Why Do Breeders Stop Breeding?

Ten years ago, approaching 57 years of age, I attended my first cat show - the August 2013 Midwest TGIF Fanciers show in St. Louis, MO. There, I met my first show cat, GCD, BW, RW Slava Better Believe It, a six-month-old male Siberian we called "BB."

- Lucy Drury

When BB came to live with me, I had two other cats-one aging red mackerel tabby domestic shorthair, and a five-year-old silver tabby Siberian neuter. Breeding was the farthest thing from my mind in fact, before I went to my first show, I had only planned to show BB until he earned his Grand Champion title to fulfill my obligation to his breeder, then he would retire and become a cherished pet. There is nothing like success to keep one coming back, but more than that, I was welcomed with open arms by many Midwest Region fanciers. It wasn't long before I had a whole new group of friends not just across my region, but across the country, and I kept coming back for more. Four years later, despite saying when I first started that I would never become a breeder, I delivered my first solo litter, and my career as a breeder was underway.

I noticed an interesting phenomenon just as my breeding career was beginning. Some of my new friends, who were long established breeders, were announcing that they were getting out of breeding. Some were older than I, some were a little younger, most were about the same age. Since I was just getting started at the same age as others who were closing their programs, this gave me food for thought. They obviously loved the cats and the shows, so why were they getting out?

“I Want To Do Other Things”

I asked one person who was closing down a breeding program why – why were you closing? The answer was simple – I want to do other things. They were retiring soon from their job, and they wanted to be free to travel (and retirement can impact income). It was hard to find people to look after litters of kittens, plus it’s a lot of work.