Proven Marketing Tips for the Successful Cat Breeder. Jasmine Kinnear

their first important purchase.

      Although I made several classic mistakes with my first purchases I was blessed with Chantal and Liberty. After travelling by air across the country my four-month-old girls arrived clean and in perfect health. They had been well cared for and obviously loved. So with everything considered at least I’d dealt with a reputable breeder who cared for the well being of her kittens. Not until several months later when purchasing my stud male from the same New York cattery did I realize that all along I had been dealing with two breeders who were working together.

      The two breeders where I had purchased my kittens were friends with two separate catteries in different cities. I later discovered that the initial telephone contact was not from the cattery where my girls were born but rather that of the cattery where I was to later purchase my stud male. During the entire transaction I was ignorant of the fact that I had never spoken with my girls’ breeder.

      When the kittens arrived with their paper work I was surprised to see another name and cattery on the documentation. Although I had dealt with competent breeders I also felt they had taken advantage of my ignorance and should have informed me of this essential information. It seemed unethical that I had never spoken to my girls’ breeder and neither felt obligated to share this information with me despite the cost of the female kittens.

      When my kittens first arrived breeder gossip spread among the local catteries. Many breeders who had been unwilling to sell open breeding cats to me appeared interested in my newly arrived purchases from New York. Eventually a few local breeders offered my cattery a chance to purchase from their highly prized breeding stock. I soon realized however their ploy was only to have access to my newly purchased ‘bloodlines’. In order to make a purchase I was obligated to sign an extremely binding contract. Committing to such a document would have seriously limited my breeding program. To my good fortune, despite the cost and my naïvety, I had actually made a lucrative decision by introducing a new bloodline into the area.

      For a while I became accepted as the ‘new breeder’ and was given some undesired attention. Over time several breeders came to see for themselves my well-known award winning bloodline. Even Theresa, the very first breeder I’d ever met decided to pay my small cattery an unexpected visit. However when she saw my kittens her biting comment was “Are you sure they sent you the right kittens? They just don’t look like they belong to their pedigree.” She felt I’d made a foolish decision and had spent too much money.

       If you do not value a person’s opinions you should not take their criticisms to heart either.

      Although Theresa’s observations were distressing, I decided to follow my own counsel. I have since learned that if you do not value a person’s opinions you should not take their criticisms to heart either. The previous year when she realized that I was serious about breeding and would eventually compete with her cattery sales, her only comment was “Don’t start breeding, it only brings heartbreak.”

      My instincts told me she was wrong and the truth remains that despite some heartbreak I encountered more years of joy and made some wonderful friendships with clients that I still cherish today.

      I soon realized that the local breeders did not think highly of my breeding program. I was politely advised that most breeders sell out within the first two years. Few catteries appeared concerned that I would last long enough to become any true competition for them. I decided that it was probably better to follow my own intuition, work by myself and remain a ‘closed cattery’. Little did I know that six months later everything would change. That’s when I was blessed with meeting my mentor.

      Bill was a well-known and respected judge with a nationally registered ‘Cat Association’. He was internationally renowned and had been a professional cat breeder for many years. I was informed that he had never adopted the practice of providing mentorship to a novice breeder before. It was to my good fortune that for some reason he made an exception for my cattery. I soon realized what an envious position I was in for he was truly a knowledgeable and caring gentleman. Over the course of the next year he unselfishly assisted and guided me with my breeding program.

      Bill confirmed that I had purchased two females of only moderate breeding quality. However, genetically they carried excellent bloodlines. He was also well aware of the breeding lines employed by the other catteries within my area. Bill informed me that by shear luck I had created an excellent opportunity for myself. After confiding in him of Theresa’s assessment of my girls he appeared amused. Bill knew her well and advised that she never stayed with one breeding program long enough to make it successful. She was always trying to buy her way to success whereas a good cattery uses selective breeding and truly creates their own bloodline. Within my own cattery, he appeared confident that he would be able to arrange stud service from a cat show judge using compatible bloodlines. He knew by using his colleague’s exceptional male the results would prove to be outstanding.