5 years – a lot or less? The first thing that comes to my mind is that I have learned a lot. Before I had purebred cats, I also loved the European cats, living in the backyard, with the same passion. At some point my husband and I decided to get a cat that would only live in the house with us. I registered the cattery at my husband’s insistence. He realized that I wouldn’t stop after 1, 2, 3 cats.
I spent a few weeks researching how to register a cattery. The main concern was to be able to keep the 2 non-pedigree cats we have. I didn t know what a cattery was. I imagined it would be as easy as living with our two cats Rusmin and Maya, when we enjoyed their presence and love in our lives, without any responsability.
I found the Magnificats club, alillate WCF (Word Cat Federation), I was impressed by the promptness with which they responded to me, they explained the rules and helped me to register the cattery.
Buying our first cats
We decided to get two females and one male.
I first saw Hera in a cattery in Russia, she was a colorpoint, blue-eyed kitten, I fell in love with her. She was 2 months old, I had to wait until she was 4 months old so she could travel. In the meantime I started to look for a second girl. I started researching about colors, about ems codes, about cat genetics. I always loved genetics, so it was easy to understand the basics of colors and genetic diseases in cats.
I found Diana, a golden girl with an innocent look, she was bigger than Hera, so they could be transported together.
We needed a male. After a long search I found Hugo, a handsome, green-eyed, sweet little kitten.
Five years have passed since then. Very hard years in which I understood that having a cattery is not like having 2 cats that you take care of and enjoy your life. The cattery is so much more, breed knowledge, nutrition, hygiene, pregnancy, whelping, kitten care, kitten socialization, vaccination schemes, deworming, their individual needs, diseases, genetic diseases and their transmission, viral diseases and their transmission, the purpose of the cattery, shows, titles, rings, know how to read a pedigree, then to manage the administrative issues of the cattery, you also need to be a good organizer, accountant, photographer, know social media, promotion, … … well, you may think I’m exaggerating, but in my case it was like that, I felt I was in deep water and I had to come out on shore. Whether I succeeded or not, I leave to you to judge.
After the many courses and experiences that I’ve been through, I still have a lot more to learn.
It’s 5 years that we have shared joys with those who have our kittens, I thank them for their trust and care for their fur babies. In these years I have met many families. They are happy to offer care and love to these interesting creatures that cats are. Cats seem to be helpless and innocent, but in reality, once they come into your life, you can’t imagine your life without them. My husband once, when many were wondering ˝Will you keep the cat in the house?, he said ˝Yes, until I met my wife, I thought the cat’s place was outside, but now I couldn’t live without them, accompanying me everywhere in the house, controlling everything I do!˝
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