Moggies... is it ever right to breed them?

[Snoof]

I don't think we'll ever run out of moggies. I think if people were responsible and either bred responsibly or got their cats altered, the number of moggies in rescues would go down massively, but we wouldn't run out of moggies. I know of people who had litters every year but never once gave a single cat to a rescue and always found good homes for the kittens (our first cat came from them). The problem, in my opinion, lies with people who don't breed responsibly or breed for the wrong reasons - or just fail to alter their cats and cause numerous litters to be born as a result without even caring for the kittens resulting.

[PurpleJackdaw]

Seeing as this thread was started due to me posting pictures of Tillys kittens I had better give my side of the story

I did think very hard over the matter and as you know I decided to go ahead with a litter ,Tilly will be spayed after the kittens are weaned ,the kittens will be raised in the house and want for nothing as will their mother ,They will only be rehomed to people I feel can give them a good home and I will offer any advice I can to them and if things go wrong I will take the kittens back and rehome them to a more suitable home or keep them
I dont feel the only cats to be alowed to be born should be pedigree ones as many people do not want a pedigree cat with the risk of them being stolen if they let their cats outside
I totally agree that many "moggies" should not be born to people who care little for their cats or cant be bothered to get them neutered or do it for profit
As long as breeding is done for the right reasons and with the care of the cats being the most important thing
Why is it deemed fine for some people to churn out litter after litter of "Pedigree" cats but totally wrong for one well cared for litter of "Moggies" to be born ?
Pedigree cats do also end up in rescue centers
I have said my piece on the matter and feel upset enough at the attacks directed at me so I will say no more on the matter

[Hreow]

I think we all *do* feel very strongly about unwanted kittens and cats. Nobody here thinks they're a good idea. I think we can debate the issue here until we are blue in the face, come up with cast-iron reasons, and it still won't change a thing, because I'd be willing to be that 99% of us are responsible about our cats.

I will do my very best to help limit the incessant flow of kittens to rescue-centers by neutering my animals, telling anyone I can about the benefits (only not *just* after they've had a litter - more effective later (kittens are cute to anyone, hooligan teen-cats less so)), donating as much money as I can afford to charities who neuter feral and uncared for cats and, bar Rover who was a luxury I'm very glad I get to experience, I have and will adopt second-hand cats. And who knows, I may even get to be mad cat-woman who looks after a sea of fur, if I outlive my better half.

[Emm]

I cannot see anything wrong with breeding moggies - so long as you are responsible and find homes for your kittens, agree to take them back if they are not wanted and not overbreed your female.

I have only ever had moggies. If I were to get another cat then it would be another moggy and it would have to be a kitten - I have done the rescuing an older cat and it was very difficult and I won't put all my animals through that again.

Pedigree cats also end up in rescue. Look at the Bengal Rescue on here - they can't cope with the amount of cats they need to re-home and yet they are pedigree cats!

[EmmaG]

Well I know we keep hearing of there being so many unwanted kittens and cats but how come when I wanted to get a kitten I couldn't find one for love nor money?? This has happened both times I have wanted a kitten, perhaps it must be where I live but there are hardly any adverts for cats or kittens in the papers. Even when I go to the RSPCA centre now they hardly have any kittens.

However I do believe that people should spay their female cats and neuter their male cats, both of my cats are done and so will any future cats, as I believe this to be in their best interests health wise.

I don't have a problem with anybody on catpages posting photos up of their kittens moggies for otherwise.

Also I own two moggies, at the time I didn't want purebreeds, I think as long as that person is looking after both the mother cat and kittens and they are not being irresponsible then I personally have no problems with seeing threads about moggie kittens.

[borderdawn]

Erm, I think you now how I feel!

Luke.
Yes your post was directed at me, whilst I value your opinion, I think at your age such decisions would not be yours to make. I have pedigree Cats, 2 of them, my other 4 Cats, past and present were rescue moggies, one was a "cross breed" bred by an idiot, I told you of him at the time.

To even say that there will not be any more moggies is ludicrous, there are plenty of silly people breeding them willy nilly, rescue centres are full of them, always will be, how responsible is it to breed more, when all "dog" people on here especially, wouldnt consider breeding a mongrel?

Health tests go out the window too, I bet most of the moggy litters have unknown fathers, no health tests, possible deadly disease carrier etc... Pedigree Cat breeders, at least the good ones will have all relevant health tests completed with favourable results BEFORE breeding, not let the Cat out and hope for the best!

Many moggy litters are fathered by feral Cats, my god the majority of those are probably carriers of the killer diseases if ever there were any!

So no, I dont think it is ever "right" to purposely breed moggies when this world is in dire straits as far as unwanted animals is concerned, and like I said if we were discussing breeding mongrels, there are not a lot that would think it right at all!
Dawn.

[Luke]

Originally Posted by borderdawn

Erm, I think you now how I feel!

Luke.
Yes your post was directed at me, whilst I value your opinion, I think at your age such decisions would not be yours to make. I have pedigree Cats, 2 of them, my other 4 Cats, past and present were rescue moggies, one was a "cross breed" bred by an idiot, I told you of him at the time.

To even say that there will not be any more moggies is ludicrous, there are plenty of silly people breeding them willy nilly, rescue centres are full of them, always will be, how responsible is it to breed more, when all "dog" people on here especially, wouldnt consider breeding a mongrel?

Health tests go out the window too, I bet most of the moggy litters have unknown fathers, no health tests, possible deadly disease carrier etc... Pedigree Cat breeders, at least the good ones will have all relevant health tests completed with favourable results BEFORE breeding, not let the Cat out and hope for the best!

Many moggy litters are fathered by feral Cats, my god the majority of those are probably carriers of the killer diseases if ever there were any!

So no, I dont think it is ever "right" to purposely breed moggies when this world is in dire straits as far as unwanted animals is concerned, and like I said if we were discussing breeding mongrels, there are not a lot that would think it right at all!
Dawn.

As i stated..it was not intended at anyone..there are plenty of folk on board that have both pedigree cats and moggies!
Yet again my age becomes an issue..not once did i say such a decision would be mine to make..i was merely posting my thoughts on the subject..i'm sorry i didn't know you had to be a certain age to be a cat lover..but thats fine, i shall just take myself to pastures new!

[borderdawn]

Dont be so stupid Luke, now you are acting like a child, I said I valued your opinion and I do, I dont however think such decisions would be a childs to make.
Dawn.

[Kim]

Well said Dawn - you always word things much better than me! (referring to your longer post btw!)

I have a pedigree cat too. He was bred by a responsible breeder and his parents had all the relevant health tests. He was vaccinated & insured before I had him at 12 weeks old and I had to sign an agreement saying I wouldn't breed using him. I have seen kittens in the rescue centre with cat flu, diseases, eyes so sticky they can't open them. If we have mum she is often unhealthy too. Many times people have brought in kittens saying their cat has just had them and they don't know what to do with them! At least they were respnsble enough to bring them in, but the message about neutering is still not reaching so many, sadly.

I wont say any more as I have said enough on the matter and you all know my feelings by now.

I do realise that most people on here are very responsible owners and I apologise to anyone who feels I was attacking them personally.

[Donna]

I dont care one way or other about moggies/pedigrees.

Only points I will raise to debate further are:

If there were no moggie litters then I would never of got Chloe or Misty as I couldnt afford a pedigree. So am glad they were there.

If we all stopped our moggies having kittens eventually there will be none. Just an elite group of pedigree kittens most people cannot afford.

Some people dont like pedigree cats. There are a lot of breeds that I really hate due to their specific look, but moggies come in all shapes and sizes so there are plenty to please everyone.

Thats just a few pointers - but the main question I want to know is:


Who says it is right to breed a pedigree but not a moggy? Both can end up in a shelter.