So, you think breeders make a lot of money?

Read on and find out why you pay what you do for a Mau kitten.

Many people are under the impression that because a purebred Mau sells for $1500, that the breeder must be making a fortune. Without actually breeding yourself, you have NO idea what is involved in breeding and raising kittens to the day they go to their new homes. Preventing and taking care of kittens with possible infectious diseases is extrely costly. It should be obvious that the more cats you have, the greater the costs are involved. Vets are not cheap, neither is the care of each individual kitten.

When breeding cats that hold today's standards, a purebred Mau is around $1500. Katzmau does not differentiate between a pet or show quality kitten as even a pet kitten can can take out top honours at a cat show. If cats are not shown at the standard, the breed would not exist. Breeding is not just for the rich but it is a very costly part of the cat world. Showing cats tells the breeder if they are breeding for the correct type as well as evaluating physical defects, not just the way the cat looks.

Breeding Stock Costs

All of the costs mentioned are in Australian Dollars
and are estimates only

NOTE: These cost only apply to Katzmau Egyptian Mau Cattery. Other Catteries have varying costs.

Expense # 1

Advertising, Breed Club Fees, Telephone calls - $200 a year

A good breeding female - Katzmau has 3 - $3000 each

Veterinary costs

Each time you buy a new kitten or cat for breeding, you must be sure the kitten is in good health and has no infectious diseases that can be passed on to other cats in the breeding home. The vet visit includes a physical exam, a stool sample to test for worms as well as blood tests for FIV and Leukemia.

Expense # 2

Vet visit - around $250

Stud Male

A new breeder must either pay money for stud fees or purchase their own stud male. The breeder must build a stud room, or purchase one ready made, which is very costly and has to be well thought out. If opting for stud service, the stud's owner must ensure that their stud is being protected from being exposed to disease. Therefore, another vet visit is needed for your female before taking her to the stud's home. Blood work should be repeated and results passed on to the stud's owner prior to every breeding. It is much more costly to own your own stud and more work, but sometimes you have no choice if you cannot find a breeder willing to do stud services.

Expense # 3

Stud service and blood testing for a Mau- around $2000 (To Egyptian Maus only) Will not stud out to any other breed

Purchasing your own stud that meets the breed standard - Katzmau's stud cost $10,000

Registration Fees

You must pay to register your cattery in at least one Association. Waratah costs are around $60 a year for a single or $75 if you and your partner join. Renewals are $45 and $65 respectively. Registering your Breeder Prefix for 5 years costs $85. Registering each litter costs $15 plus $10 for a 4 generation pedigree. You will most likely breed one litter per year from each Queen and maybe keep one kitten per year and you will have to register that kitten.

Expense # 4

Registration fees for first year - Around $250

Books

If you are going to be a knowlegable breeder, you will have to purchase 2-4 reference/health books. These books will teach you what you need to know about breeding decisions, vet screening, genetics, raising kittens, caring for pregnant cats, diseases, nutrition and much much more. Libraries unfortunately do not have the up to date books required. Books on the Mau are very hard to get.

Expense # 5

 Books, approximately $100 - $150 the first year and at least $15 per year after.

Equipment

You have NO idea what equipment is needed to raise kittens. At the very least, you will need a heating pad specifically safe for kittens to keep them warm during the winter months. Approximately $45 each. Hyperthermia can kill many kittens so this is a must. If your cattery is indoors, an oil heater is recommended to keep the chill out of the air - $65 each. Katzmau has 6. You will need bedding for the kittens. We use soft blankets that are easily washable and sanitised - $10 each. Katzmau has 20.  You will also need disinfectants and cleaners to remove odours - We use Glen 20 and buy 60 cans at a time - $250. Feeding tubes, syringes for sick and weak kittens is another must - $15. Wombaroo is a milk replcer that we use for kittens needing to be hand fed - $20. A very accurate scale that weighs in grams to weigh your kittens daily - $100. Kitten boxes or play pens to keep kittens in until they are litter trained - $50 to $200, depending on which type and brand you choose. Litter trays - $25 to $35 each. Katzmau has 8. Birthing supplies, lube, dental floss for tying of the umbilical cords, latex gloves, Kaopectate for diahorrea, eye ointment, paper towels, ear syringe to remove fluid from mouth and nose of new borns - $50. Katzmau has a special medical chest which includes just about everything we may need - $250.

Expense # 6

Equipment for first litter of kittens - $500 to $1500. At least $40 perlitter after that.

Advertising and Promotion

Advertising is very important, as is promoting the breed that you are working with. You also need to promote your own Cattery. There are various ways to advertise kittens but today, the internet is the most critical. Creating a web site is very time consuming but improtant to get your name out there.

Expense # 7

Advertising and Promotion - $1000 to $3000 for the first year, this includes the web site. Around $250 a year after that.

Communication

Communication includes phone calls, contracts, photos, business cards and specially labelled clothing. A good breeder will have two different contracts, one for  pet kittens and another for breeding animals that they sell. Katzmau does not sell breeding stock, so, only has one contract. Many long distance calls are made when selling a kitten. Following up on each kitten sold is the most important thing a breeder can do. This tells the breeder how the breeding program is progressing, if there are any health issues popping up etc.....Many of these calls are long distance and last longer than a couple of minutes.

Expense # 8

All forms of communication - Around $300 for first year and at least $50 a month after that.

Maintaining your adult cats

Toys, climbers, food, litter, vet bills, and cat furniture add up quickly. It always cost more than $600 a year per adult cat but can quickly add up to over $2000, depending on how much you buy. Katzmau never breeds a female more than three times in two years and will stop breeding a Queen when she reaches 5 years of age. After that she is spayed and placed as a pet in a loving home. There will always be adult cats looking for good homes due to replacing your breeding stock, cats that just do not work out, health problems, difficult birthing moms and behavioural problems. The older the cat gets, the more the vet bills are as they have special need at their age. there are dental cleanings yearly on some adult cats. No matter what the intentions are, there are always more cats than are desired in any cattery since there are special cats that you just cannot place since you are too attached.

The costs per litter

Equipment purchased for kittens is not the only costs of having kittens.

Breeding females must be vaccinated each year - $20 done by your vet if you are offered reduced prices as a breeder. Many vets charge around $50 per shot.

Stud fees and vet visits as discussed earlier - $1800 to $2500

Extra and special food for pregnant mothers - Around $4 per day. Katzmau has three Queens - $12 per day

Kittens start eating solid food at around four weeks of age. Special kitten food is required. The kibble is around $80 for 10 kilos and wet food is around 50c per sachet.

Kittens remain with us until they are 15 weeks old. The total food bill for a 5 kitten litter for 15 weeks is around $350.

Kittens need vaccinations. We vaccinate at 6 weeks, 12 weeks and recommend a third at 18 weeks. for each kitten that's $20 per shot. That's $200 for a litter of 5.

All Katzmau kittens are desexed at 12 weeks of age. For a litter of 5, that's between $400 and $600, depending whether they are all boys or all girls. Girls are more expensive to desex.

Kittens do have accidents which add to the vet costs and it almost always happens in each litter, be it a poke in the eye, falling off a table, umbilical infection, failing to thrive etc...... Swallowing foreign objects, doors shut on toes, mother sitting on a kitten and birth defects are only a small number of things that can go wrong with a litter. Katzmau certainly has had it's share.Kittens are like children and get into lots of trouble. These vet costs can go from $50 to over $500 for emergency treatment.

Queens can have trouble with birthing as well, including having to have a c-section, having no milk to feed her kittens, uterine infections, diahorrea and other complications. Emergency after hours c-sections can rum into $1000. Often kittens die from he effects of anesthesia as well as from complications with the mother's milk.

Queens often have X-rays or ultrasounds done before giving birth - $50 - $150.

The litter as well as the kitten you keep has to be registered - Around $20

You must replace some of your equipment, birthing supplies etc.....with each litter - $50

Total cost per 5 kitten litter where nothing goes wrong and no kittens sick - $1750

Income from one litter of kittens

If you sell all five kittens and keep none - $7500. If you ignore the start up costs and overhead, with the best case scenario

5 X $1500= $7500- $1750= $5750

The Queen originally cost you $3000+$200 Vet check+ $200 for advertising+$20 for registration+yearly maintenance $600 for 5 years of her reproductive life= $3000. Now divide that by five years and you get $1244, providing you do not support her after she retires. So far your "profit" from this litter is $4506. Sounds good, doesn't it?

You still haven't included show entry fees of around $100 or more per show. Accomodation costs for 2 day shows at around $100 per night. Transport costs to the show around $100. You have to eat - $100+. Katzmau does around 20 shows a year to promote the breed. A Show interstate could cost upwards of $1000. Are you getting the picture now????

Katzmau's set up costs in the first year was in the vicinity of $50,000. ARE YOU HORRIFIED YET???????

All of this and we haven't even disected our total costs for show expenses. Nor have we included the cost per hour that we spend feeding, doing litter trays, web site updates...etc.

If you buy more breeding cats, the higher your cost go. Katzmau will be importing a Bronze Egyptian Mau in 2008 and costs for him will be approximately $10,000.You may have more litters, hence the chance of more problems. Some of these breeding cats may develop infections and can no longer breed. With more cats it is not feasible to do stud services as you will have to have your own male. You cannot be shipping your females out for breeding since that is more expense.

So, you buy your own stud. You then have to provide an area for him to live in which cost us around $500. A stud will either spray or leave his mark all over the house if you let him run loose, so, he must be contained.

When you have multiple females you are bound to get animals that do not get along, so again you have to provide separate quarters for certain females. Katzmau has three compounds at $500 each. More vet bills due to fighting cats......etc. Never mind the calling with all the females are in heat at the same time..........Yes, this does happen. Therefore it is advisable to separate the females in heat. Placing a Queen on the pill adds to the vet costs. Then add more heating pads, birthing supplies and it doesn't take long for the costs to skyrocket. If you only have one female, you can work around her needs in your home and keep the costs down.....etc.

Since cats were solitary animals years ago and now you have several living in the same quarters, you cannot prevent them from passing infections to eachother.............more money. A Ringworm infection can be transmitted to other cats and to the humans in the house. That's at least 6 to 12 weeks of treatment depending on the severity. A course of treatment for multiple cat Catteries could cost as much as $500 or more.

So, why do breeders even bother with multiple cats and litters? It is due to the fact that they want to keep the breed going and improve the overall quality and appearance of the cats. You do not accomplish much for the breed when only breeding one cat per year.

SO MUCH FOR THE "PROFIT" OF CAT BREEDING

When you buy a kitten from a reputable breeder, you are helping the breeder with SOME of the expenses so the breeder can keep the breed alive.

THAT'S ALL THERE IS TO IT.

 BREEDING CATS IS EASY AND VERY PROFITABLE, ISN'T IT??????

Katzmau spends upwards of $8000 per year on show related costs alone. The so called "profit" is eaten up by these costs. More often than not, we have to subsidise out of our own pocket. For the financial year 2006-2007 Katzmau was operating at a loss of $5500 and we sold 18 kittens that year. Our total expenditure for that financial year was over $25,000.

A very wise person once said "If you are making money out of breeding cats, you are doing it all wrong"

Thank you for taking the time to read this article. It may help you to understand that breeders do NOT make money from breeding cats. They do it for the love of the animals.

Thank you to Bonnie McNamara of Shadedtails Cattery who allowed us to use her article and reproduce it and adapting it to Katzmau Egyptian Mau Cattery.

Check out her Himalayan cats on www.shadedtails.com