newbie and grieving cat lover

gypsyheart · Sep 21, 2005

My name is Ramona and I have been looking un-successfuly for a persian kitten. My husband and I "rescued" a feral kitten from under my mom's house last Oct.Spook absolutely adored my husband and followed him around everywhere. Last week he suddenly became ill and spiked a fever of 104.5.My vet said he had FIP? He was treated aggressively by our vet but he died in my husband's arms. Needless to say we are broken-hearted. I want a persian kitten but I am finding out there are so many breeds out there that are cute and fluffy. $ 300.00 range ... a little more or less ..... and shipping to Lubbock, Texas Any info would be Greatly appreciated. Ramona Please feel free to e-mail me any info at [email protected] THANKS

rinadaventry · Sep 22, 2005

Look on petfinder.com first. If you're patient, a purebred in almost any size, color, and age will come up. There are so many cats looking for a home there before you try a breeder!
I think this guy is particularly beautiful:
http://www.petfinder.com/pet.cgi?act...25&tmpl=&stat=

elizwithcat · Sep 22, 2005

You might have to wait before bringing home a new kitten, because FIP is infectious.
I know some vets recommend as long as 6 months.

rosehawke · Sep 22, 2005

Doing a Google for persian cat cattery or breeder ought to get you a pretty comprehensive listing of catteries. $300 is fairly reasonable for a pet-quality Persian kitten (You could expect to pay over $1000 for a show quality kitten depending on area of the country.) If you wish to consider an older cat many purebred breeders may have a retired adult or two that they're looking for a "forever" home for.

Also going to the CFA site Breeder Referral Service may help.

I would recommend to not go to the local newspaper as 99.99% of reputable breeders do not advertise this way. In fact many reputable breedes don't have to advertise at all and will have waiting lists for their babies (I waited over a year for my two Maine Coon boys.)

Good luck in your quest!

bengalbabe · Sep 22, 2005

Originally Posted by RoseHawke

Doing a Google for persian cat cattery or breeder ought to get you a pretty comprehensive listing of catteries. $300 is fairly reasonable for a pet-quality Persian kitten (You could expect to pay over $1000 for a show quality kitten depending on area of the country.) If you wish to consider an older cat many purebred breeders may have a retired adult or two that they're looking for a "forever" home for.

Also going to the CFA site Breeder Referral Service may help.

I would recommend to not go to the local newspaper as 99.99% of reputable breeders do not advertise this way. In fact many reputable breedes don't have to advertise at all and will have waiting lists for their babies (I waited over a year for my two Maine Coon boys.)

Good luck in your quest!

I don't know if I agree with what people say about breeders advertiseing in the newspaper. What makes a person a bad breeder just because they advertise in a newspaper? How else are new breeders going to get their name out there? I can see if the cattery is well established and have a clientele list from referrals but what about the new breeders who not many people know about yet simply because they are new? It's not fair to say someone is not a "reputable breeder" just because they choose to advertise in the newspaper. What the difference where they advertise? Advertisement is advertisement weather it's the newspaper, cat magazines, internet ads or whatever!!!!
You best believe that every breeder at some point has to advertise in some way!

semiferal · Sep 22, 2005

Originally Posted by bengalbabe

I don't know if I agree with what people say about breeders advertiseing in the newspaper. What makes a person a bad breeder just because they advertise in a newspaper? How else are new breeders going to get their name out there? I can see if the cattery is well established and have a clientele list from referrals but what about the new breeders who not many people know about yet simply because they are new? It's not fair to say someone is not a "reputable breeder" just because they choose to advertise in the newspaper. What the difference where they advertise? Advertisement is advertisement weather it's the newspaper, cat magazines, internet ads or whatever!!!!
You best believe that every breeder at some point has to advertise in some way!

I would say it depends on whether they are advertising a litter of 8-week-olds or just advertising their existence as a breeder. IMO a hallmark of a responsible breeder is having good homes lined up for the kittens before they're even conceived.

rinadaventry · Sep 22, 2005

Originally Posted by semiferal

I would say it depends on whether they are advertising a litter of 8-week-olds or just advertising their existence as a breeder. IMO a hallmark of a responsible breeder is having good homes lined up for the kittens before they're even conceived.

I know nothing about breeding, but that seems difficult to me- what if someone wants a certain color, and reserves a spot in the litter...then none of that color are born? Or they want pet quality and you have a small litter of show or breeder quality? Or you have 5 names and only 2 kittens. I can see lining up several homes and knowing that 9 of 10 times, you're going to have at least 2 silver cats or the like, but all of them?

bengalbabe · Sep 22, 2005

Originally Posted by RinaDaventry

I know nothing about breeding, but that seems difficult to me- what if someone wants a certain color, and reserves a spot in the litter...then none of that color are born? Or they want pet quality and you have a small litter of show or breeder quality? Or you have 5 names and only 2 kittens. I can see lining up several homes and knowing that 9 of 10 times, you're going to have at least 2 silver cats or the like, but all of them?

Exactly! I've had the problem with having a huge waiting list and so I think I have homes for all of my kittens before they are born only come to find out that by the time they are born most, if not everyone on the list have had circumstances change like money issues,already found another cat somewhere else, want to wait for a different cat, want a male and only have females, want a female and only have males, and on and on...
The last litter that was born before this were all extreamly high quality, but I had to sell them at the lower pet price because everyone who was on my list wanted a pet "quality" cat. I had no pet "quality" cats in that litter.
What is wrong with advertiseing a litter of kittens? As long as you don't have like 5 litters at once and have no homes for any of them-I don't see the problem with advertiseing one litter or a few kittens in a litter. And it's not like a breeder will just dump the kittens off at a shelter if they don't find homes-they will just lower the price untill they find buyers, which makes it a better situation for buyers anyway.

semiferal · Sep 22, 2005

Originally Posted by RinaDaventry

I know nothing about breeding, but that seems difficult to me- what if someone wants a certain color, and reserves a spot in the litter...then none of that color are born? Or they want pet quality and you have a small litter of show or breeder quality? Or you have 5 names and only 2 kittens. I can see lining up several homes and knowing that 9 of 10 times, you're going to have at least 2 silver cats or the like, but all of them?

I believe that most breeders maintain a waiting list of some sort. If someone wants something very specific, they should be willing to wait and really don't have a choice since obviously no one can ever guarantee that a cat with a specific set of characteristics will be born. And if someone is flexible, then they will be flexible and either take a cat that doesn't exactly match their preferences or get a kitten from another source.

emb_78 · Sep 22, 2005

Originally Posted by gypsyheart

My name is Ramona and I have been looking un-successfuly for a persian kitten. My husband and I "rescued" a feral kitten from under my mom's house last Oct.Spook absolutely adored my husband and followed him around everywhere. Last week he suddenly became ill and spiked a fever of 104.5.My vet said he had FIP? He was treated aggressively by our vet but he died in my husband's arms. Needless to say we are broken-hearted. I want a persian kitten but I am finding out there are so many breeds out there that are cute and fluffy. $ 300.00 range ... a little more or less ..... and shipping to Lubbock, Texas Any info would be Greatly appreciated. Ramona Please feel free to e-mail me any info at [email protected] THANKS

Welcome! I am so sorry for your lossof Spook. I went throught the same thing in May!

bengalbabe · Sep 22, 2005

Originally Posted by semiferal

I believe that most breeders maintain a waiting list of some sort. If someone wants something very specific, they should be willing to wait and really don't have a choice since obviously no one can ever guarantee that a cat with a specific set of characteristics will be born. And if someone is flexible, then they will be flexible and either take a cat that doesn't exactly match their preferences or get a kitten from another source.

That's all fine and dandy but were talking about things from a breeders perspective. The breeder usually does have a waiting list for kittens before they are born/conceived but then those on the list are able to change their mind once the kittens come around (even if they have to pay to be on the list they don't have to choose a kitten from the litter they can wait untill a kitten comes around that they want even if it takes two years!). What does a breeder do in that case? That has happened to me numerous times! If you don't have a solution then it's best not to judge the breeder for deciding to deal with the issue the way they see fit.

bengalbabe · Sep 22, 2005

btw-sorry gypsyheart for hijacking your thread. Maybe we should open a new thread on this topic?

rosehawke · Sep 22, 2005

Originally Posted by RinaDaventry

I know nothing about breeding, but that seems difficult to me- what if someone wants a certain color, and reserves a spot in the litter...then none of that color are born? Or they want pet quality and you have a small litter of show or breeder quality? Or you have 5 names and only 2 kittens. I can see lining up several homes and knowing that 9 of 10 times, you're going to have at least 2 silver cats or the like, but all of them?

You wait

. I specifically wanted a brown classic tabby male from this particular stud. Being a "new" stud however, he hadn't exactly gotten his act together, and at the time I was looking had only one litter on the ground. That was spring of LAST year. The breeder had other kittens available, but not what I wanted. I was willing to wait. MY kittens were born in March of THIS year. I'd actually originally only wanted the brown boy, but we ended up with a blue boy as well since the husband figure thought we needed two.

The problem is on the OTHER side of the issue as far as advertising in the newspaper. That seems to be the main place that BYB's (Back Yard Breeder, someone who's in it for the money) will advertise, and the odds of connecting with a BYB are higher. Although a responsible pet owner should have done their research as well and have a string of questions to ask the potential source of theire future family member and if the breeder can't answer them, or answer them to his satisfaction, politely end the call with a thanks for your time and ring off. And then of course, THEY should be asking YOU just as many questions.

bengalbabe · Sep 22, 2005

Originally Posted by RoseHawke

You wait

. I specifically wanted a brown classic tabby male from this particular stud. Being a "new" stud however, he hadn't exactly gotten his act together, and at the time I was looking had only one litter on the ground. That was spring of LAST year. The breeder had other kittens available, but not what I wanted. I was willing to wait. MY kittens were born in March of THIS year. I'd actually originally only wanted the brown boy, but we ended up with a blue boy as well since the husband figure thought we needed two.

The problem is on the OTHER side of the issue as far as advertising in the newspaper. That seems to be the main place that BYB's (Back Yard Breeder, someone who's in it for the money) will advertise, and the odds of connecting with a BYB are higher. Although a responsible pet owner should have done their research as well and have a string of questions to ask the potential source of theire future family member and if the breeder can't answer them, or answer them to his satisfaction, politely end the call with a thanks for your time and ring off. And then of course, THEY should be asking YOU just as many questions.

Well yes BYB's do advertise in the paper too but that dosen't mean that you should lump everyone in the same catagory just because there's some that advertise there that aren't good breeders. Just like you said-ask questions and do your research so you can be sure that your getting a healthy cat from a reputable breeder. That is the way to tell, you can't tell a good breeder from where they advertise, but you can generally by talking to them and visiting their cattery and seeing how they treat their cats and what kind of living conditions their cats are in.

semiferal · Sep 22, 2005

Originally Posted by bengalbabe

Well yes BYB's do advertise in the paper too but that dosen't mean that you should lump everyone in the same catagory just because there's some that advertise there that aren't good breeders. Just like you said-ask questions and do your research so you can be sure that your getting a healthy cat from a reputable breeder. That is the way to tell, you can't tell a good breeder from where they advertise, but you can generally by talking to them and visiting their cattery and seeing how they treat their cats and what kind of living conditions their cats are in.

I agree - a breeder who advertises in the newspaper isn't automatically an irresponsible breeder.

However, the newspaper still won't be the most efficient way to find a good breeder since you will have to separate the wheat from the chaff, as it were. So I personally can't see making it the first place you look.

bengalbabe · Sep 22, 2005

Originally Posted by semiferal

I agree - a breeder who advertises in the newspaper isn't automatically an irresponsible breeder.

However, the newspaper still won't be the most efficient way to find a good breeder since you will have to separate the wheat from the chaff, as it were. So I personally can't see making it the first place you look.

I do agree with that. But doing a lot of research on the type of breed your buying can really help with that. Because of the research I did I knew when I was talking with someone who did not care about the breed or care about improving the breed and was in for the money. Generally BYB's know little to nothing about the breed they are breeding.

rinadaventry · Sep 22, 2005

I totally agree that the majority of kittens in the paper are BYBs- I'd know, as I work the classifieds sections at a local newspaper. That said, we also have a woman (this is dogs, not cats, I know, but still) who puts a chihuahua ad in the paper that apparently is a VERY reputable breeder (she shows I believe) and who requires several screenings before placing her dogs. I think it's probably about 25/75, good breeders to BYB.
I also know that some people are willing to wait for the perfect cat to come along- but that's those people. I imagine that people willing to wait a year for the perfect cat aren't nearly as common as those who are only willing to wait a month or so.

scamperfarms · Sep 23, 2005

this is from an FIP website in reguards to the it staying around,

"Premises:

The virus may persist in the environment for several weeks, but is easily killed with common household disinfectants. However, consider that cats with clear symptoms of FIP infection are rarely shedding virus."

I wish you luck in finding your persian baby. I will have some litters on the ground next year if your willing to be on a waiting list. But it sounds like you want a sweety sooner than that.

jennf · Sep 23, 2005

When we were looking for a new cat, we attended one of the local cat shows. We got to speak to various breeders and made a couple appointments to see catteries that day. It's also a great chance to see a lot of different breeds. A local rescue organization also had several kittens available for adoption.

By the way, we learned really quickly that people dissaproved of us for going to a breeder rather than a shelter. I understand their position, I really do. Our first cat was a rescue that adopted me in college. After her loss though, we realized that we were comforted by the fact that getting a kitten from a good breeder meant that we'd be adopting a healthy, well socialized cat. This isn't fair to those cats left in shelters, but all cats need love, including our little American Shorthair. But, living and working in Seattle, we've learned not to mention the fact that he's purebred. It opened us up to a lot of lectures.

bengalbabe · Sep 24, 2005

Originally Posted by JennF

When we were looking for a new cat, we attended one of the local cat shows. We got to speak to various breeders and made a couple appointments to see catteries that day. It's also a great chance to see a lot of different breeds. A local rescue organization also had several kittens available for adoption.

By the way, we learned really quickly that people dissaproved of us for going to a breeder rather than a shelter. I understand their position, I really do. Our first cat was a rescue that adopted me in college. After her loss though, we realized that we were comforted by the fact that getting a kitten from a good breeder meant that we'd be adopting a healthy, well socialized cat. This isn't fair to those cats left in shelters, but all cats need love, including our little American Shorthair. But, living and working in Seattle, we've learned not to mention the fact that he's purebred. It opened us up to a lot of lectures.

That's a shame that you have to be afraid to mention you own a purebred! Without good breeders there wouldn't be all the beautiful different breeds of cats. I would not want to lose any of the breeds. I take in starys and I have purebreds. I love both but yes you don't know what your getting most of the time when you adopt strays/rescues.

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