discovored a back yard breeder in my town

[Syrena]

Not only her kittens, but also the mther of kittens. Surely, for the cat it is a big effort to deliver babys so offen.
Poor thing, she has to be all worn out after all these pregnancies. I think it is very cruel think to do to the cat!

[spotty cats]

Originally Posted by rhythmicgoldfish

wow I'm sorry i guess by the time i got to the bottom of her page i was so bothered that i didn't even notice that it was a singleton litter I'm sorry about that

The cross breeding is so wrong, can't blame you for being upset especially as she is local to you and it does seem like the girls might be over-bred I was just saying breeding is not so black and white.

Over here we have limits on litters, of course this only applies to registered breeders. 2 litters every 12 months, or 18 months in some states, unless under vets advice (like after a singleton for example). I'm not sure if the US associations have the same rules?

[rhythmicgoldfish]

yesterday i walked into my local vet owned pet store to buy cat food and i met the BYB's daughter who works in the pet store portion of the vets practice, we talked for a little while, i put on my most judgement free face and when i asked her why her mom bred the Himalayan crosses she said that it was because "lots of people think Siamese cats are really mean but they love the colors so when they hear that we have hymilayan crosses they are like oh if they are part hymilayan they wont be mean" she said that the cross breeds are really popular .... ick it made my skin crawl ... she didn't even have a basic knowledge of color genetics she thought that the male threw the colors

[rhythmicgoldfish]

my husband thinks i should invite the breeder out for coffee and encourage her to join an association and maybe stick to breeding purebreds ... she's not violating and of our states laws and it sounds like she is doing this for money so i highly doubt anything that i or anyone else said would change her practices but perhaps if she thought she could charge more for registered purebreds she would start breeding more responsably

[MowMow]

The most difficult thing about back yard breeders... most don't realize/think that they ARE one.

[rhythmicgoldfish]

Originally Posted by MowMow

The most difficult thing about back yard breeders... most don't realize/think that they ARE one.

i bit the bullet and emailed her and this seems to be the case ... she actually seems to be pretty nice

[BotanyBlack]

Trying to convert a BYB to a responsible one is a great step. Kudos on you for approaching it in a way to hopefully keep her from getting defensive. Hopefully she will sit and listen.

[BryanOwnee]

It's comparable I think to a drug business. Because ppl buy these cats, some other breed them for money. I don't support this and I blame both group for that. I'm not crazy about pure breeds breeders either, but they are the only ones to keep breeds clean.

[spotty cats]

Good luck, it will be a hard sell getting her to spay/neuter all her current cats and start over with CFA, TICA or ACFA registered cats.

But I do actually know a breeder who began as a backyarder, and after being told the correct way to do things she re-started with a proper program and has been a registered (and well respected I might add) breeder for over 13 years.

This is exactly why all my kittens leave already spayed or neutered! They will never be involved in BYBing

[cdj1975]

forgive me I'm a dummy when it comes to this. I can see why someone would pay a lot of money for a dog bred for certain traits (hunting, herding, ect) but why would someone pay $500 for a kitten. I will bet there is a box of free kittens within a mile of you somewhere ok maybe 5-10 miles if you live in the middle of no where at any given time. Both of my cats showed up and were free, well untill the vet bill came anyway, but still cheaper than $500.