New to this subject and have lots of questions. First two being...

I feel a little embarressed because I'm sure many of my questions will be too elementary, but I figure I have to start somewhere! When breeding cats at home, where do most breeders keep the males? Can more than one male be kept in an area together, or do they have to remain seperate 100% of the time?

I have many more questions, but will start with these! Thank you! As a fellow cat fanatic, I look forward to reading and participating in your forum here.

Hmmmm It kinda depends, if your males are free to roam the house, then you might run into a territorial problem and spraying can be an issue. If you're in a cattery situation where they are in some type of housing then the spray thing wont be such an issue... Don't get me wrong Whole males have a definate aroma about them, some worse than others, some will spray others wont, it's hard to tell. If you're asking about fighting among them, it isn't any different than having a few cats of another type,sex, etc....

Hope that helped....

*smiles*
Ken
Oh and please don't feel embarrased about asking.. I personally would rather answer a question than have someone who intends to breed make mistakes..

Ken, Thanks so much for your reply. We are going to try to attend our first cat show this Saturday in Fort Wayne, Indiana. I am so excited since I've never been to one before!

Like I said, I am in the beginning phases of my research on breeding. All my life I've wanted to work with cats. I am actually leaning more towards running a cat rescue, which our county desperately needs, but I have a few curiosities about breeding as well. All I know is that I want to make a difference no matter what I do. I spoke with a local vet who used to be mayor here recently and he was very supportive of my desire to start the cat rescue. He rescues so many cats and kittens in our area and he said the need is great. Do you have any advice on how I could look into researching this? I'm just not sure where to turn.

When I got Tigger, our bengal, the breeder had all of her studs in seperate cages. She also had a few females in cages, too. Scooter & Gizmo's breeder had the males in cages, as well, and the females roamed the house.

My wife and I work with one of the largest rescues in Connecticut, so I will point you in her direction, she and her husband have put tons of work into Helping paws, wich can be found Here
Im sure if you email her she will be able to give you some info, but I have to tell you that she is VERY busy, so a reply might take a bit.

.....A note about caging.....

I don't beleive in caging cats... I won't do it to my males or females. We have an entire room for our queens, and our one Sire has the house (because our pets are spayed/nuetered) This room is where my wife and I spend alot of time and is kitten safe in all respects. The door to the room has been modified to included a 1/4 inch welded wire mesh so the room isn't all shut off. Since we have all the litters here now, mr Sire won't get traded to this room untill all the kittens have been sold, then all the females will be out and about and he'll be in here. I've seen way to many instances of kitties being cage crazy. Plus the room is large enough that we can socailize them with our big dog.
We are a small cattery though, ceretainly this may not work with a large one, unless you had a very big house..

*smiles*
Ken

I really appreciate your replies. I am still doing a lot of research and reading each day. I can hardly wait for the cat show on Saturday to see if the cats that are appealing to me when researching are the ones that will steal my heart in person!

I also do not like the idea of caging at all. That is why I asked what people normally do with their males. I wouldn't stand to have him/them caged. What I have in mind right now is this... On our second floor, I have a large laundry/sewing room. It has lots of cabinets, a large utility sink, washer, dryer, built-in sewing desk, large closet, big window, ceiling fan, etc. It's a very comfy, cozy room. I spend a lot of time in there doing laundry and such for our large family. I think this would be an ideal room to keep a male. We would put a screen-type door at the doorway so he wouldn't feel isolated. I wonder if two would get along in a room like that together??? The room is carpeted, but I could put in vinyl flooring if I need to. That would be nice since I would probably want to mop and wash things in there regularly.

As for females and kittens, I would hope to let them have the run of the house. Keep the house kitten-proofed and encourage birthing and young kittens to be kept in my private bedroom.

So those are my thoughts at the moment! I don't know if this will eventually all pull together, but I am hopeful!

Ken, what kitties do you have and breed?

I would definately take the carpet out. Go with something like armstrong sheet flooring, so it is all one piece, except at the seems which are glued together. I would also suggest that when you do it, have it run about 3" up the wall (or higher if you like), seamed (glued) at the corners. That way clean up is a snap. If you're handy you can do this yourself, and most home stores will gladly help with whatever questions you have.
We breed munchkin, and as a matter of fact, we just had 3 litters. You can check them out at our website

*smiles*
Ken

I was told to keep a intact male in a cage lined with newspaper or room to himself, newspaper on walls, change as needed. That idea made me somewhat ill. Prior to the arrival of our kitties, we built indoor/outdoor cat runs. Walk in on the outside, apartment type layers on the inside.
My boy had vary good house manner's until he was over a year old & went to his first cat show. I don't know if it was the show or what, but when we came home, the first thing he did, was jump up on a piece of furniature & spray my drapes. The smell made my eyes burn.
He seems to be vary content in the cat run. Spends most of the time outside. He sprays every layer in the inside, and all corner's outside.
What ever you do, have a plan in advance, because when they decide to spray, you don't get any warning. It is real easy to see why alter's are the preferred pet. A spraying tom running around loose in a home, would be impossible.

Ken, Thanks for the advice about the flooring. My husband and I built our home ourselves from the ground up, so we are pretty handy! I am definitely going to install new vinyl flooring before I purchase any kitties. I really liked the idea of running it up the wall a ways as well. Thanks for the great idea! My husband does tile work also, so I may ask him if he thinks we should put up a tile wainscoting in there and seal it really well.

Bluekat, Thank you for your reply also. I have some anxiety about the whole male spray issue! I really want all of my cats kept exclusively indoors with the possibility of letting them get fresh air on the screened-in porch occasionally (which is not screened yet). I really, really hope that keeping a male in the room I've described with the easy-to-clean surfaces would be manageable.

Speaking of spray and cleaning...what cleaning products are used to disinfect and deoderize when you have a male stud? What keeps the smell down to a minimum?

OH! And I meant to say what a fabulous website and GORGEOUS kitties, Ken! Thanks so much for sharing them with me!

I don't know what kind of kitties you are looking at, but breed dispositons can be vary different. My itty bitty kitty experience so far has been with NFC & Ragdolls. I've got a NFC girl kitty who is vary destructive. She goes right up window screens, riping and tareing. I know my adult male could easily go right through a screened window, but I don't give him a chance.
The ragdolls on the other hand are vary docile. Climb a little as kittens, but nothing compared to NFC's. The Ragdolls stay off counter's, table's, and any other high perches. NFC will knock everything you own to the floor. If it rips, tares, or comes apart they will figure out how to do it. Ragdolls don't wreck stuff.
Ragdolls are talker's. Meowing all the time. NFC's are quiet. If they do meow at you, it's sort of a surprise. The shows I've been to, the Bengels were the noisist ones there. Unbelievable noise when every judgeing box, had a Bengel in it.

I'm not a breeder myself, but from what I've heard, many breeders prefer to start with females only and get stud services from other catteries. Saves a lot of hassle IMO

You know it really depends on the male, some have very little smell at all, and others !ACK! We brought in one male that smelled sooooooo male that the female wouldn't even go near him. Anne is right, we started with just females, and got our studs from other breeders, but we finally had a male that was good for breeding and when it came right down to it, we HAD to have one to create "our" lines. He's not yet come into his maleness yet but we think he won't be to bad at all. then again you never know. As for the deoderizers, I've heard that the auto air fresheners do a great job (the ones that go off every few minutes), you just have to keep everything absolutely clean, the floors are cleaned with Mr. Clean and we use Rocal-D for disenfecting. If you Start off with just females and bring in males to stud, then you really won't have to worry to much about smells, but remember, clean clean clean......
Start small as well, it will help you get used to things (such as the heavenly voice of a female in heat ahhhhhhh) its funny too because with ours, they seem to take turns one right after the other. But it will also help you figure out what you need and where you need it, so that as you grow things aren't as difficult. You'll also have to learn how to handle emergencies, cuz there really are alot of things that can go wrong during and after a birth. (I really don't mean to scare you, but it does happen) Anyway, you're doing the right things.. asking questions and researching things...

*smiles*
Ken