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Reputable Breeder | Adoption Questionnaire | Cattery Visit | Contracts | Pricing General Information
In order to help insure that the quality of their life is excellent, we have an adoption process that every prospective adoptee must follow. Each step in that process is intended to help us determine if an individual, or family, is right for our kitten/cat and equally important, to help determine which kitten/cat we have that best fits in with the new family. Appearance is important, to be sure, but it is the last item we look at. We know there are other breeders out there who do not take this part as seriously as we do and will give a kitten/cat to anyone who puts money down on the table... We will not. No amount of money is going to make us give anyone a kitten or cat that we do not believe will be good for them - Period. We
absolutely reserve the right to NOT adopt
out any kitten, or cat, to anyone, The adoption process we go through is as follows: 1)
Adoption Questionnaire Should there ever be a time
when you can not
adequately care for the kitten/cat Some of you may have noticed that we "try" to include a lot of pictures of our kittens and cats on our web site. We do this because we enjoy sharing the images of their life, their development and the environment they grow up in. It (hopefully) gives you a better idea of who we are, who they are and how they are raised. The trouble is, it has also caused some problems with people "falling in love" with a kitten, or cat, based solely on their pictures only. While we all may have particular preferences for color, pattern, a "look", etc, there are two potential problems with getting too attached, too quickly... One, the particular kitten / cat may not be suitable for your household, or when you meet them, you and they may not "click". The answers you provide us, on the Adoption Questionnaire, are used as an initial screening, not just for whether we will let you adopt a kitten / cat from us, but equally important, whether the specific kitten / cat you are interested in, is compatible with your household, expectations, etc. Two, until they are listed as "Available", on the "Available Kittens" page, they may not be available for adoption. Not only do we breed these cats, which in itself means that certain kittens may stay for breeding purposes, but we also show some of our kittens and cats. Many times the two go together, some times they do not, but either way, we have to make this decision...first. The last thing we ever want to do to someone, is to cause them any form of disappointment. Either situation mentioned above, can cause disappointment and while we will do all we can to avoid it happening, we also still want to share our version of the world of cats, with you, via the pictures we have on this site. Please keep these things in mind as you look around our site and realize that what we want, for our kittens / cats and for you, is the best match possible, to help insure that both of you have long, happy lives together.
The "Adoption Questionnaire" is rather extensive, it is long (10 pages or so) and covers a wide variety of topics that we feel are important. We do not wish to be intrusive into a prospective adoptee's life just because we enjoy it, but we do want to make sure our cats are going to appropriate homes. We fully realize that simply taking the time to fill out the questionnaire is not something everyone will want to do, but without it, we will not discuss things much further. You need to remember, we have spent many years caring for our cats - the parents and grandparents, etc. of the kitten you are looking at. We have spent countless hours going through the process with them, culminating with their mating, pregnancy, birth, weighing twice a day, sometimes hand feeding them, watching them grow, opening their eyes, exploring our home, and developing into the cute ball of fur you wish to take home with you. We have fretted over every aspect of their early lives to make sure that each and every one of them matures into a happy, healthy kitten and cat. If you keep these things in mind, you may understand why we ask some of the questions we do. Letting a kitten/cat go is difficult, to be sure, but it is obviously one of the purposes of being a breeder - to share these cats we find so spectacular. We do so, but with a great deal of care and concern over their future. We have a number of formats available for the Questionnaire - Choose the one you would like to use.
You must complete the questionnaire, in it's entirety and return it to us before any real discussions can take place over which kitten, or cat you might like, or before a cattery visit will be scheduled. We need a couple of days to review your answers before we will schedule a visit. Please understand, we want the time, alone, without you (or anyone else) sitting over us, to make this decision.
The cattery visit is generally the
second step in our process. When this is scheduled, it
means that we A cattery visit does NOT mean you will automatically take home a kitten, or cat.
All individuals / families wishing to adopt a kitten or cat will be required to sign our Adoption Contract. We all know about contracts and the paper they are written on, but it is our intent to give you the minimum requirements we expect you will follow, in writing and expect them to be followed, for the sake of the kitten or cat you are adopting. In addition, we will go over with you (and your family) any general items relating to the care of your new kitten/cat, personalities, etc. at the time you pick them up. Sample
Contracts Again, one of the most important aspects of all of this is for you to remember - That if, at any time, for any reason, you can not adequately care for the cat you get from us, we will, without question, take the cat back and care for it ourselves. It is our firm belief that there should never be a reason why any of our kittens/cats are not loved and cared for as well, or better, than we do, for it's entire life. They deserve it, we expect and we will do all we can to ensure that it happens, each and every time. |
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Pricing
The pricing for our cats and kittens is somewhat "variable" and can depend on a number of factors. No matter what anyone may say, "all" kittens / cats are not equal. Some are physically better than others, at meeting their particular breed's "standards". Some handle new and unique situations, better than others. Some are just simply shy, or more reserved. Some are boys, some are girls. Some are solid colored, some are tabbys... The "list" can go on and on. Each item and what you and the breeder are looking at, will make up much of the determination in how much a kitten / cat will cost... Each breeder and prospective kitten / cat buyer, will make the determination, on an individual, case, by case basis... In our case, there are some things to keep in mind...
- All our cats are seen by our Vet,
at least once a year, no matter what. Many other breeders have the same, or a similar, list of items that they do as well. The above items, make up some of the "direct" costs associated with the "production" of your new kitten. No one will ever get rich breeding cats, for that matter, few make any money at all, but at least some of the costs need to be recovered. This helps to insure that a breeder can continue breeding and have happy, healthy and well adjusted cats and kittens available, for the people who want them. In addition, there are quite a number of "incidental" expenses which can vary from litter to litter...
For another perspective on all of
this,
click here... Note: Over the years, there have been a couple of articles and comments made in some magazines by several "experts" on the subject of how to determine who is a reputable breeder. One of the criteria put forward, is that the price of the kitten, or cat, must be approximately $500 (or higher), or the breeder could not be considered "reputable", as they could not have cared for the kitten properly, etc., for any amount less. We STRONGLY disagree with this sort of "generalized" statement. Do not get me wrong, the price of our kittens / cats is usually equal to (and often exceeds), the stated minimum amount of $500, but we would like to point out, it is NOT the amount of money a breeder asks for, that determines whether a kitten / cat is "good", or the cattery is "reputable". The question is actually answered by how they care for their cats, how they are treated, how their kittens are raised and how much concern they show towards the new home they will (possibly) be going to.
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