Expenses incurred by the breeder

What is the reason for the price of a purebred cat? What expenses does the breeder have to bear?

Below we try to answer your questions on this vast topic!

So let's start from the beginning.

Purchasing reproducers:

It is essential for serious breeding to have strong, healthy breeders, with excellent bloodlines and not blood relatives, to avoid problems with the health of the kittens.

The breeder can decide to purchase the breeders both in Italy and abroad. The cost of a stud usually starts from €1,500 to over €2,000, depending on its genealogy. The travel costs must then be added to this cost, which are rarely less than €400/500 (in the case of collection abroad the cost will be even higher).

Since they are living beings, it is not possible to be sure that the Birmans chosen will actually reproduce: in some cases, unfortunately, the breeder could be forced to buy another breeder and therefore face the same expenses several times.

Maintenance costs:

In the maintenance of each individual player we must calculate the following basic expenses:

Dry and wet food. Dry food is our cats' main food and it is of fundamental importance that it is of high quality! To ensure that Birmans remain healthy it is important to also dose the wet food (also of excellent quality).
Sand and litter. It is important to sanitize litter boxes regularly and replace them when their hygiene is compromised due to wear.
Supplements. Supplements provide support for our cats' nutrition, especially during pregnancy.
Products for cat and home hygiene and disinfectants.

Occasional expenses for the purchase of tools for the well-being of our Birmans must also be considered. In fact, we will also need scratching posts, games, bowls, niches and kennels which will need to be changed from time to time based on wear. Disposable towels are also essential (especially for births and kittens hygiene).

Management costs and time:

Very often we don't consider that the most important value is the time we use for the care and management of our farm. Every day we put all our passion so that the time we dedicate to our Birmans is quality. All the cats live at home with our family and we share everything with them. This is essential for their correct socialization.

We take part in refresher courses on veterinary topics, seminars on correct breeding, grooming and much more (most of these courses are paid).

We assist and support our females during each birth, even if it means not sleeping at night. Only in this way can we be ready to act quickly in times of need.

We are always available for our kittens and to support their new families after adoption.

Also to be considered are the costs of everything related to the management of the farm: the website, the social pages (Facebook and Instagram) and the telephone are essential tools for making your farm known and must be kept constantly updated.

Costs for exhibitions:

Shows are fundamental for a breeder who wants to improve his selection, to get closer and closer to the breed standard.

At the shows it is possible to compare yourself with other breeders and receive opinions from FIFE certified judges on the Birmans brought and selected by the breeder himself.

Grooming is also very important for exhibitions. We wash and groom our Birmans at home and therefore need all the products to be able to carry out the job in the best possible way: we therefore need various types of brushes, shampoos, specific creams based on the type of hair, eye and ear cleaners, specific powders and conditioners for fur (all professional products and not low cost). We also have a professional blower to make drying as quick and pleasant as possible for our cats!

Exhibitions are therefore essential for improving one's work. They usually take place over two days, the registration fee for a cat costs on average €40 for one day and €60/70 for both days. We participate in exhibitions that take place in Italy and abroad and, in most cases, an overnight stay in a hotel is necessary for the weekend. Since participation in shows has a significant cost, breeders usually aim to enroll as many subjects as possible. Consequently, between travel costs, accommodation and registration costs, the minimum expenditure is around €400 for exhibitions in Italy, up to well over €1,000 for exhibitions abroad.

It will then be necessary to buy at least one decoration for the exhibition cage (two cats can fit in each double cage, so in most cases two decorations will be necessary), bowls, litter boxes, niches and everything related to advertising for your pet. breeding, therefore business cards, photos and frames.

We regularly participate in exhibitions, both in Italy and abroad! (see page -> Exhibitions)

Veterinary costs:

Before starting their breeding career, each of our breeders is tested for FIV and FELV, the tests for which cost €45. We also do the blood group test (€50/60), which is essential to avoid problems that can lead to the death of puppies due to blood group incompatibility. The annual vaccine, €40, is also to be considered. You must always be prepared and have the basic medications and antiparasitics available that can be used in emergency situations (to always be administered with the consent of the veterinarian).

These are the basic costs, without taking into account influences, unexpected illnesses or accidents (for example a fall from the scratching post or a scratch in the eye by another cat), which can happen especially in a cattery with a high number of subjects such as our.

Association costs:

Our kennel is a member of ANFI (Italian National Feline Association) which is part of the FIFe (Fédération Internationale Féline) circuit. We had to bear the cost of the affix (the name of the kennel that will be reported in the kittens pedigree). We also have expenses such as: the annual fee, the birth declaration of each litter, the Pedigree request and the transfer of ownership.

Let's now open a small parenthesis to talk about Pedigree:

We therefore see that it is not just the cost of the Pedigree (€10) that affects the economic value of a Burmese. The Pedigree is the document that indicates the kitten's family tree (date of birth, name, affix, breed, colour, exhibition titles, microchip and registration number in the stud book) and certifies the selection work carried out for years by the 'breeder. This is, in fact, the true value of the Pedigree: it defines the breeder's professionalism in selecting and mating subjects with an excellent character, healthy, free of genetic pathologies and who come ever closer to the aesthetic standard of the breed.

A serious breeder will study the Pedigrees of his breeders, those of his puppies and those of the new breeders that he will purchase from time to time to maintain and improve his bloodline.

A kitten that does not have a Pedigree is not recognized by law as a purebred cat, because its origin or genealogy is not known.

Costs for litters:

The breeder may need to mate with a male from outside his own breeding for various reasons (he may not have a male of his own, he may need a new bloodline or want to change it for some breeding stock). In this case it will be necessary to pay the stud for the male, the cost of which varies from €700 to €1,200.

In addition to the cost of maintaining the breeders, each litter therefore has the basic cost of the birth notification, the Pedigree and the transfer of ownership. Furthermore, the mother is given two ultrasound scans during pregnancy (one around the first month of pregnancy and the other close to the date of birth) at a cost of €50 each, necessary to monitor her health and that of the kittens . However, we cannot exclude that there may be a need for other ultrasounds, drugs to induce childbirth or a caesarean section (the cost of this operation can vary based on various factors, costs start from €300 and can even reach €800/1000 €). There are many problems that could arise after giving birth, even the simplest uterine infection could lead us to have to incur many expenses and in the worst cases to sterilize the cat.

We also give mothers supplements both during pregnancy and after giving birth. We must always have specific powdered milk available, because the mother may need help breastfeeding or may not even have milk. In the latter case we must commit to personally administering milk to the kittens every 3 hours (yes... even at night!) until they are completely weaned.

To these costs will then be added the costs of normal maintenance of the puppies, which are often higher than the costs of maintaining the adults: in fact, the puppies, not having a finite immune system, are more delicate and more exposed to mild pathologies which, however, treated seriously from the first moment. It is therefore quite likely that we will need ferments and antibiotics.

The puppies will be sold when they are 98 days old and will have been visited by a veterinarian who will issue the certificate certifying the good health of the kitten. They will be vaccinated (€40 per vaccine and visit), dewormed (€16 per syringe) and will also have a microchip (cost from €30 to €50). For kittens going abroad, the anti-rabies vaccination will also be given (which costs the same as the basic vaccine) and the passport will cost €15.

In conclusion, if a breeder who focuses on the quality of his subjects were to sell his kittens for €500/600, with this price he would not even be able to keep his own breeding stock. My daughter and I raise our cats out of passion and we both have another job to be able to afford all this.