Should I purchase kitten from this breeder?

HI Everyone-

Okay I know this was long but I wanted to explain the situation before I ask my question.. I have one persian already and...

I went to look at a beautiful female red persian about 14 weeks old. I held her looked her over good for dirty ears, bad eyes, hair etc and she seemed perfectly content and healthy. But the cats were caged when I was there. There were 2 mother cats running around but the kittens and the dad were caged in the living room. She said that they are allowed to roam and play in the house but obviously not all day. She mentioned "cage training". The kitten or cats did not seem in bad health, the house was clean and only had the normal cat smells from having a lto of cats. She had 5 adults and 1 male. (4 adults were roaming aroung the house) and then 4 kittens and she talked to me for over an hour. She also disclosed that one of the kittens may have given her ringworm but she is not sure which one and she is working on treating it and all the kittens. She would not release the kitten until she was sure she was free of ringworm and had a health guarentee written up regarding the ringworm and if she does not successfully treat it. I also have a 2 week window to get her checked with my vet as well. The kitten will have her 2nd set of shots and be spayed before coming home and I will get all vet records.

My question is should i be concerned that the cats were caged? Again they seemed healthy and there was no meowing, crying or smell like they were not cared for. Is it okay to get a kitten from a breeder that may or may not have a ringworm issue? Am I asking for trouble with this?

Input would be appreciated. P.S. I never saw Sebastians breeders home....she lived to far away so I picked him up at a cat show. So for all I know it could have been the same situation.

Thanks for all the help guys!
Crystal

I think you'll find that most of the breeders on this site actually keep thier litters caged. I would assume its perfectly normal!

It may be OK for some breeder to keep their cats caged, but the ones that I know almost never do it, except for their whole males, which spent some times in huge cages whenever their owner have to go out.

And if she told you that only one of the kitten has ringworm, think again, the whole lot of them have it by now. Even if it's not noticeable now.

And it a lot of work and expense if you bring a cat that carries ringworm into your home, and you and your other cat gets it. Even more so because it is a Persian, all of that long fur, oh boy !

Look elsewhere, Persians are very common.

Depends on the size of the cage they are in. Breeders almost always HAVe an entire male in a cage as they don't want him spraying all over and he can't have free run to breed to any female in heat.

I've been to other breeders houses whose males have a nice 2-3 level big cage (some have the entire floor to ceiling cage that you can walk in with plenty of room).

Now on the other hand, if the cages are small and crowded with food/water and litter pan where the cats are sitting in one corner and no exercise room...then that is NOT a good breeder.

Its necessary to have cats adjust to being in a cage for many reasons - showing is a big one, or isolating them for medical reasons, or to contain kittens when young. Cages are NOT a bad thing at all.

As far as the ringworm, I'll agree that you might want to continue looking. Ringworm can spread to other cats. She shouldn't be placing kittens or cats until the entire house is ringworm free.

Thanks for the input guys-

The cages were small and what concerned me was that the male have a cage the size of a rabbit cage..with his litter box and food he only had room to lay down. ALso there was 4 kittens in the bottom cage and it was not a 2 story cage either. Although they were clean the moms were very small and something just seemed a little off and you guys confirmed it.

Thanks for the advice I have decided to look elsewhere, I will probably get one from the same breeder I got Sebastian because he is happy and healthy.

Crystal

I agree then, that breeder was not a good one. A cat HATES to eat/sleep next to the litter pan. Not healthy at all - not surprised at the ringworm problem then.

Glad you shopped around.

Originally Posted by Crys12065

Thanks for the input guys-

The cages were small and what concerned me was that the male have a cage the size of a rabbit cage..with his litter box and food he only had room to lay down. ALso there was 4 kittens in the bottom cage and it was not a 2 story cage either. Although they were clean the moms were very small and something just seemed a little off and you guys confirmed it.

Thanks for the advice I have decided to look elsewhere, I will probably get one from the same breeder I got Sebastian because he is happy and healthy.

Crystal

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Ok, I wasn't there, but that sounds bad enough to merit reporting to me... that poor Tom.