CHAPTER VI 



BREEDING AND REARING 



Period of Gestation Rearing Kittens Selection. 



Breeding. 



To any one interested in pedigree cats, breeding 

 operations, if carried out successfully, may become 

 fairly lucrative ; but he who expects to attain success, 

 either as breeder or exhibitor, must be prepared " to 

 walk before he can run," devoting a reasonable 

 amount of leisure time, and a moderate expenditure 

 in the pursuit of his hobby. 



It is no use to purchase second-rate cats. The 

 most economical method of commencing breeding 

 operations is to obtain two or three young queens 

 preferably self-coloured ones, and mate these with 

 the best sires attainable, the fee for which may be 

 either one guinea or thirty shillings each. When 

 the kittens are born, choose, say, a couple of the 

 best, and dispose of the rest as soon as ever the pick 

 of the litter have been selected. In due course, these 

 must be shown, preferably at the larger shows. 



Si 



