willing and able to cope. Go in with your eyes open or do not go in at all.
2. A poor choice of foundation queen
Buy the first kitten offered and you will pay for it down the road. Honestly, anyone willing to sell you a breeding cat without getting to know you first is not someone you should be buying from. Find a breeder, not a kitten. Your foundation girl should come from proven healthy lines where mum, grandma and great-grandma all reared healthy litters. She should be healthy, of good temperament, meet the breed standard, be free from serious show faults, be registered for breeding and come with a five-generation pedigree. One extra tip: start showing her. The show hall is where you will meet other breeders and judges, and where you will learn the most.
3. Getting the paperwork wrong
If you have never bought a breeding cat before, you might not know what you need. It is simple. You need the registration document showing the kitten is on the active register, a five-generation pedigree so you can plan future matings, and for a male, a certificate of entirety. Without these you cannot use your kitten for breeding. Once you start, you will also need to supply new owners with their own registration documents and pedigrees. Do it properly or do not do it at all.
4. Not feeding a quality diet
A good diet is essential for any cat, and even more so for a breeding queen or stud. Do not confuse a quality food with a well-marketed brand name. Some of the famous brands on the telly are what I call McDonalds for cats – fine as an occasional treat, not as the only thing on the menu. I feed mine a mix of good wet and dry food plus titbits of chicken, turkey and fish. The piece of advice that has served me best in all my years: spend more on your food and you will spend less at the vets.
5. Treating cats like breeding stock
This one drives me crazy. Your cats are your pets first, always. Keeping them in cages or pens at the bottom of the garden is no way to keep a pet. The one exception is a stud cat, where it is normal to provide proper outdoor stud quarters – I cover that in detail in my article on going out to stud and keeping a stud. Treat cats like stock and their temperaments suffer, and they pass those temperaments straight to their kittens. Nobody wants to buy an unfriendly kitten.
6. Failing to keep learning
Some novices stop trying to learn the moment they think they know enough to get started. You will never know everything about breeding cats. Read books, websites and critiques, go to shows, talk to judges, attend seminars, join a club, steward, and above all find an experienced breeder willing to mentor you. Learning by doing, with guidance, is always the best way.
7. Buying in too many cats
When you first start, you will spend a fair bit of time drooling with envy over other breeders’ cats. Then you win a few rosettes, the doors open, and suddenly the big breeders are offering you kittens. Wonderful – until you want to keep something you bred yourself and find there is no room at the inn. Remember that every cat you buy in could be a cat of your own breeding you then cannot keep. There is always a limit to how many cats you can properly look after.
8. Refusing to listen to good advice
Sometimes the truth hurts. You may not want to hear from your mentor that keeping back a small, pet-quality male from your first litter is a poor idea, or from a judge that the kitten you bred has a tail fault and would be happier in front of the fire in a pet home. A smart person listens to the people who have their cats’ best interests at heart, even when it stings.
9. Refusing to even consider rehoming
If you breed for any length of time, at some point you will need to consider rehoming retired breeding cats. Keep every cat you ever bought or bred and within a few years you will be overrun. Picture life as a retired queen at the bottom of the pecking order, surrounded by squabbling, hormones and ill-behaved kittens. For many cats a quiet new home with one or two companions and no kittens is the retirement they actually deserve. A home for life should never become a life sentence.
10. Breeding too many kittens
Breed too many and you cannot find homes, your queens become run down for want of rest, run-down queens produce sick kittens, your bills spiral and you stop enjoying it. Rest your queens between litters – mine rest six to twelve months – rest yourself so you can enjoy every litter, and rest your house too, because churning out litter after litter is how persistent bugs take hold.
11. Keeping back from every litter
The temptation to keep a kitten from every mating is strong, but you must be stronger. Keep back too many and you are heading for squabbling, illness, spraying and sky-high bills. The question I always ask myself: will keeping this kitten move me towards my breeding goals without harming my existing cats, my family or my own wellbeing? If the answer is not a firm yes, I leave space for the one truly special cat I hope to breed.
12. Thinking every kitten is a show kitten
Most pet buyers have no desire to show. Hold every kitten back for a show home and you will be disappointed, with a houseful of so-called show kittens running riot. As a new breeder you also do not yet have the eye to judge how good your kittens really are, and your rose-tinted glasses will be firmly glued on. I have bred far more good cats that went as pets than ever graced the show bench, and I am completely at peace with that.
13. Selling kittens on the active register
Another one that drives me crazy. How can a brand-new breeder claim the knowledge to decide a kitten should be bred from? They cannot reliably spot breeding potential, and they rarely know enough about the health of their lines. Selling every kitten on the active register simply because it fetches a better price or sells faster is a practice no genuine breeder should touch.
14. Being unable or unwilling to sell kittens
Nobody sets out to keep a whole litter, yet some breeders end up doing exactly that – either because they cannot bear to part with them, or because they never learnt how to find good homes. If you cannot let kittens go, you will have a very short breeding career and a very overcrowded home. There is a real knack to building a reputation that brings the right buyers to you.
15. Agreeing to crazy contracts
This trips up new and experienced breeders alike. I am not saying refuse all restrictions – that is unrealistic – but do not be so desperate that you agree to terms that bite you later. I have seen people agree to run every future mating past the breeder, to spay the queen after one or two litters, to never sell or keep a kitten for breeding, even to hand back a kitten free of charge, all while paying full price. Do not do it. And if you do agree to a minor, reasonable restriction, stick to it even when it is not legally binding. Break your word in the cat fancy and you are finished – word spreads like wildfire.
Want the full breeding picture?
My complete guide to breeding Siamese cats walks you through every stage, from choosing your queen to waving the kittens off.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the single biggest mistake new cat breeders make?
Going in without doing any research. Almost every other mistake flows from this one. If you do not know about the vet bills, the heartbreak and the rest your queens need, you cannot prepare for them or decide honestly whether breeding is for you.
How long should I rest my queen between litters?
I rest mine six to twelve months between litters so they can fully recover their condition. A run-down queen produces weaker, sicker kittens, so rest is in everyone’s interest – including yours.
Should I sell my kittens on the active register?
Only when you genuinely understand your lines and can judge breeding potential, which a brand-new breeder rarely can. Most kittens should go to loving pet homes on the non-active register, reserving active registration for the occasional kitten you are confident has something to offer the breed.
Do I have to rehome my retired breeding cats?
Not necessarily, but you should be open to it. Many retired queens are far happier in a quiet home of their own than at the bottom of a busy cattery’s pecking order. It is a kindness, not a failure.
For balanced, breed-society guidance to read alongside this, the GCCF’s breeding for beginners pages are well worth your time.
Ross has bred and shown Siamese cats for many years. You can read more about him and this site on the about page.
