The Cat Handbook. Karen Leigh Davis
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What vaccinations has the kitten or cat received?
• Ask for the dates when the shots were given.
• Has the kitten or cat been tested and found to be free of feline leukemia virus (FeLV) and feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV)? Ask for copies of the animal’s health records.
Purebred Pricing
The cost of a purebred cat can vary widely depending on the breed you’re trying to acquire, availability (some breeds have waiting lists), geographic location, bloodlines, gender, and color, among other factors. Breeders typically structure their pricing according to whether an individual cat is pet quality, breeder quality, show quality, or top show quality. Cats in each category are purebred and fully registrable in the cat associations.
Pet-quality purebreds are the most affordable. If you have no real interest in showing or breeding cats and you simply want a nice purebred companion, then a pet-quality animal is your smartest buy. The pet-quality designation in no way means that the cat or kitten is less healthy or less desirable to own than a show-quality animal. It simply means that, in the breeder’s opinion, some minor cosmetic flaw makes the cat unsuitable for show ring competition.
Breeder-quality cats also fail to meet the show standard in some small way, yet they possess enough good qualities, in addition to their excellent pedigree, to produce potentially outstanding offspring. Breeder-quality kittens are typically priced in the middle range, selling for somewhat less than their show-quality littermates, but for more than a pet-quality animal. Of course, the only reason to spend the extra money to buy a breeder-quality cat is if you plan to breed. In fact, some breeders will sell their breeder-quality cats only to other experienced breeders.
Show-quality cats are the most expensive to buy. Breeders consider their show-quality kittens to be out-standing examples of the breed, based on the breed’s written standard, and they anticipate that such kittens will perform well in the show ring. Few breeders will sell a top show cat–or one that shows considerable show ring promise–to a novice owner.
If you’re interested in buying a kitten for show, carefully study its pedigree. If the kitten comes from a line of champions or grand champions, those cats’ names will be prefixed by Ch. or Gr. Ch. The more grand champion titles that appear in the first two or three generations of a kitten’s ancestry, the better the chances that the kitten, too, may grow up to be a winner.
The Sales Agreement
A written sales contract describes all terms of the sale, including the purchase price and payment schedule, the breeder’s health guarantee, and any neuter/spay requirement. Contracts vary from breeder to breeder; however, all agreements should spell out the buyer’s option to return the kitten and get his or her money back if the kitten is found to be unhealthy or unsuitable within a specified period after purchase.
Health records and vaccination certificates should accompany the sales agreement. To save money, some breeders vaccinate their own kittens, which is a legal practice. However, in areas where rabies shots are required for cats, the vaccine must usually be administered in the presence of a state authority, such as a veterinarian or an animal control officer, before a legal certificate can be issued. When shipping kittens by air, health and rabies certificates are typically required, depending on the destination and on the airline’s regulations.
Papers and Registration
The purchase price should include the kitten’s papers and pedigree. Because pedigrees can be verified by the cat-registering associations, a purebred’s papers provide proof of his parentage. Remember, you are paying for the predictable qualities that a certain bloodline offers. On the other hand, it’s important to understand that papers alone do not guarantee the health or quality of a kitten.
Depending upon the arrangements of the sale, the seller may rightfully withhold the papers or registration slip until the buyer furnishes proof that the cat has been spayed or neutered. While registration matters most to breeders, because it ensures that an animal’s progeny will be registrable as well, registering a cat also enables you to show him in purebred competition classes, if you choose to do so.
Choosing a Healthy Cat or Kitten
Whether you buy from a pet store, adopt from a shelter, answer a classified newspaper advertisement, purchase a purebred, or select a kitten from a neighbor’s litter, the animal you choose should have good muscle tone and bright, clear eyes, and he should be alert and friendly with a curious or playful attitude. A healthy cat or kitten should not be sneezing or showing mucus discharge around the eyes or nose. The ears should be clean and free of dark, crusty wax. Head shaking or ear scratching may indicate ear mites or other infections. The anus should be clean and free of any signs of diarrhea.
The environment where the cat or kitten has been kept should be clean and free of pungent animal odors. The animal’s coat also should be clean and free of fleas. To inspect the coat for fleas, rub your hand against the fur and look for fine grains of black dirt, which is really dried flea excrement, called “flea dirt” (see page 122). Flea signs are more prevalent behind the ears, on the back and at the tail base, where the cat cannot easily reach to lick clean.
To test the cat’s personality, tempt him with a feather or ribbon and see how playful and relaxed he is around strangers. If he appears fearful, hisses at you, cringes from your hand, or, in general, seems unused to being handled, you may want to look elsewhere for a better socialized animal. Of course, a shy, withdrawn cat that huddles quietly at the back of the cage at the animal shelter may come out of his shell and adapt successfully to life with a single adult or a quiet couple, if you have a house full of children, however, you will want to look for an outgoing, unflappable cat, one that sits at the front of the cage and reaches out his paw for attention.
Medical History
Once you’ve selected a cat or kitten, ask if he has been tested for FeLV and FIV, as noted previously. If the cat has not been tested, you will want to make sure he is free of these diseases before introducing him to other cats you may have at home. If any medical or vaccination records are available, ask for copies. Have your veterinarian examine the animal within a day or two after you take him home to help ensure that you’ve picked a healthy one.
Age: Knowing a kitten’s age is important, too. Kittens taken away too young from their original surroundings sometimes suffer from stress and have trouble adjusting to a new environment. Some also may develop unusual behavioral problems related to their maladjustment.
Ideally, a kitten should not leave his original environment until he is between 8 and 16 weeks old. Many breeders of purebreds will not release their kittens to new homes until they are between 12 and 16 weeks old. By this time, a kitten has been weaned and litter-trained, is eating solid food, and, depending on the owner, may have had some or all of his first year’s vaccination series. This is a best-case scenario that may be possible if, for example, you are planning to adopt a kitten from a friend or neighbor’s unplanned litter. However, since space at animal shelters is scarce, kittens there typically go to new homes by about eight weeks of age, or as soon as they are weaned and eating solid food.
In cases in which a breeder must ship a kitten to you, the animal must be at least three to four months old to conform with most airline age requirements. The breeder usually helps with shipping arrangements, but you can expect to pay all costs.
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