Mentor and Mentoring

An established breeder who is willing to mentor a new breeder is worth their weight in gold. A breeder who starts another breeder should be experienced, and willing to answer any and all questions, and be available when something comes up that you don’t understand. Make sure the person you are buying from agrees to ‘be there for you’ when you need it. The first litter is sometimes a very nervous time for new breeders. Your mentor should be willing to be ‘on call’ for you. PLEASE don’t abuse this. No one likes that, but there will be plenty of questions you will have, and the mentor should realize this, and be prepared to answer them when they come up.

It is very tempting to go on the Internet and cat’s magazines, and start calling to see what everyone has. If you buy one kitten here, another one there, and you never get to know any one breeder well enough to establish that mentorship. Look around first to find a breeder who’s personality meshes with yours, and who’s cats you admire. Get references from other breeders, visit the cattery, and know the standard so you can rely on your own good sense too.

As I said before, many good breeders are smaller breeders, and won’t have just what you are looking for, or maybe just one of a pair. These breeders usually have other breeders who are close friends they trust and like. They can usually help you come up with a pair, or more. If you stick with one breeder (after you have decided you like and trust them), you will do much better than shopping around. There are great friendships made in the cat fancy. Cat people are great. There are also some battles among breeders, but this is natural, as we all are very emotionally involved with our hobby and our love affair with Ragdolls. Get to know as many people as you can, and listen to what everyone has to say. You will pick up ideas and tips from everyone. None of us have exactly the same cattery set up or way of doing things. You will develop your own as you progress too. The basics are the same, but no two houses or lifestyles are the same, so there will be some differences.

After a while, you can and will want to branch out, in order to get new lines to improve your own stock. The biggest mistake new breeders make though is to get too big too fast. I would start out with a pair, then add 2 more females. Keep the 4 for several litters, and then decide if you want to get bigger.

Too many breeders get burned out fast by starting out with too many cats, or getting too big too fast. 4 kittens running around the house doesn’t seem like too many when they are small, but when they mature, and the hormones start raging, you don’t want to be over crowded. We lose probably half of all new breeders after 3 years. This is the point where they find they can’t handle the number of cats they have, or can’t handle the ‘down side’ to breeding. Avoid keeping any kittens out of the first several litters. Remember, if you keep a female, you will need another male to breed her with. Then you will need more females for him. That means more cats.

The Down Side