There are a lot of things you "have" to be aware of and then
there are the things you "can" be aware of and since it's up to each individual
breeder what he/she will focus on as being important, I have tried to make
my own guide that others can choose to follow.
1. You have to be aware that breeding cats is a hobby and hobbies cost money, lots of money!
2. You can't always rely on getting your kittens sold when they are 12 weeks of age which means that you have to have room if one or more kittens have to stay longer, for either a short or a longer period of time. Some might end up staying their whole life, INCLUDING kittens/cats you hadn't calculated would stay.
3. You should also be aware of the fact that sometimes the kitten buyers will return the kitten they bought from you and you also have to have room for such a kitten, for a shorter or a longer period of time.
4. Besides the planned visits to the vet you also have to take into consideration the visits you HAVEN'T planned. For example a c-section Saturday night (price app. 1000 Euros), the mother of your new litter develops a uterus infection a couple of days after the litter has been born (price app. 134 - 168 Euros), one of your cats has an infected wound that needs the vets attention (price app. 134 Euros), a kitten suddenly becomes ill with diarrhoea, vomiting etc. usually Saturday night and the vet wants to see it before administering meds (price app. 168 Euros), etc.
And the list doesn't stop there. All these things needs to be taken into consideration BEFORE deciding to become a breeder, because there HAS to be money for the things you don't plan for as well!
If you still want to be a breeder you have to figure out which breed and maybe also the type of cat you want to breed. Within certain breeds for example the Norwegian Forest Cat or the Maine Coon there is a huge variety in the way the cats look and also their temperament. This is due to the fact that there are as many interpretations of the written standard as there are breeders :-) In order to see all the different breeds it's a good idea if you go to a couple of cat shows. There you'll see the different breeds and also the different types there is within each breed. You can also see the temperament of the breeds that is of your liking because even though 99 % of a cat’s life is spend in the home, it's good to know how they react at shows as well, and if a cat can handle being shown you could say that it can handle almost anything :-)
Once you have decided on which breed you would like to have it would be wise to visit 3 - 4 breeders, because of the things each individual breeder as chosen will in order to see what are their priorities such as type, health and their overall breeding strategies.
And 3 - 4 breeders probably also have different angles they are coming from unless they are working closely together. The place where you buy your cat should also be a place where you can turn for guidance and advice. This applies for all the aspects of the cat’s life, such as feeding, diseases, showing, grooming, ordinary cosy talk about the cat itself or more serious and common sense discussions with the breeder, which is why it's important that you click with the breeder you eventually buy your cat from.
The breeder should also have to be honest about the breed and the cats he/she is working with and it’s very important that you as a buyer get all the information the breeder has about the cat you are about to buy to your disposal.
Personally I think that people who wants to start with a show and/or breeding cat should buy their first cat from an experienced breeder and one of the reasons is that an experienced breeder can inform you about the temperament, if there are any known diseases within the breed, general health, type, colour, pattern and show quality. An experienced breeder has had many more litters go through his/hers hands and therefore (hopefully!) has a better understanding about what their breeding cats pass on and the development of the kittens. A person who is young in her/his breeding career and who have only had one or two litters behind them, simply hasn't gained the same experience and knowledge about the breed as the long-term breeder has. Of course there "may" be breeders who have been breeding for many years that haven't kept up with what's happening within the breed or haven't gotten the newest information about the latest in regards to health and/or diseases or who simply haven't gotten an interest in keeping up with the information available. These breeders should of course be avoided if possible because they are no better at giving you guidance or information than a new breeder is.
Your first breeding cat should be a female and for your own sake you should go to a couple of shows with her, partly because you want the judge’s assessment of her qualities, both the good and the not so good ones, and partly because you want to compare her to the other females of her age at the show. With time you should develop your own image of how good your female is and also what you should look for in the male she's going to be mated to, when she's old enough. At some point you will have a pretty clear idea of what YOU like and what YOU think the breed you have chosen to breed should look like, but until you have that knowledge, it's a good idea to have a foundation (rettesnor) to work from. Although it is tempting to let her be bred to the most winning male at the shows, but it's not always the most successful male that is the best to choose as a mate. For example if her chin could be stronger and her ears a bit bigger then it's not desirable to breed her to a male with the same fault, bearing in mind that the faults will then be strengthened in the next generation.
Then comes the question at which age she should have her first litter of kittens and although cats can have kittens the first time they are in heat she many not be mentally ready to have kittens, even if physically ready. There is also the question of whether the cat has had all the tests/scannings/examinations etc. that the breeder of your female has set as requirements before you can breed from her. Furthermore there could be a breed specific defect/disease that you have your cat tested for before using her in your breeding programme, because if there is such a test, it's better to have it done before producing kittens who could be born with said defect.
In our cattery we have chosen to test all our breeding cats for the following:
HD, HCM, PKD & PL. And the MCO's are also tested for SMA. And we will only buy new breeding cats from catteries where the parents are tested for HCM. We only let our males do stud service if the female as a minimum is tested for HCM and PKD. And if we want to borrow a male for stud service it has to be scanned for HCM as an absolute minimum requirement, on top of having the right pedigree and looks of course. The reason why we don't require the same of the cats we either buy or borrow can seem to be a contradiction. Why test our cats for numerous things if we don't require the same of the people we work with? The reason for this inconsistency is very straightforward, because it wasn't until the Summer of 2004 we heard of HCM in the Norwegian Forest Cats and although there has been a few cases of PKD in both the NFO and the MCO, they are indeed very few cases which is why we don't ask that the cats from other catteries HAS to be tested for it. And it's the same when it comes to HD or PL, except for the MCOs, where HD is an ongoing problem even in cats where the ancestors have been tested clear of HD for generations. This is why we only have the demand regarding testing for HCM because since the Summer of 2004 we have seen that this IS a problem in the NFO and it's a problem that will only increase unless breeders take it seriously and do something to prevent it from reoccurring, for example by testing their breeding cats for it. HCM has been known for a longer period of time in MCOs and most breeders will test their cats for it. I'm confident that one day it will be the rule not the exception that breeders of NFO also test for HCM.
Since we have chosen to test for the above mentioned diseases we have also chosen that the cats we use in our breeding program has to be at least 1 year old because otherwise the tests have no value as a parameter. To be exact our cats are even older than 1 year old. The females are at least 1½ years old when they have their first litter or 1½ years old when bred the first time, and the males are also at least 1½ years old before we let them breed. In addition we have chosen to follow the guideline and recommendations that Pawpeds have written in their health programs.
As a new breeder it's important that you find out what you can or cannot accept in your breeding program and it's also important to find out whether you are a breeder first and then an exhibitor or if you breed in order to exhibit your cats. Most people will ask "what's the difference?" but there is a rather huge difference in the two ways of approaching cat breeding. It's not all breeding cats that are good show cats and not all show cats are good breeding cats either, even though it's hard to understand why, and if one is looking at some of the cats that are being both shown a lot and used for breeding a lot, it's easy to come to an opposite conclusion of what I just wrote. But diversity in a cat population is the key to a successful breeding program and also the key to how successfully a breed will survive in the future.
Once you have found out what's most important for you, then you have to find out which "defects" you can accept in your breeding program. Some errors will immediately disqualify the cat from being used in a breeding program but it's still up to you to find where the line is drawn for you. You have to realise that in ALL cats there is the possibility for transmission of any given defect. For instance if the cat is to be shown under FIFe rules, then FIFe has defined that a tail fault is a big enough fault to withhold the certificates for a cat with such a fault, but this only applies for fertile cats, neutered cats can be shown, even with a tail fault, and still get their certificates towards the titles. On the other hand cats with umbilical hernia can't be shown and the same applies for deaf, white cats, and here FIFe doesn't distinguish whether or not the cat is fertile or neutered.
And cats with a tail fault MAY be used for breeding whereas cats with either umbilical hernias or deaf, white cats can't be used at all in breeding. Every male that is used for breeding must have a veterinary certificate because if one or both testicles are not correctly placed in his scrotum he can't be used for breeding.