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

[borderdawn]

I know what you are saying Emm yes, and I think we agree on most points
Dawn.

[dinahsmum]

I would never, ever, ever, breed an animal (because I couldn't trust myself to let other people take them and look after them properly for ever) but if no-one did then there would be no kittens for the majority of us on CP (i.e. moggies)
Am I hugely out of touch? Is the world full of FLV mogs? None of my prevoius 4 moggies have been ill, but I'm willing to be educated on this.

[Emm]

I don't know how bad the problem is - but the rescue cat I had died from it

[Kazz]

Well I've read everyones posts and think we are all almost singing from the same hymn sheet as cat people, we want healthy happy cats, and this is my two penneth worth.

I have moggies, always have, I've briefly/fleetingly considered getting a pedigree but can't really see it. Unlike dogs, a cat,is a cat,is a cat,moggie or pedigree (I may be being nieve here) but the cat hasn't been "altered" by man to any great extent to suit a certain place/job in the home.

I can't see us ever running out of moggies, although the idea of no unwanted kittens/cats would be fantastic. But to specificaly go out of your way to breed a moggie litter is not a way I would want to go, that is my own choice. Other people choose other ways, and thats fine. My cats have always been "done" and always will do. In the future I will home a kitten/adult cat from a rescue, or even a stray that just turns up.

However like DM I dislike catpages when we are in disaray however a healthy well balanced and sensible debate never hurt anyone, and I am willing to participate as long as it does not get personal.

Karen

[dinahsmum]

I agree - much singing from a very similar hymn sheet!
We all put cat welfare top of the agenda.
It will help if this forum stays approachable and human. (How can baby kittens be a source of disharmony?)
Education, with a smile, and a helping hand, is the best way for CatPages. Others can beat the disciplinarian drum.

[Booktigger]

I'm a bit late coming into this, but I see the main prob with breeding moggies is that quite a lot of time, the mum cat has accidentally got out, so the father is unknown, and so no idea if he has any health issues (and not just things like FIV, and FeLV - they think only about 2% of the cat population has FIV, although I dont know if they take ferals into account in that, things like heart conditions etc), or even if there is only one dad. And not all of the mum cats will have been vaccinated either, whereas proper breeders will screen cats, make sure they aren't overbred etc. I suppose if there was a way to make sure that they come from healthy parents, then it isn't too bad - except there are already so many kittens, it isn't properly kitten season yet and the rescue I foster for have had 12 kittens in, one mum and kittens were dumped, and one were given to us cos hte owner was pregnant and didn't want to deal with a pregnant cat. I think I would always go for moggies rather than pedigrees, I wouldn't want to risk them getting stolen and like soemone else, there are some pedigrees I dont like - one of which is a Persian, and there are an awful lot of them who end up in rescues, even my rescues vet said that being a pedigree doesn't stop them being ill treated, and with PErsians, or any longhaired cats, it seems to be more cos of grooming.

[DiddyDawn]

Luke, you can still get pedigrees in rescue. I do cat rescue and mainly deal with ferals and I tame them down and rehome. Last year I had Maine Coons and Norwegians all from the same house, all young and all unspayed and intact. The first thing I did was get them done.....moggies or pedigrees, it doesn't matter to me, if they come here they are done......no ifs or buts. When you deal in rescue you realise how many unwanted cats or kittens there are. A few months ago a lady acquired 2 kittens from somewhere, I told her when they were big enough to contact me and I would get them done for her with no charge to herself. I saw her a couple of days ago and the female was due any day, in fact she had them yesterday.....this was caused by stupidity The kittens could either be the brother's or another cat as she was letting them roam as well. These are the people that annoy me and really get my back up. There is no excuse not to have your cats neutered unless of course you are a reputable breeder. It's alright saying let them have litters but what happens when there's no where for them to go? People go on about shelters that put young healthy animals to sleep and they blame the shelters........if owners got their pets neutered, we wouldn't be dealing with this problem and I wouldn't feel like I'm banging my head against the wall all the time.

[random]

I would be personaly devestated if there were no more moggies, not all of us can pay £300+ for each cat easily...

[DiddyDawn]

Originally Posted by borderdawn

Erm, I think you now how I feel!

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!

That is actually untrue. Any uneutered cat has a possibility of carrying killers diseases and it isn't as common in the feral colonies as people think. Any I've had tested have all come back negative up to now. Most feral colonies are made up of peoples pets that are uneutered and they've had to turn wild to survive and because their off spring aren't used to humans, the cycle continues. Don't give people the impression ferals are disease carriers, they have a hard enough life as it is without people making it worse, most are nice healthy cats that have a hard time.

On your other points I have to agree

[DiddyDawn]

Originally Posted by random

I would be personaly devestated if there were no more moggies, not all of us can pay £300+ for each cat easily...

There are plenty in rescues