Newest Listings

Cattery Vital Andion - Exotic, Himalayan, Persian

A small Cattery working Exotic, Himalayan, Persian SHOW Quality. Specializing in: Color point, Tabby, Calico, Bi-Color. Top Lines - GC, RW, NW, DM. CFA registration. PKD/DNA negative. (read more)

Cattery Vital Andion - Exotic, Himalayan, Persian

A small Cattery working Exotic, Himalayan, Persian SHOW Quality. Specializing in: Color point, Tabby, Calico, Bi-Color. Top Lines - GC, RW, NW, DM. CFA registration. PKD/DNA negative. (read more)

Cattery Vital Andion - Exotic, Himalayan, Persian

A small Cattery working Exotic, Himalayan, Persian SHOW Quality. Specializing in: Color point, Tabby, Calico, Bi-Color. Top Lines - GC, RW, NW, DM. CFA registration. PKD/DNA negative. (read more)

Aksum Abyssinians

Adorable Abyssinian kittens available from show breeder - ruddy, blue, cinnamon, fawn plus hard to find new colors of chocolate and lilac. New RARE colors now available - red, torbie, cream. Atlanta, GA (read more)

Cat Breeds

Cat breed information, breeder directory, cat forum, articles, and fun facts about cats. Come join our cat community now! (read more)

Cattery of the Siberian Cats

We are a beautiful Siberian cat & Neva Masquerade cattery in the Netherlands. Our kittens are guaranteed to be sweet and loving. We have our own studs. We are tested our cats for HCM, PKD, FIV, FeLV. (read more)

Abeitagatos Sphynx Cattery

Beautiful Very Bald Babies. HCM scanned, health guarantee, contract. CFA and TICA reg. Health record. CFA and TICA Certified Cattery of Excellence. (read more)

A Top Persian Cat Breeder

Pamper Palace Persians has been raising kittens under foot for over 10 years. Specializing in all Silver Persians and Solid Colors as well as Color Points. (read more)

Barocco persian and sphynx cats

Barocco is a belgian cattery in a private house, cfa registered, hcm, pkd ,felv, fiv, tested negative, persian and sphinx,are family members!!!... (read more)

Breeders Directory

offers information about Persian breeders, Maine Coon breeders breeders, Exotic breeders, Siamese breeders, Ragdoll breeders, Himalayan breeders, Burmese breeders, Bengal breeders, Siberian Cat breeders, and more pet related information.
(read more)

B R I T O N S

Welcome to the home of the Britons cats. We are a small mother/daughter team based in France. The main colours we breed are lilac, blue, chocolate and bi-colours. Free for HCM, PKD, FelV and FiV. Very nice international bloodlines. We exported kittens to arround the world. (read more)

Arohanui LaPerm Cattery

TICA & CFA registered cattery, Dedicated to Preserving, Protecting & Promoting the LaPerm as a Native American breed based on domestic cats, No purebred out-crossing. Lesser shedding, low allergy, quite, out-going people oriented cats. Vet checked, vaccinated & wormed. Will ship internationally. Home of top winning LaPerms, in both coat lengths. Breeding for Health, Temperament & Type (read more)

Pampered Cat Cattery Directory

A directory list of catteries, cat breeders, kitten photos, and breeders in your area (read more)

Cat Insurance

Take a look at the range of cat insurance policies from Petplan - the pet people and find the right cover for your cat. (read more)

Engraved dog Id tags

Dublin Dog store sells designer collection of unique durable dog ID tags that engrave up to 4 lines of information. (read more)

My Three Cats - Cat Accessories

Order online from My Three Cats for cat products and supplies. 1-877-CAT LUV3 Cat Accessories, Gifts for cat lovers, cat toys, cat furniture, cat jewelry, cat clothes– all your cat needs for a healthy and happy pet. (read more)

Koontucky Maine Coons

Welcome to our home on the web. Come in and please feel free to email us with any questions. We have been breeding since 1984 and are long standing MCBFA Breeder Members. We specialize in silvers, but produce all colors. More information can be found on our web site. (read more)

Tigerlillysmainecoons

We are Breeders and Owners of Fantastic mainecoon cats .all our kittens are born and reared in our home where they are handled from birth to get them used to human contact ..this helps them to become well adjusted friendly loving babies when leaving for their new forever homes . (read more)

Siberian Cats and kittens for sale

Siberian Cats andKittens for SaleHome raised International winning lines. Bred for temperment and type. Kittens available. Traditional colors (read more)

Grumpy Kitty

Purrs, yowls and other conversations of a crazy cat lady. (read more)

Things You Should Know Before Becoming a Cat Breeder

You love your purebred kitty, and you know other people would as well.  She’s got beautiful fur, clear eyes, an ideal disposition, and maybe she’s even won a show or two.  But before you begin imagining the adorable kittens you could breed and sell, it’s important to learn about the reality of becoming a cat breeder.

You Won’t Get Rich Breeding Cats

Becoming a cat breeder is more of a hobby than a smart career move.  Because of the expenses required to keep up a cattery, all of the money you make from the sale of a litter of adorable kittens is likely to be taken up in medical bills, food, supplies, and other cat breeding costs.  Unfortunately, you may have noticed that this list of expenses does not include the cat breeder’s salary.

In fact, most breeders never break even.  You should never consider breeding a reliable income to survive on.  You can theoretically support your cats and cat show activities by selling kittens, but don’t count on it. That’s why most breeders are hobbyists. And what an expensive hobby it is!

Become an Expert on Your Chosen Breed

You may know a lot about your cat:  her likes, dislikes, her favorite toys.  However, knowing the traits, potential health issues and temperament of your breed as a whole is very important toward becoming a reputable breeder with lots of knowledge.

It is important that you learn as much as you possibly can about your chosen breed before you think about opening your cattery.  You need to be able to know about how to select foundation cats for your breed, paying special attention to bone structure, coat, and genetic history.   You need to be knowledgeable about the bloodlines you are looking at or hoping to use. Contacting many breeders and asking to talk about the breed, breeding in general and any tips or help they may offer will serve you well in establishing credibility and a useful network of people you can rely on for help and advice in the years to come.

A common suggestion for those interested in becoming a cat breeder is to actually purchase an altered cat and show him/her. This is for experience and to get a ‘taste’ of what it is like to be in the show halls, to prepare and groom your cat and see if you like it or if it’s something you want to do.

When it comes time to purchase a cat for breeding, don’t expect to just get any cat from any breeder.  No one wants to sell a whole (unaltered) cat to an unknown person who has not even shown a cat before. It’s quite difficult to find a breeder willing to mentor new people and help them learn how to do things right, let alone give them tips and support. It’s very important to talk to people who are already well established, reputable breeders for your chosen breed. Let them know you want to learn, ask questions, a lot of them. And be open minded about showing a premier (altered) cat before starting to breed. It really is in your best interest.

Be Prepared to Devote a Lot of Time and Money

In order to be a first-rate cat breeder, you need to devote yourself full time to your cattery.  Daily tasks such as cleaning, grooming and feeding will be not just an option, but mandatory in maintaining healthy cats and a healthy environment for your cats.  In addition, you will need to consider that it will be quite likely you won’t be able to take vacations or make long-range plans.  Sudden health issues, having pregnant cats or very young kittens, will likely derail any plans you will be able to make.

The expense of breeding cats is also a limiting factor for many people.  You will have the initial investment of purchasing cats with breeding rights and of setting up a proper cattery space.  Then there will be numerous health care expenses for your cats.  An emergency C-section, for instance, can cost in the neighborhood of $1500+.  There are also expenses related to proper food, grooming, and general care.

Prepare Yourself for the Emotional Toll

While the time and money requirements are significant, many cat breeders find they are unable to handle the emotional toll.  You must be prepared to see your cat die due to complications with giving birth or some other related concern.  Kittens also frequently die or are born dead.  Unfortunately, these are common issues to any cattery.

Another emotional hardship associated with breeding cats is figuring out what to do with the kittens you are unable to sell.  You must be prepared to keep these kittens yourself or find homes for them.

An Expensive Hobby

In essence, cat breeding makes a rewarding, though very expensive, hobby.  It is not a good source of income, nor is it easy work.  Becoming a cat breeder consumes a great deal of time and money and is unlikely to provide any kind of return on investment for several years, if ever.

However, that said, the joys and rewards are many. Enjoying your gorgeous show cats every day, sharing them with others and the pride of having a winning cat at the cat shows (with pretty ribbons!) is something that simply can’t be explained without experiencing it for yourself.

The Progression of Work-Related Insanity

Phase 1

You are listening to Stevie Wonder.
(Your first day at work and all is fine and great)

Phase 2

You are listening to HOUSE music.
(After a while you are so busy that you are not sure if you coming or going anymore)

Phase 3

You are listening to Metal.
(This is what you feel like at month end)

Phase 4

You are listening to Hip Hop.
(You become bloated due to stress, feel sluggish and suffer from constipation)

Phase 5

You are listening to GANGSTA RAP.
(After more time passes, your eyes start to twitch, you forget what a ‘good hair day’ feels like as you just fall out of bed and load up on caffeine.

And Finally

Phase 6

You are listening to Techno (on Ecstasy)
The truth - (how all employees end up eventually…. ha ha ha)

Free Directory Submission 101

Submitting your cattery or cat related website to as many directories as possible will get your site listed on the SERPs (search engine rank pages) the quickest. You can opt for multiple inclusions through a free or paid service, or you can find and add your listing yourself.

Today’s discussion will be about free directories, how to find the good ones and how to submit your cattery site properly.

Finding Free Directories

Go to the Google search engine main page and type one of the below queries:

“free directory” cats

“free directory” pets

“free directory” cat breeder

The above will help you find free directories and pages that list free directories with the word “cat”, “pets” or “cat breeder” on it. When doing searches in this manner, you are telling Google to search for the entire phrase “free directory” plus the word after that portion. Other search terms you might use:

cat breeder directory

free cat breeder directory

free directory cats

and so on.

How to Tell the Good from the Bad

When looking to submit your site to directories, there are a few criteria you should be looking at. First, you’ve got to realize that there are hundreds and hundreds of free directories out there that have a section on pets, or cats. However, the more specific the directory is on your site content, the better that directory will be for the best results. So, submitting to a general category type of directory is fine, but submitting to a directory about pets or even better, about cats, will get you the best results and higher quality links back to your site.

Secondly, be aware of Page Rank on the sites you choose to link to and get links from. Google is the one that calculates page rank, and all sites on the web have one, or not at all. To check page rank, you can install a browser plugin like SEO for Firefox or find one of the many page rank checker sites out there. You can also check your backlinks. The more backlinks your site has, the better PR (page rank) you will get and the higher your site will list on the SERPs (search engine result pages).

With the above said, you should now be looking for PR3 or better directories to submit to. The higher the PR, the better the backlink to your site. Also be aware of how easy the directory’s menu navigation is. Will your listing be easily found? Or buried into a gazillion layers of sub categories? The higher up your category is on the directory, the better. Top domain links are always the best kind of links (links on the main domain URL. ex: somedomain.com/linkspage.html vs. somedomain.com/category/subcategory1/subcategory2/link.html) to get.

How To Submit

Submitting your cattery to a directory is a simple matter, but I’m going to discuss how BEST to list your cattery so it gets the most relevant results and the best back links (links back to your site).

Usually a directory submission form includes the following information; site title, site description, keywords, and your method of contact.

1. Site Title

The site title should be the name of your cattery. If the name of your cattery does NOT include the name of your breed(s), then you should figure out away to add your breed name into the site title.

Example: Mystic Tails is the name of my cattery. If I was submiting to a directory, I’d add the site title as “Mystic Tails Manx” or “Mystic Tails Manx Cats”.

The reason why the site title is MOST important here is that it will become the anchor text for your link. When the directory accepts your listing, your listing link will become that very site title. Why is this important? Google considers the anchor text (the link text) to be most important. So when doing a search on Manx, you *will* see my listing. So too will you see my site listed for Manx cats. So, the anchor text is key. Use your breed name in the Site Title (it becomes the anchor text).

2. Site URL

The site URL is obviously your main site page. (ie to your domain name, mystictails.com, etc)

3. Site Description

The description is almost as important as the site title when you submit to directories. You want to use your keywords and especially your breed name(s) in the description. The description should be human readable, but you should write it for the search engines as well. That means keyword rich, but not spammy. Example:

CFA registered manx cat breeder in the Greater Toronto area of Ontario, Canada, occasionally has long haired manx and short haired manx cats in most colors. No manx stud service. Closed manx cattery.

In the above example I have provided useful information with plenty of keywords; manx cat breeder, long haired manx, short haired manx, manx cattery, etc. Keep in mind that these listings are *rarely* read by a human. What we are doing here is create backlinks to your website to get your site ranked on the search engines. When someone types in the keywords you are targeting, they will find a link to your website, not to the directory listings of your website.

4. Keywords

Keywords are a very important part of marketing your website online. Knowing your keywords and using them properly takes time, skill and experience. But in general, you know one of the major keywords for your cattery site will be your breed name, and a combination of your breed name with other words that someone would use to find your cattery. Things to consider are your geographical location, the type of breed you deal with and even the registry you are registered with.

Some examples may be:

CFA manx, cfa registered manx, manx cats, manx kittens, long haired manx, short haired manx, Canadian manx, manx in canada, canadian manx cats, etc.

You can use many online tools to discover who is searching for what keywords, and how often or even how relevant they are to your site and content. Again, it takes experience, time and skill to use these tools to fullest potential, but you can get a general idea with many free site trackers like < rel="nofollow"a href="http://www.statcounter.com/" target="_blank">StatCounter and Google Analytics.

5. Contact

Make sure you are using a valid email address that you will continue to use for years to come. Some directory sites let you go back and edit your listings. If you don’t have access to, or even remember what email address you used, you may never be able to edit your listing. So use a non-disposable email address here. Besides, there are plenty of email spam programs to install with or in addition to usual email clients. If you are really concerned on getting spam, just use a gmail or yahoo email address with online browser access.

I hope you enjoyed this first “tutorial” type of article for cat breeders and search engine optimization.

While comments are welcomed, please discuss Free Directory Submission 101 in our message board.

Puppy Training

Puppy training is something all new puppy owners must take on. Even after house training your new puppy, it is wise to go futher with some obedience lessons to ensure your puppy becomes a well socialize, well mannered adult dog.

Daily walks and/or play sessions are essential to helping your new puppy to learn what is and is not acceptable in human terms. It’s really important that you socialize your dog with other dogs as well as with humans. For a properly socialized dog to learn how to behave with other dogs, you can make play dates with other dogs and their owners. A few places you can go online to meet other dog owners looking for play dates for their dogs are:

• Zootoo.com - personal blog, classifieds, play date section
• PawSpot.com - play date section, dog friendly parks, message boards
• PlayDateBuddy.com - arrange play dates for your dog (paid membership required)

A puppy training class or course is another great option for making sure your puppy grows up to be a well mannered dog. A professional dog trainer can target your puppy’s specific needs. Perhaps your puppy is jumping up, not coming when called, a bit too aggressive during play or maybe your new puppy has seperation anxiety when you leave the house. All of these issues, and other common ones, can easily be addressed with puppy training from a professional trainer.

Bark Busters is a company that provides professional dog training in your home. A Bark Buster trainer is mobile and can have a session or class in your home, or at a location you choose. Bark Busters has trainers world-wide and it is quite likely there is one in your area. When looking for a professional dog obedience school, consider Bark Busters.

Images courtesy Flickr

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