The world needs beautiful cats but I personally would never buy one from a breeder when there are so many moggies out there in need of homes. My partner only has the bengals because we heard they needed somewhere permanent. We are expecting it to take months for their personalities to come out but I've known a lot of cats in my time & I've never seen any as terrified of humans as these two.

I suppose cat rescues or boarding catteries are 'cruel' aswell - seriously put it into some perspective.

I've never penned or caged (apart from at cat shows - or are they cruel aswell?) my cats but I can also understand how it can be necessary (see Elaines points)

I know people that spend every evening out with their studs, with a blanket and a book aswell as seeing them during the day too. Studs are given their areas to keep them happy not sad.

As for the other comment re rescue - absolutely there are too many moggies out there, but we are talking about pedigree cat breeders out there - if they didn't exist then there would be no breeds - the good breeders are breeding carefully to preserve and improve good health, and furthering a breed. Its the people mixing breeds carelessly doing no health testing, not neutering their cats and letting them roam that have caused and continue to cause the issue in over population in rescue centres. Again its all about perspective.

I re-homed Raven from a breeder who kept many cats in pens. It was upsetting to see as I hadn't anticipated seeing so many.. It looked like a cat zoo. I can understand what has been said about breeding for quality lines etc and it being impractical to keep them all in the home. I don't understand the need to keep so many. I would not say the cats were distressed or ill treated. The breeder was very proud and affectionate with the cats. It is just difficult to relate to as we as pet owners love to cuddle and pamper our beloved animals...

I think sometimes there can be confusion between pens and proper outdoor houses with runs - those are in my opinion acceptable for a breeder...but I don't like small pen's either.

I agree the right kind of "cages" are a really good choice for most breeders, if not all! I don't however see the point of having 15-20 queens and 5-10 studs in what would be considered "cat prison" to me! There is no way that someone could house that many cats in dog kennels/cages and give them the proper care and attention they need. Like the breeder we got BB from had all of her queens inside her home. Of course she had a seperate room for the mothers and babies, and a kitten room. However, all of her queens(3) were bought at the same time and were introduced as kittens,so I would think that would cut down on a lot of issues with the females. At the time she only had one stud and one up and coming that was about 5 months old(not sexually mature of course) and ALL of them were inside her home! That was when we went to pick BB out! When we went to get her to take home it was a different story! Before the house did not smell at all. I honestly would have never guessed that she had one cat let alone 5 adults and 2 litters of kittens,went back it was a different story! Even though it had only been a matter of weeks the males had started to spray to mark their territory and then the females. Se said it was like an uphill battle to try and keep everything sanitary! So long story short she built a building for each of her studs with an attached enclosure for them to go out! This is not "cat prision" I have read many breeders even go to the extent of having a female spayed and placing her with a stud for him to have a companion! This is not NEGLECT! I do not agree that having mulitple cats in the small cages that are meant for showing/travel!!! But having a male/female in a large enclosure is not Bad! IMO there would not be as many moggies in shelters if more people had their cats in appropriate cages! Don't get me wrong (sterilized) cats shouldn't be but if all cats that were intact had a limit to what could get to them nd what they could get to, there would be far less moggies and especially in shelters!

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You really can't have it both ways Elaine. You can't say that breeding is about mass producing kittens, and that we "squeamish" should expect cats to be kept in cages, but that the wonderful breeders have their best interests in mind and are showering them with love at the same time. Sorry, those two things do not equate. Either you believe that a hard life behind bars is unfortunate and realistic consequence of "mass producing kittens", or you believe that a breeder is doing what is best for his/her cats.

And to Lacemoat... you are setting the bar pretty low by comparing a breeders home to a cat rescue are you not? I thought the whole point of doing business with a breeder was that they treat their cats and kittens much better than a shelter.

To me the litmus test for things like this is: "If I was that cat, is that the way I would want to be treated?".

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The little monsters 3

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Lollo

There is a vast difference between using pens in a good way and a bad way. It's a necessary thing but when done correctly (i.e by responsible breeders) it does not mean the cats are mistreated! Ok, they aren't going to get the same attention maybe as a pet but otherwise we wouldn't have the healthy, beautiful cats we do! My breeder takes a glass of wine and a blanket out and sits with her cats in the pens all evening as well as though the day! I think the cat's get more attention off her than her husband does!! I'd rather have a well socialised, healthy and happy kitten from a breeder who has studs in pens than a kitten of unknown parentage, with possible health problems that are rehomed at 7 weeks old! A breeders job is a very hard and in most cases financially and emotionally draining job at times and personally I think the good breeders are doing a wonderful job and that should be recognised!

Elaine, what is your breeding pre-fix name if you don't mind me asking?

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