We have an almost 50/50 split of pets and breeding cats. Some retired breeding cats aren't suitable to live in a household so they stay here with us. Stud cats need company when they don't have females so we have some pet cats for them to live with - some are retired breeders, 2 are rescues. We have kept 2 kittens without any intention of breeding and show them as neuters. It is great fun and we always have cats to show so can support the fancy when queens are calling, studs are working and/or we have no kittens to show. We enjoy showing one of our moggies as well - and so does he. To us, they are all pets first and breeders second.
There is also the health aspect. Quite a few of our retired breeding cats could be rehomed but, due to their influence in our programme, we keep them so they can be screened every year to help us build a bigger picture of health in our lines. We also have cats with poor hearts and we could not just pass on the problem to someone else. We know the cats inside and out, we will be able to spot any slight changes in their behaviour immediately and get them seen to. Plus the stress of changing home could be enough to advance their condition so it just isn't worth considering.
We have bought 2 fairly young girls who were never going to be good for breeding so we let them go live their lives as pets. We have had a few who are not suited to a communal living environment so they, too, are retired early and rehomed. If they are happy in their surroundings here with us then we see no need to rehome - we get attached to them all and they get attached to each other. They all have a story, we remember their births or the day of anticipation when they arrived. They have their own quirks and personalities and the loss of one (either from age, illness or rehoming) takes a while to get over.
We had a Pixie Bob who used to greet us by jumping from a height on to our shoulders each morning. She started being picked on after she was neutered and she just wasn't as happy and confident as she had been. So she went to a friend and is adored, but it gave our hearts a pang every morning for months when we would open the door and brace ourselves for a cat that wasn't there to jump on us anymore.
So we do it because we love cats, we love showing and sometimes we have to .
Steven
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