Money & Animals- What would you pay??

For me it is not that I don't respect the good breeders... the ones that actually care about their animals and don't just see them as money makers. Its just that I think about all of the animals waiting for homes in shelters that might not get another chance.

How much I'm prepared to spend depends on what Im looking for. I paid about $700 for Mosi, but if I was looking for a show or breeding quality Somali I'd be prepared to pay more. Not sure I'd be prepared to pay some of the silly prices I've read about, eg several thousands for an F1 bengal, but I guess that would depend on whether I wanted an F1 bengal (or whatever) and whether I could afford it. I paid about $25 for Jaffa from a rescue 9 years ago and would expect to pay at least $100 today for a rescue cat - rescues have expenses such as vets bills and need adopters to pay a realistic amount of money when they adopt a cat.

I think it's good that purebred cats aren't too cheap otherwise they would attract people wanting to sell them on at a profit.

I respect reputable breeders and think it's a shame they are so often tarred with the same brush as the backyard breeders and masses who don't bother to neuter - it's the latter who are responsible for cat overpopulation and those groups who should be the target of criticism.

I don't think I would ever pay for a cat. I never have before. Mine have all just shown up, and if not that way I would probably get a free to good home cat from the paper or whatever. Not because I'm cheap, but because I feel they are in the most need.

For a dog I would probably pay max $500, but I'm not a dog person so I probably wouldn't ever get one to begin with, but if I did I would be super picky about it..

If i Really fell in love with a specific breed *cough*grey tabby maine coon girl*cough* then I'd pay whatever i had to, but also I'd adopt a shelter kitty or two (probably two) to balance things up.

I only really have much experience at buying birds, so I'll stick to that.

Jasper my Senegal Parrot cost me £350 (at today's exchange rate that's over $650 USD). He was not direct from a breeder, he had ended up in a large aviary for sale as his previous owners didn't want him after a week of having him still their loss, my gain and all that. I wish I could find out who his breeder was so that I could let them know that he had a loving home. At least he had been handled regularly and hadn't lost his tameness.

Medium to large parrots tend to be very expensive to buy as pets, depending on the availability of the species you want. It is a lot cheaper to buy a breeding bird, so it's a bit different to buying a cat from a breeder! This is because to be pet quality, a parrot requires hand-feeding every couple of hours from when it is a week old, and constant socialisation with humans. They are not domesticated, and a baby parrot that is raised by its parents and not handled may be wary of humans, these however make better breeding birds or aviary birds as they get along with others of their own species better than their human companions. A bird that has been hand-reared may not ever want to breed with another of its own species. It is difficult and time-consuming to socialise a larger parrot once it is weaned.

So to buy a hand-tame bird can cost an awful lot of money, you are paying for the breeder's time, skill and effort in feeding and socialising, and interrupted sleep.

Larger parrots that have been rescued are often not suitable to be adopted out to anyone other than a breeder, an aviary situation, or very experienced bird-trainer/rehabilitator. From neglect situations, they require a lot of time and skill and may never be socialised to humans again.

Smaller parrots (budgies, cockatiels, lovebirds), are generally easier to tame, and I would take a rescue of any of these species in a shot if I had an area suitable for bird quarantine in my home.

Since all of my other cats have came from shelters or showed up at my front door, at this stage of my life I wanted to choose an exact breed and raise it from a kitten so I paid $800 for a Himmy kitten with champion parentage. I do not give a hoot about the parentage because I will never show this cat, I just wanted a pet and for once wanted something very specific. I did think I deserved that after having had 7 other cats that were feral and keeping them all until they crossed the bridge.

My dear husband has brought in a few strays from work over the years, others have just showed up and decided to move in with us. This morning Rosie (who is supposed to be the across the street neighbor's cat) spent a half an hour on the recliner with me while I had my coffee.

I've never purchased a pedigree kitty from a breeder, but not out of any animosity towards breeders. It's just that in my early years, I didn't have the extra cash. Now that my son is grown up, and on his own I have a little extra. I really love the Maine Coon and Norweigan Forest Cats, but my hubby would love to have a Bengal.

I think at some point I will get hubby his Bengal, but we have three residents and Rosie so I just don't know how soon it will be.

Originally Posted by Natalie_ca

Because there are breeders who post on this site, this question is a dicey one. I want to say firstly, that I don't begrudge those who exercise their right of choice and choose to spend so much money on one animal, or those that choose to breed pedigree animals for profit. And that the following is strictly my own opinion.

However, for me I love animals way to much that I just can't justify spending so much money on one animal when that money can be used to save / help many. I'd rather adopt a stray that is homeless, or rescue an animal from a bad situation than to pay to have yet another animal brought into this world while there are so many abandoned and abused ones.

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I couldn't agree with you more

At this moment in my life, I personally couldn't justify spending hundreds of pounds for a pedigree, and there aren't that many pedigrees I love the look of so much I would want to. I dont think people are wrong for doing it though, but I dont think it is for me. But, at the moment, I have my 'type' of cats that I feel are needy, who knows what will happen when that changes. I think if we got a pedigree in that I fell in love with and there was a chance it woudl fit it, I may do it.

Most of the cats I have gotten fre with the exception of 2 that we spent $100 on from a pet store and they were not purebred thats cause i fell in love with them and couldnt leave them in the cage with people sticking thier fingers and poking them all the time. The cages were icky and they were so sweet.

But I would spend good money for a cat/kitten that i bonded with. I would also buy a purebred from a breeder before i would buy one cheaper somewhere else if i wanted a purebred and there are a few im looking into.

Around my area we have alot of byb and if im gonna spend that type of money (like 300 or up) I want to know the health and where it comes from. So yes i would buy from a trusted breeder.

I paid $50.00 a piece for both Sapphire and Mia.So, I can say that I would pay $$ for a purebred cat.But, I don't have the $$ and I am at my personal limit right now.

I've owned moggies from shelters and of course breed cats. Oriental shorthairs, siamese and bengals. I paid as little as $15 to adopt the domestics I owned.
I've paid as much as $3500 for a full rights bengal.

I'm going to keep my nose out of the breed cat vs shelter cat discussion and let it suffice to say that all cats need and deserve a loving home.

Originally Posted by Kai Bengals

I've owned moggies from shelters and of course breed cats. Oriental shorthairs, siamese and bengals. I paid as little as $15 to adopt the domestics I owned.
I've paid as much as $3500 for a full rights bengal.

I'm going to keep my nose out of the breed cat vs shelter cat discussion and let is suffice to say that all cats need and deserve a loving home.

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NO animal deserves to go without a home and love

Originally Posted by Kai Bengals

all cats need and deserve a loving home.

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Well said!

Originally Posted by crittermom

NO animal deserves to go without a home and love

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I think everyone here agrees with that! Or at least I hope so.

....yeah, I'm going to stay out of this one.

For me, it's not about the money but about the circumstances. All I will say is that I am a rescuer and I work almost exclusively with urban-area strays and ferals.

For the record, Gracie's adoption fee was $100, and that was the most I've paid. Raphael's was $75, Lola (RB)'s was $75 and Leo's was $55.

My answer is a bit complicated. First of all, I do want to clarify that breeders don't make money on their kittens. It's not something any reputable breeder does to make money, and usually it's a loss (monetarily).

Secondly, my most expensive cat was most likely Elsa, the feral I rescued from under my trailer at work. Vet visits, x rays, birth of 8 kittens, vaccinating 8 kittens, feeding 8 kittens for 12 - 14 weeks, several well kitten checks, emergency surgery for Elsa's intestinal obstruction, spaying. Well, that was well over $1000. She and the kittens were worth it, though.

Elsa's baby Smudge was very special to us, and died just a little after his 6 month birthday. Since I knew a bit about cat pregnancy, I hung around the pregnancy and kittens board and helped out there some. And I got to know one lady who looked to be losing a litter of kittens. Only one died, but it was scary for a while. She named one of the survivors after Smudge, and I never thought I'd do it, but I bought a pedigreed Ragdoll and shipped him from Maine.

I already had three rescue cats, and I should say that a cat is a cat, which is mostly true - but purebreed cats do have certain characteristics not always shared by other breeds. But that works both ways too. I just love them all. So I guess all that really says is that I'm a fence-sitter too, LOL.

I know this is definitely a heated topic... but one of great interest to me. It is interesting to see how many different opinions there are out there.

Both of my babies came from shelters. They are the sweetest cats and I wouldn't trade them for the world.

But saying that, I also love the look of bengals. If I had the money (and the room in my house) I would definitely buy a bengal. They are so gorgeous and look to have very definite personalities.

Personally I believe that although there are cats in shelters that deserve homes, so do these poor kittens that come from breeders. If every one in the world only bought from shelters what would happen to the poor kittens that come from the breeders?

It takes a lot of work and money to be a responsible breeder. So hats off to anyone that does that.

But at the same time I think that buying from a shelter is an awesome way to give a deserving kitty a loving home.

It all comes down to your personal preference. For me I love giving a poor shelter cat a loving home, but if I had the money I would buy a bengal.

I dont have anything against breeders at all as long as they are resposible, take good care of the cats and have good show lines. Having said that Ive never personally bought a cat from a breeder. My family members have. Mostly Siamseses and Annie Rose (snowshoe). I would much rather adopt. I usually adopt from high kill shelters also. I feel that dogs in rescues most likely have plenty of time to find homes and are taken care of until they do. But babies in kill shelters dont have all that time and I feel like I'm truly saving a life.
Having said that Nazumi is the only one of my currents that was adopted from a kill shelter. His adoption fee was a whopping $10. Lily and Kitten were both ferals that I tamed down on my own and decided to keep. Annie was my parents cat and they gave her to me.

Bagheera was tecnically adopted from a high kill shelter but he spent most of his life (4 weeks on) with me. He spent no time at the shelter except for his first set of shots. His adoption fee was $55.

Wow. I don't even know where to begin here. It's rare to witness so much judgement in one thread It's fine if you don't want to spend money on a purebreed cat, but to make it seem as if doing so is "extravagant", "silly", or worst of all, contributing to the deaths of shelter kitties is beyond the pale. Those that have paid for a purebreed cat have nothing to apologize for or should they feel the need to explain themselves, yet because of the tone of this thread, they have.

One of my girls is a purebreed kitty that I did pay money for. How much is nobody's business but mine. It's money I worked very hard for, and is mine to spend. My reasons for choosing her are known to me, and those whose opinions I valued, and sought out beforehand. I'm not going to try to "justify" that decision with a list of rescues or shelter kitties that I've had. Whether I've had dozens or none shouldn't matter to anyone.

Please respect others decisions. Please also remember that there are members on this site who are breeders, and whose feelings and choices should also be respected.