07/25/2025
Thanks to Karen L Fallon for this!
Do you know how many rejections it costs to be a breeder?
Being a breeder is not just about pictures of cute kitties and pride in beautiful cats.
It is also a whole ocean of rejections that are invisible to someone on the outside.
🕰️ Time? There is no such thing as "free"
You forget about weekends, trips, and vacations.
You can't go to the movies with newborns lying in the kitten box.
You can't sleep peacefully at night if the pregnant queen is in labor.
You can't leave the incubator when one kitten is fighting for its life.
There is no "break" in breeding. Every minute counts.
💸 Money? You invest endlessly
💰 Good cats are expensive - very expensive.
💰Tests, genetic tests, exhibitions, travel, food, supplements, c-sections, medicines, vaccines, accessories - these are thousands of dollars 💵
💰 Income? Sometimes it just goes away. There isn't any. Sometimes you are left in debt and... with an empty bed.
💔 Emotions? You learn patience and pain
➡️ When a kitten dies in your arms, and you are powerless.
➡️ When a queen does not give birth, despite your efforts.
➡️ When you have to refuse a person who "only wants a pet kitten", because you see that it will not be a good home.
➡️ When you sacrifice everything, and in return, you receive hatred, jealousy, and slander.
👩 ⚕️No routine - you are a breeder, but also:
🩺 a nurse/neonatalogist
🍼 foster mother
📖 genetics "expert"
📦 logistics coordinator
📷 photographer
🧹 a cleaning lady
🧠 A psychologist
💬 advisor to clients, often for years
👨 👩 👧 👦 family and friends ?? Not many. Relationships can be difficult:
- "We can't meet because the queen is giving birth." ""
- "I won't come because a kitten is sick and I need to take care if it to make sure it survices, if at all possible.
- "No, I won't leave them with anyone. "It's my responsibility."
Not everyone will understand. Not everyone will stay.
❤️ But through it all... It's love
Love for animals, for their lives, for the development of the breed.
Love that makes you get up 10 times a night.
Love that doesn't let you take shortcuts.
Love that makes babies grow up healthy and makes you happy despite being sick or tired.
A breeder is not a "cat person".
This is someone who gives up his or her OWN comfort for the benefit of animals.
This is someone who doesn't equate love with money.
This is someone who lives between joy and pain, and still wouldn't trade it for anything else.
Respect passionate breeders. Every day, they give everything they can, although no one sees it.
Ps. I give my consent to copying. Tell the world. Because breeding is not only about cute kitties.
