Costs of breeding a Ragdoll

Many people are under the impression that because a purebred kitten sells for so much money, that the breeders must be making a fortune. Without doing it, you have NO idea what is involved in raising kittens!!

Breeding Stock Costs

All of the costs mentioned here are in Canadian dollars!!

When you begin breeding, you have to purchase at least one good female that is registered and has a terrific pedigree. That queen needs to meet the breed standard and be cosmetically much better than a pet quality cat. The price of this queen is very high, $1200 to $1500. Experienced breeders often do not sell to newbie's without a great amount of proof that the new breeder has done all the research and will do right by both her cats and the breed.

Expense #1

Advertising, breed club fees, telephone calls - $200 per year

A good breeding female - $1200- $1500

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 - about $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 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 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 will be repeated and the results passed on to the stud 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 - $500 - $800

Purchase of your own stud male that meets the breed standard $1500 - $2000

Registration Fees

You must pay to register your cattery in at least one association; our cattery is registered with three associations. The CFA is $55 for a 5 year period. The CCA is $45 per year. The TICA is $55. You must register your new breeding female, $12 and you must register each litter you produce $12. You will produce at least one litter per year, keep one kitten per year and have to register that kitten.

Expense #4

Registration fees the first year $179

3 -5 generation pedigree for each cat $30 - $55

Every other year $45 plus cat and kitten registration fees

Books

If you are going to be a very knowledgeable 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 more. Libraries unfortunately do not have the up to date books required.

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 need a heating pad specifically safe for kittens to keep babies warm - $45. Hypothermia can kill many kittens so this is a must. We have chosen to purchase a high tech incubator - $1000. Also you must have cat trees / furniture for large breed such as a Ragdoll, the cost for that $250 - $300. You will need bedding for kittens; we use waterproof pads with vinyl between the layers to prevent babies from lying on wet bedding - $10 each. You also need disinfectants and cleaners that remove odors - $25. Feeding tubes, syringes for sick or weak kittens are another must - $5. KMR is the kitten replacer milk that we use for kittens needing to be hand fed - $25. A very accurate scale to weigh your kittens daily - $200. We use the Mars scale which weighs up to 11 lbs but is extremely accurate and weighs in grams, pounds and ounces. Kitten boxes or playpens to keep kittens in until they are litter trained - $100 - $300. Kitten size litter pans - $15. Birthing supplies, lube, dental floss for tying off umbilical cords, latex gloves, Kaopectate for diarrhea, eye ointments, paper towels, ear syringe to remove fluid from the nose and mouth of newborns - $50

Expense #6

Equipment for first litter of kittens - $560 - $1560. At least $40 per litter after that.

Advertising and Promotion

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

Expense #7

Advertising and promotion - $500 - $1000 the first year, this includes the cost of a web site: about $200 each year after.

Communication

Communication includes phone calls, contracts, photos, business cards. A good breeder will have two different contracts, one for pet kittens and another for breeding animals that they sell. Many long distant calls are made when selling a kitten. Following up on each kitten sold is the most important thing a breeder can do. This tells her how her 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 $400 per year minimum

Maintaining Your Adult Cats

Toys, climbers, food, litter, vet bills and furniture all add up. It always costs more than $600 per year per adult cat but can quickly add up to over $2000. We never breed a female more than twice per year and only until she is 7 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, behavioral problems. The older a cat gets, the more the vet bills are as they have special needs as they 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 they are special cats that you just cannot place since you are too attached, adults that require special attention. It is very emotionally draining parting with cats that have been part of your life for years. You then replace these cats with other breeding animals which may or may not produce. These are the risks you take.

The costs per litter

Equipment purchased for kittens is not the only cost of having litters.

Breeding females must be vaccinated each year - $45 done by your vet.

Stud fees and vet visits as discussed previously - $500 - $800

Extra food for pregnant mothers. 2 - 6 oz cans per day for 4 last weeks of pregnancy and for at least 8 weeks after delivery. Each can is $1 which adds up to $280 per queen.

Kittens dehydrate quickly so keeping KMR handy is a necessity as well as the feeding tubes and syringes - $30 per litter

Kittens start eating canned food at about 4 - 6 weeks of age and will continue eating it until they are around 8 weeks old. At this age, one kitten eats about 6 oz of canned food per day and maybe 1/8 cup of dry food. They also play in their food, spill it, sleep in food dishes etc... So there is some waste. Kittens remain with the breeder until they are between 10 - 12 weeks old. This all adds up to about $30 per kitten, $150 for a litter of 5 kittens. One 4 pound bag of dry food per litter - $15. Total for one litter of kittens is $ 165 at minimum.

Kittens need vaccinations. We do an injectible one at both 8 and 12 weeks. For 5 kittens, that is $40 per shot for a total of $400 per litter of 5 kittens.

Kittens do have accidents which adds to your 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 and birth defects are only a few of the things that can go wrong in a litter of kittens. Kittens are like children and get into lots of trouble. These vet costs can go from $50 for a routine exam to over $500 for emergency treatment.

Queens can have problems with birthing as well, including having to have a c-section, having no milk to feed her kittens, uterine infections, diarrhea and other complications. Emergency after hour’s c-sections can run you up to $1000. Often kittens die from the effects of anesthesia as well as from complication with the mother's milk.

Queens often have x-rays or ultrasounds done before giving birth at a cost of $50 - $150

The litter as well as the kitten you keep have to be registered - $24

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

If you buy more breeding cats, the higher your costs are. You have more litters, therefore again more chance of problems. Some of these other breeding cats may die prematurely, not be breedable or develop infections and can no longer be bred. With more cats it is not feasible to do stud services so 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 stud. You then have to provide an area for him to live in which costs hundreds of dollars again.

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. More vet bills due to fighting cats etc... Never mind the crying with the girls all in heat together, the peeing on furniture when they are in heat. Therefore you may have to have separate girls areas for the ones in heat that spray.

Then add more heating pads, birthing supplies and it does not take long for those expenses to add up again. If you only have one female, you can work around her needs in your home; keep your vet costs down etc...

Since cats were solitary animal's years ago and now you have several living in the same quarters, you cannot prevent them from passing infections to each other, more money.

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.

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

References:

Special thanks to Bonnie McNamara for her assistance with this page.

 www.shadedtails.com