I have wanted to ask this for some time, breeders and shelter cats - Page 5

The stuff says it's for use with a TNR program. I can see how it could be a huge benefit for someone with a large colony, or one with limited vet resources, because sometimes those will make more litters faster than the person can TNR them. Putting the cats on birth control will at least keep them from having kittens until they can be caught and fixed.

I would guess that males mating with not-in-heat females has something to do with those females being around females that are in heat...pheromones rubbing off on them or something. If all the females in a given colony were prevented from going into heat, that probably wouldn't be a problem.

The thing is you could say the same about getting a "rehomed" cat or rescuing a stray/feral cat.
I have never gotten a cat (or dog) from a shelter. Of the current cats I live with, 5 were feral kittens I caught at a young age, one was a "rehome" and one was from a breeder.
Now you could also say that by bringing in the feral kittens that means that 5 shelter cats will die (well really 8, there were 7 in one litter I rescued and I found homes for 3 and 4 ended up staying with me) because I took in those feral kittens instead of adopting from a shelter. If I had adopted 5 cats from a shelter instead, that would have saved them whereas the feral kittens would have just continued to be feral. You could also say that by taking in Sneakers my "rehomed" cat (her owner did not want her and gave her to some kid in the neighborhood, who brought her to me) that would also result in a shelter cat dying because I could have gotten one from a shelter instead. So there is really not a difference between those and the one cat who we got from a breeder-- well, except that the ferals would have probably been just as happy if I had not taken them in because they would not have known anything other than being feral.

However the truth is I would not have adopted 5 or 7 or 10 cats from a shelter. The only reason I brought those 8 feral kittens inside is because they were feral and would have ended up feral for life otherwise (actually at least 3 of the kittens were sickly and probably would not have survived.) Sneakers just happened to be in the right place at the right time and I felt bad for her as she was a senior who was basically dumped. As for Roxy the Maine Coon, I don't think my brother would have gotten a shelter cat as an alternative because I suggested it in the beginning, but he did not want an "unknown" source. He wanted a cat whose health and parents' health he knew, who he knew how the cat had been raised as a kitten and that the dam had received proper nutrition, and knew how the cat would grow up and wanted a specific type of cat (a large black longhair with the traits of a Maine Coon) which would not have been findable in a shelter.

Yes, my vet is one of these. She is not an "old school" vet, she is a younger vet who does a lot of research herself, definitely keeps up with technology (she just opened a new clinic with all the latest technology) and takes a more holistic approach. She prefers to wait when possible to spay/neuter for health reasons. She will spay/neuter earlier if a client wants to do so, of course... She recommended I wait until 6 months to neuter my cat. I got Church neutered at 6 months old. I also waited as long as possible to get Harlequin spayed because she was so small for her age, I was concerned about the procedure so I waited until she was ~9 months old (no heat either) at which time she still only weighed 5 lbs...
Roxy was not neutered until 8 months per the breeder's recommendations. Many Maine Coon breeders I have found do not s/n kittens because they do not agree with pediatric s/n and think it is much healthier for the Maine Coons to wait. Spaying and neutering requirement was also in the breeder's contract and they are very careful about who adopts their kittens in the first place.

This is how I feel, I would never, ever, ever buy from a breeder as long as there are cats in shelters needing homes. All cats are beautiful, all cats have unique personalities, and I don't need a specific type or look or personality or whatever.

When we adopted our babies, the woman at the shelter told us that we had saved 4 lives - the two we adopted, and the two that they could then take in because of the empty cages.

That's wonderful and good on you! I see a lot of folks that actually have both - specific breeds and moggies.

On the other hand, I make no apology for my beautiful, sweet tempered, amazing personality, lovable and gentle Siamese dream kitty that is everything and more than I ever dreamed of.

In my adult life I have rescued lots of cats and gave them homes until their natural death. I have also admired many different breeds of cats. Right now I have both moggie and purebred cats in my house. My last cat that I brought into my home was last Christmas. I found her on Petfinder and her residency was at the Humane Society. She had been there for 3 months and I know her time was running out. Our Christmas gift to each other was to save this little cats life. On Christmas eve we brought her home. Right now I have more rescues in my home than purebreds. 3 purebreds and 5 rescues.

I bought my purebred cats from breeders. I love all my cats.