It is far easier to use cat shows, the internet and web sites such as Jasmine’s Confessions of a Cat Breeder for unbiased information. If you read or are given the same advice from several unrelated sources and are comfortable with that information chances are it will be right for your cattery.
4) Do you feel used or taken advantage of by your mentor due to contracts and purchases that appear to work more in their favor?
If you are feeling uncomfortable with your mentor then listen but limit your contact with them. Visit their cattery but restrict their access to your own. Do not sign any documents and do not commit to any purchases. When you are in their cattery you will still learn by observing. By not permitting them access to your cattery they will soon lose interest in your breeding program. If you always trust your instincts you will seldom go wrong.
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Jasmine had the unfortunate experience of having an unscrupulous, want-to-be mentor interested in her cattery. At one time this breeder attempted to get Jasmine’s best stud male into her own breeding program. She did this by sending someone masquerading as a buyer to make an offer. On yet another occasion she asked Jasmine to tell a couple that the Top Show Quality kitten they were buying had died so that she could use him in her own breeding program. Needless to say this breeder never became Jasmine’s mentor.
In the following pages you will find the support and encouragement you need without incurring costly errors and paying the price. You will learn proven methods to attract kitten sales and always maintain your integrity.
Jasmine’s Confession of Finding Her Mentor
As with many other breeders I contemplated starting a cattery for several years before I actually began one. Until then in my never ending quest for guidance all I encountered were closed doors. I was hungry for information and a place to begin understanding the complex world of cat breeding.
Attending an annual cat show appeared to be the perfect opportunity to meet breeders and receive the guidance required to start my own breeding program. The large hall was filled with breeders from all over North America proudly showing their beautiful felines. I approached several breeders in an attempt to question them. However their attention was totally focused on the show and they appeared annoyed with my interruptions. Others were overly anxious and willing to promise anything in an attempt to make a sale. I was afraid a breeder would simply sell me any kitten, grab my money and run.
I was intimidated by their breeder jargon and many of the exhibitors did not appear to be interested in responding to my inquiries. My ‘buyer beware’ instincts were on constant alert while questioning them. I felt terribly shy and was completely out of place totally overwhelmed by the excitement of the cat show environment.
In utter frustration knowing I had accomplished very little I left the show floor. Just prior to exiting the hall I discovered several cat breeding magazines which I quickly purchased. Finally I’d found some information in plain language that I could understand and use to educate myself. After devouring the material in the magazines I began reading the ‘Breeder’s Advertisements’. During the next several weeks I wrote to over one hundred catteries in search of information and hopefully some reasonably priced breeding cats.
In my initial contacts I stressed that I was starting and was therefore naïve to cat breeding. However many breeders did not take my situation into consideration. I received many written replies. Some were professionally presented while others were far too informal considering the prices they were requesting for their cats. I was forwarded complex correspondence with detailed cat pedigrees written in endless breeder jargon. The information was confusing and impossible for a novice breeder to interpret.
Today with internet access the situation is far different. If books such as the one you are presently reading had been available to me then I would have saved thousands of dollars. To this end, I have also written Volume 2 in the Felines by Design series entitled the Insider’s Guide to Buying Purebred Kittens. This is an excellent resource for both breeders and buyers. For example, you will discover how to:
• Question the breeder in your initial telephone contact.
• When visiting the cattery know the essential questions many breeders • prefer not to answer when you are viewing their litters.
• Know how to present yourself in the cattery without the breeder realizing the extent of your knowledge.
• Be able to identify a correctly priced kitten protected by a sound Ownership Contract.
• Recognize a responsible breeder operating a good cattery.
• Know the correct sequence of questions to ask when speaking with different breeders. As a buyer you will also understand how to interpret the breeder’s responses prior to completing your purchase.
• Know your rights in order to protect your kitten investment.
• Learn the principles of Kittens by Design and be able to identify the traits of kittens at various stages of development. It is possible to determine from the many litters you are viewing various personality traits. You will learn to recognize which kitten will eventually become a lap cat, an independent feline or may be the perfect companion for your present cat and will complete your feline family.
This guide is strongly recommended to breeders as they will gain an insight into how they are perceived through the eyes of kitten buyers. With such insights gained sales will increase when breeders incorporate the appropriate changes.
The Insider’s Guide would have greatly assisted me with my initial contact with the cattery where I eventually purchased my girls. To have known the right questions to ask in order to receive the answers which breeders are reluctant to disclose would have saved me from wasting money. Likewise, I would have negotiated a better price and realized earlier that I did not receive the breeding quality for the price I eventually paid.
Having been better advised of my rights I should have known to inform the cattery with my dissatisfaction of their assessment of good breeding queens. When purchasing breeding cats sight unseen the buyer must rely on the breeder’s discretion and honesty. I purchased my first two breeding queens as kittens from a cattery 3,000 miles from my home. I honestly believe a little disception with a touch of ‘cattery blindness’ was an explanation for her inability to correctly assess the kittens’ quality.
I am now aware that I spent far too much and did not receive the quality which was promised. As an experienced breeder when reviewing pictures of my girls sent from their originating cattery it came as a surprising revelation. With a trained eye, I realized the breeder had carefully chosen pictures which displayed each of the kittens’ strongest assets while hiding their obvious faults. Having fallen victim to another breeder’s touch of cattery blindness I was determined to be ethical when dealing with other breeders. It became my personal code of ethics to be extremely truthful when selling kittens sight unseen to other catteries. I was overly detailed regarding both the kitten’s assets and faults. I would provide in written format exactly why the kitten was priced according to my Cat Association’s standard. As a result I never had a breeder question my evaluation of a kitten’s quality as I’d been forthcoming from the very first encounter. I felt an obligation to never have one of my buyers repeat my first experience. As a new breeder, I had made a classic error and fell victim to a cattery that had ‘kept the best and sold me the rest’.
Despite a lesson well learned, this cattery was the only one that made the effort to contact me personally by phone from the one hundred letters I had originally sent. The breeder had been willing to respond at her own expense not knowing if I would ever make a purchase from her cattery. Although the quality