# Mom plans to breed... How to tell her my opinions



## corinthia (Jan 25, 2009)

My mother is planing on breeding Devon Rex cats. I'm a person who truly believes in the "Don't breed and buy while animals die" saying. I've tried telling her my reasons why I don't think it is a good idea, but she always comes back with, "I want to breed them for people who have allergies." I also tried to let her know that these cats will still cause allergies in people and that she should really think about it before she dives in. 
I don't know if my concerns hit a nerve with her or not, but if anyone has an idea of how I can get though to her, please let me know. I really don't want to have to resort to going to a kill shelter and showing her how many of the cats there will be put down. 

Do you think it would be a good idea to try and talk to her about fostering instead of breeding?


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## raecarrow (Oct 27, 2009)

For one thing, it sounds like your mom doesn't have any experience in breeding and just wants to hop right in the fray. If she truely wants to be a good cat breeder, it would be best if she apprenticed with a GOOD breeder (one that has good show cats and breeds to improve the breed) for a year or two so she can learn how it is done and how much work it takes to do things properly. 

Second, I understand her logic about breeding cats for people who are allergic. I am one of those people who is annoyingly allergic every average cat I have ever met and when my asthma acts up because of seasonal allergies or a cold, a cat can cause some bad breathing problems (even send it over into bronchitis). However, I am not allergic to my Bengals what-so-ever. Althought there are people who are allergic to cats no matter which type of cat it is. I have thought about breeding them myself, but I would make sure I knew EVERYTHING about the breed and how to breed and that I had enough time and money to devote to the project. And this would be after apprenticing with a GOOD breeder. Here is a paper that outlines what a reputable breeder is and all the hard work that goes into properly breeding cats and how little money they actually make in the long run. A good breeder isn't going to get rich off of breeding cats. http://tica.org/members/publications/brochures/breeder.pdf

However, the idea of doing a breed rescue is highly appealing as well. There are rescue organizations that have been devoted to almost EVERY breed of cat you can imagine. You can look them up online. Here is one Organization for Devon Rex Rescue http://www.devonrexbreedclub.com/rescue.html.

Hope this helps.


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