# British Shorthair Queen - Starter



## yorkshirelass88 (Oct 28, 2013)

Hi

We have recently gotten a beautiful British shorthair female kitten, the breeder we have gotten her from has allowed her to be registered as active. 
We have never bred British shorthairs before. We haven't got her for the pure reason to breed, we got her as a family pet initially and she lives with our other 3 cats - British shorthair female rescue, male Maine Coon rescue, and cross breed female... and our two little king charles dogs. However with her being active registered and she really is an absolute stunner we would like to maybe have one or two litters out of her before getting her spayed and enjoying her forever home with us.

I just need some tips, advice and pointers. Do I need to register a cattery? Even though the kittens would be raised here with us in our home.. 
I know I need to get her FIV etc tested... When would be the best time to do this? And the best suitable age to breed? I understand not to let her go into heat and call too many times before breeding her because this can be very damaging to her health. I also understand the commitment and time needed which i'm prepared to do.

Any information or advice I would really appreciate! 

Thanks


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## gskinner123 (Mar 10, 2010)

Hopefully one of your best sources of help and information is the breeder herself. As she was willing to place her on the active register for you she would, I'm sure, be only too happy to help guide you.

All kittens are lovely, of course, as I'm sure your girl is but it would be really worthwhile to show her and have a broader opinion from experienced breeders and judges and you can speak to the latter, at the show, when judging is complete.


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## OrientalSlave (Jan 26, 2012)

Since you didn't get her with breeding in mind I'm surprised the breeder put her on the active register, and personally would recommend neutering her.

Breeding can be awful hard work, it can be awful expensive, a litter of kittens can disrupt a harmonious house and at least one breeder here is having problems finding homes for her BSH kittens.

If you are going to breed, the first port of call for all those questions should be her breeder who should also be able to advise on suitable studs.

Naturally everyone thinks their kitten is a stunner, but that doesn't mean breeding from them is a good idea.

If you are going to continue to breed I'd strongly recommend showing her a few times. You can find a list of shows on the GCCF's website and there are plenty in and around Yorkshire.


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## jill3 (Feb 18, 2009)

Hello and welcome to the forum.
Can I ask why you changed your mind and would like to breed from her now?
I have had British for the last 20 years and I have always thought it would be nice to breed one litter.
I bought a book on it and read it. I later decided against it.
Not because of what the book said but it was the whole thing. 
I knew deep down it was a lot of work and I thought that I might not be able to be good at it.
There is also the health testing and Blood grouping that seems to be quite complicated for me.
I had a Lovely british cream Boy who died of HCM at the age of 3 and a Lovely British cream Girl that died suddenly at 10 so I know how important these tests are.


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## havoc (Dec 8, 2008)

> We haven't got her for the* pure *reason to breed


Every breeder claims their breeding queens are first and foremost much loved pets and they aren't told to spay their cats and forget breeding.


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## spotty cats (Jul 24, 2012)

I wouldn't just jump into breeding, have a litter or two and that's it. Are you planning on keeping any kittens? No real need to just breed a litter of pets without a plan on continuing a line, or improving on what you've got. 

I would show her as suggested in posts above, and hopefully your breeder is going to mentor you along the way if you decide to breed her.


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## jaycee05 (Sep 24, 2012)

Just wondering why you bought her as a pet,and then your breeder decided to put her on active, as the prices are usually much more for a breeding queen, 
I too would think twice about breeding her,if you are just intending to have one litter, what is the point? especially if you paid breeding price for her
It is going to cost you a fortune to have all the tests etc, ,all for one litter
As has already been said, people are having trouble selling kittens at the moment,and there are a lot of BSH cats around, lovely cats though


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## we love bsh's (Mar 28, 2011)

jaycee05 said:


> Just wondering why you bought her as a pet,and then your breeder decided to put her on active, as the prices are usually much more for a breeding queen,
> I too would think twice about breeding her,if you are just intending to have one litter, what is the point? especially if you paid breeding price for her
> It is going to cost you a fortune to have all the tests etc, ,all for one litter
> As has already been said, people are having trouble selling kittens at the moment,and there are a lot of BSH cats around, lovely cats though


iv seen ads up of a whole litter individually placed,every ad was worded the same 'im letting this kitten go active as i feel s/he will make a nice breeding cat' price £395. So its not hard to imagine how easy it can be for someone to go along wanting a pet and get sold active its really shocking,but as already been said when someone comes along to buy a kitten this way they arnt going to know if the cat is a quality cat or not without experience like from going to shows and seeing what a good type cat is.


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