The plight of the retired cat

Here’s a question that’s asked repeatedly in the pet circles and it’s often a question dripping with disgust and dismay, “Why do breeders just discard their older breeding cats? Why don’t they keep them forever? I mean—they’ve made their money off of them—shouldn’t they keep that cat for the rest of its lifetime?” While this may seem like a sensible question, it is a judgment that is being fobbed onto breeders from a pet owner’s point of view without any understanding in regard to a breeder’s place in the community.

Let’s start by saying—not all breeders will retire their breeding stock and place those cats into pet homes. Small hobby breeders with a short term plan may indeed spay and neuter their queens and studs and keep them in their homes—this is an excellent way to handle retirees in a small program. Yet it also is not feasible for the majority of cat breeders. Let’s look at why this is the case.

Making a Difference in the Breed Requires Longevity

Can we agree that reputable breeders would like to make a difference in the breeds they are involved with? Whether this is by improving breed health, working on breed type, or any other issue—a good breeder is going to want to make a difference in their breed of choice. If you enter breeding with the thought, “I’ll only breed for a year or two and then get out”—you are probably more interested in having kittens underfoot and profits versus actually improving the breed.

In order to change a breed, you need to invest time within the breed. The repeat pairing of the same set of cats is not going to drastically improve lineages or type. Yet breeding a pair, keeping the best kitten back, and then finding the best stud to pair with that kitten to breed—and then wash and repeat throughout the years can and will change a breed. This leads me to my next point.

Breeders Can Only Own X Number of Cats

This is probably the biggest reason breeders choose to retire their cats and place them into pet homes. No, they are not ‘discarding’ them. In fact, placing retirees often requires more work than placing kittens. Yet we will discuss this fact later on—for now let’s consider the number game in regard to breeding cats.

• Legally, breeders may only have x number of cats in their household.

Whether it’s a county law or city law, most areas of the country control the number of cats permitted to be kept within a household. Since the majority of breeders actually breed and raise their cats within their homes, they are required to follow the law when it comes to their head count.
 
So if the city states that I can only keep 8 cats on premises, but I already own 6 breeding cats, have 2 kittens that I have spayed/neutered and kept back as pets—I have no additional space. If I take in 2 new kittens to grow up and keep in my cattery—I have already went over my legal limit. What should I do? Most breeders will consider their cattery—look at their studs and queens and decide it’s time to retire an older cat (or a cat that hates motherhood or a stud that isn’t producing, etc.)
 

• Cats and catteries are healthier with lower populations.

This is a fact that most pet owners tend to ignore. Cats (and therefore catteries) are healthiest when there is a limited number in a certain space. Breeders need to know their cattery and their cats’ limits! The smallest health problem spreads like wildfire in a highly populated feline space—that’s why shelters (and even catteries) can have issues with the simplest things—URIs, ringworm, etcetera. Also cats’ immune systems function best when they are not overstressed and what causes stress for our feline friends? More cats.
 
Personalities don’t always mesh with cattery living or within the breeders’ household.

This is a painful truth—a truth that has frustrated breeders year after year. First, there are certain cats that are not made out to be breeders. They may hate other cats, they may hate kittens, they may be high strung or more dedicated to their human companions than their newborns, but some cats simply do not work in a cattery. Good breeders will try their best to work around the cat’s needs, but in the end—certain cats need to be spayed and neutered sooner rather than later.

Yet this also plays into keeping a cat in the household after they are altered. If the cat does not like other cats, how will you keep him or her in a home that is dedicated to raising socialized, healthy kittens? It’s difficult to say the least if not impossible! The realization that a cat that you love—absolutely adore—will do better in a different home is heartbreaking, but it’s a reality breeders face with their retirees day after day.

Breeders Prefer to Alter Young

I’m going to add a caveat here—while yes, a lot of reputable breeders do prefer to alter their breeding stock at a younger age and retire them sooner versus later, there are breeds working through serious health issues that are either starting breeding later in life or keeping breeders later to try to work through the health problems surfacing.

However it still stands that a lot of breeders prefer to spay and neuter their studs and queens at an earlier age. Why? I can only speak for myself, but I prefer my cats—all of my cats—to spend the majority of their lives as pampered pets. Yes, I do believe the pet life is the better life—no hormones, no babies, no pressing need to spray every surface of the home. I also believe in the beauty of the purebred cat raised by reputable breeders—therefore the trade off is an early spay and neuter for the cats who enter my homes as breeders.

Placing Retirees into Good Homes is Hard Work

Now is a good time to reiterate that placing retirees into pet homes is not ‘easy.’ It’s heartbreaking—we have seen these cats grow up from kittenhood and adored every moment of it. We know their personalities, their quirks, and we love them. Just because you love a cat, however, does not mean you are the best place for that individual feline.

Locating the right home requires weeding out a lot of homes that are not ideal. Most retirees will be offered at a discounted price. This is due to the cat already being an adult, being set in its personality, and having specific needs/wants to be catered to. This is not because breeders are looking to discard their stock as soon as possible! Yet the lower adoption fees often bring out the sketchiest of pet owners—the people who want a purebred, but at the cheapest price possible. These homes may not have the money for emergencies, may not have the flexibility to incorporate an adult cat into their home or may simply be the wrong home for the breed. A good breeder often has to sift through numerous offers for a retiree to find the best fit for their feline friend.

The positive side of this, however, is that sometimes you—as a potential buyer—can bring home the perfect cat (sometimes even an older kitten) into your home to adore at a lower fee! Don’t disregard retired breeding cats if you are looking for the perfect kitty companion. You never know—your local breeder might have the ideal cat for you.
​
Have you ever adopted a retiree? What are your thoughts about bringing home an older cat? Do you understand why breeders might have a retired cat for sale now that you’ve read this article? Let us know in the comments and please—share pictures of your own retired kitties!