About Me & Our Family
Toni Wolfe
My Approach & Philosophy to Breeding
Breeding sounds like a fun and exciting thing to do and it came be. However, nothing this fun, exciting and rewarding comes without risks. We take the health of our cats and kittens very seriously. These are more pets to us than a breeding cat. If you are planning to breed there are so many things you should be aware of. Yes, it can be profitable, however it can also be a great expense, especially if something goes wrong. Intact females can develop pyometra, if this happens most vets will recommend spaying to save the female cats life, kittens can also become breech and you loose the kitten, litter or possibly even the queen. Like any animal, health concerns can always pop up, making emergency vet needs a must. So never go into something like this without first calculating the cost and having a good mentor as well as a good vet.
Just Some Personal Information About Me and My Family:
I am married to a great Christian man, I have 2 kids and a grand daughter, lots of hobbies and very little time, haha. I also volunteer and teach a 2 year ministry school, I am very active in my faith and church, I play keyboard, sing, lead a flag ministry at our church as well as play drums. I come from a musical family so besides being known for being the chicken and cat lady, I love music, gardening, being outdoors, cooking, canning and especially spending time with my family. So you are probably wondering how do I find the time and money to do what I do with all these cats. So, I would definately first have to say I am very fortunate and blessed. I have also prayed for each of my cats before finding them as well as the provision to purchase them. My family is not rich, so don’t make the mistake of thinking only the wealthy can own a Persian much less multiple Persians, but I do have a husband that is a very good worker, who makes most of the real income around here, while I do more of the self employed business, that are really hobbies that I can enjoy and make money at, at the same time. There is an amazing book called Breaking The Spirit Of Poverty by Mark Pfipher, it’s a very tiny book, but I would totally recommend it to anyone wanting to add extra income to their family income. So for me, I love gardening, canning, cooking as well as music and animals. So I learned how to make money from my hobbies and now I own a small greenhouse that my husband and friends helped me build. It was a project that we built as we went, and as we could afford, meaning I started with a hoop house, used it that way, then later as I made money I added heaters and fans and exhaust vents, better shelving and all that needful stuff as I went. When it’s a hobby it makes working your business fun. Then once that was set up, I also got started in a small pampered chef business that lets me set my own hours, make a little or as much money as I want or as time allows. It’s been a great flexible business, that I can fall back on at anytime or back away from and work less when life’s crazy busy moments happen and I’d be glad to help anyone get involved in it if they need extra income, I buy alot of stuff for my cacts with it, so then besides those, I own the cattery. Yes, that’s correct, this is also technically is a business. Some states actually require you to register as a business if you breed dogs and cats. My state does not at this time require that for cats, but many states do. However, I’d definately recommend asking a legal expert how to go about claiming the income for tax purposes, if you are in a state that doesn’t require you to own a business license for breeding cats. Now let me first say I do this for the love of animals, having babies and conservation. But to say there is no profit to breeding, which many breeders do and say, I find that a false statement. They either are not managing their cattery and money well, had an off year with birthing expenses due to emergency vet care, struggling to find good homes for their kittens or they just simply are making a statement that sounds good but isn’t fully accurate. So let me say, this is not a business to go into for money, that will lead you to bad breeding practices, but if you do it correctly, you should be able to profit at it as well. Now me, I spend a lot of money on my cats, because my husband has a good job and we have additional income from other sources, like the greenhouse and Pampered Chef Business. But most of the money I spend on my cats is more for their pleasure and my pleasure and because I want to, more than because I have to. So also keep that in mind. Many breeders do that and calculate that into their expenses which they can do. For example my cats don’t need a $20 food dish, but I have several of those because it make for nice pictures, and I want one for each of my cats, therefore it’s an investment in my cattery, on the business side of it, but it’s not something I have to do. So yes, it is a business if you manage it correctly you can make profit, but a vet emergency can also quickly eat up those profits.
You Deserve To Know Your Purchasing From A Reputable Breeder.
I believe it is important for you to get to know your breeder as well as your kitten to be. In a day and age where so many fraudulent breeders exist and people are buying cats from people who have stolen pictures and make believe catteries that don’t actually exist, as well as people who will scam you, take your money and sell you a sick kitty. It’s really sad, you can never be to careful. So let me give you some tips and pointers as a buyer. NEVER buy a kitten online unless you have done your own research on that breeder. View comments from other people who has purchased from them. They should have a strong reputation online of good sales and quality kittens. If you are purchasing a pure bred ask to see pedigrees, ask if the kitten will come with papers, many breeders do not sell purebred kittens without breeding rights and give papers. You will need to work that out with your breeder but always ask to see proof of the parents papers, any breeder with papers can show you this and mark out personal information such as addresses. Never take someones word for an animal being purebred without proof. The breeder should also be willing to counsel you in breeding if you are buying a kitten with breeding rights, ask them about how they mentor the new buyers and what breeding program they are a part of and what breeders they are affiliated with. Good breeders know other reputable breeders. It’s just how it works. There are a lot of back yard breeders who breed for the money rather than health of a kitten, you get what you pay for as with anything, but know many of them focus on money and will also tell you anything to make a sale. Make sure you ask good questions, like how many litters a year they have by that particular Queen. it should be no more than 1. Most breeders today, will expect to have phone conversations as well as text so don’t get upset if a breeder asks to talk in person, we learn a lot more about people talking in person or over the phone, rather than always in text Many breeders also do not like to meet in their own home because of bad experiences. Let’s face it, there are fraudulent, creepy, crazy and just plain out dangerous buyers out there just as there are fraudulent breeders. Those reputable breeders will always ask you a ton of questions. A reputable breeder wants to know what kind of home their kitten is going to, how it will be treated, if you are prepared to handle and care for that particular breed of cat and it’s requirements for a healthy lifestyle. Do not get offended by multiple questions or even repeated questions. Some times we do this so we know buyers are being honest, many of us have been scammed, lied to or had to deal with countless issues in the past so we learn from experience and try to make sure our kittens only go to the best of homes.
My Background
I purchased my first two females in 2020. I only planned on a pet, then the breeder told me about this wonderful team of breeders and their goals. So I decided to go ahead and purchase with breeding rights and join the team. I had only planned on purchasing 1 kitten but Covid hit, flights got shut down and the flight nanny could not get a flight booked close to this person, so the sell fell through, and since I had agreed to breed the one I was getting and we had a flight booked the breeder asked me if I’d be interested in 2 females instead of one. So she and I worked out a deal and a couple weeks later I picked up my first 2 kittens, Queen Elsa and Princess Leia. After that it was about a 2 year wait trying to find a compatible male in the USA. We were actually considering having a male imported in when one of our breeders had a new litter, from new parents and they were compatible to mine. You can imagine my joy, so that was kitten number 3 named Elisha Roi. Oh but wait, funny story…… The vet said to the breeder, I think this one is a female not a male, so we thought we finally found our breeder, now we are going to have to wait for next years litter and hope for a male in that one. So we bought our daughter a dog, thinking we could have her trained before a new kitten comes, then after the dog purchase, the breeder took the kittens back for a follow up visit and much to all our suprise, the vet said nope this one actually was a boy. Now we had waited so long to find a compatible breeder, we decided not to pass on him. So, we ventured to have a new kitten and a puppy at the same time. Then a few months later came kitten number 4 our sweet lil purr baby Amaretta Bleu, yup at this point you can probably tell, I’m pretty much hooked on these cats and I absolutely love this breed. Amaretta was between 3-4 months when we brought her home and Eli was so thrilled cause he was still young enough to want a play buddy. and my 2 females were older and they just wanna lay around and be lazy. So now, he is old enough to breed, we have 3 Queens and 1 Male. They all have different but wonderful personalities. Although we do plan to add either a golden or a blue golden female to our cattery so we can produce some colors for those who want this breed but would like another color, then that will pretty much make up our cattery, we are planning on staying a small cattery and enjoy our fur babies as pets, not just money makers
Thank You For Visiting Me, Our Family & Our Cattery
Toni Wolfe