How to Become a Cat Breeder, and Whether You Should

To become a cat breeder, you learn one breed in depth, buy healthy cats sold with breeding rights, register a cattery name with a registry such as CFA ($100 for five years) or TICA ($75 one time for members), health-test every cat you plan to breed, and check whether your state wants a license. Registration is paperwork, not a seal of approval: both registries say they don’t vouch for the breeders they list. Done well, breeding is slow and costly, and even CFA says careful breeding doesn’t pay.

We don’t breed cats. On Oct 7, 2026, we read the registries’ rules and price lists, veterinary guidelines, lab prices and five states’ laws, and added our own vet-fee data. Here’s what it takes, and why many people decide not to.

How to become a cat breeder: the steps

1. Learn one breed in depth. CFA suggests showing a spayed or neutered cat of the breed for a season or two first (CFA).
2. Find a mentor. CFA’s code of ethics asks breeders to mentor newcomers, and CFA suggests asking your female’s breeder to help you find a stud.
3. Buy cats sold with breeding rights. Breeders often hold back a pet kitten’s papers until it’s spayed or neutered (CFA).
4. Register a cattery name, then your cats and each litter.
5. Health-test every cat before you pair it, with your vet.
6. Set up space and a vet plan, including nighttime birth emergencies.
7. Check the law in your state and city.
8. Plan for every kitten: vaccines, a written contract and a home at 12 to 16 weeks.

How to become a registered cat breeder

To become a registered cat breeder, you register a cattery name, the prefix every kitten you breed will carry, and then register your cats and litters. The two big US registries are the Cat Fanciers’ Association (CFA) and The International Cat Association (TICA). Their published fees on Oct 7, 2026:

Item	CFA	TICA
Cattery name	$100 for 5 years; $60 per renewal	$75 for members, $80 for others; one time
Name rules	Up to 12 characters	One word, up to 15 letters
Litter	$20 within 4 months of birth, then $25	Not on its public pages
Each kitten	$20 on the litter application	Not on its public pages
Breeder listing	Optional, $50 a year	Optional, $80 a year; members with the signed code
Ethics code	Breeder Code of Ethics	Voluntary code, $10, yearly vet inspection

CFA’s fees come from its price list, effective May 1, 2026. TICA’s cattery fee is from its registration form, revised in August 2021 and still linked in August 2026; we couldn’t find its litter fees on its public pages. To register a litter with CFA, both parents must be registered or recorded with CFA, and the female’s owner applies as the breeder (CFA rules).

What registration doesn’t mean

CFA’s application asks for name choices, an address, a signature and the fee. Nothing on it asks you to own a cat, pass an inspection or show a health test. CFA makes no representations about the breeding or business practices of the breeders it lists (CFA). TICA says it doesn’t endorse listed breeders unless noted, and won’t settle disputes between buyers and sellers (TICA).

The higher bar is voluntary. CFA’s code asks breeders to house cats better than its minimum cattery standard. TICA’s Outstanding Cattery program asks breeders to sign a code of ethics every year and have a licensed vet inspect the cattery, scoring at least 75 of 88 points (TICA).

How to check if a cat breeder is registered

• CFA: search the Cattery Name Index, which lists every current registered cattery name. CFA’s Find a Breeder pages show only breeders who pay to be listed.
• TICA: its breeder pages list only members who pay for a listing, and we found no public cattery index, so ask TICA directly.
• Either way, contact the cattery through the registry’s details, not an ad’s. Scammers borrow real cattery names; see how to spot a kitten scam.

Health testing before you breed

Vets expect it. The Feline Veterinary Medical Association (formerly the AAFP) says vets should use preventive genetic and health testing, such as heart scans (echocardiograms) for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). It doesn’t condone breeding cats with inherent malformations, such as Scottish Folds and Manx, or breeds with severely flattened faces (FelineVMA, 2024). CFA has barred folded-ear to folded-ear matings since May 2022 (CFA rules).

DNA tests use a cheek swab. UC Davis’s Veterinary Genetics Laboratory charges $47 per test per cat, with results in at least 15 business days (UC Davis VGL). Common tests by breed:

Breed	Tests to discuss with your vet
Maine Coon	HCM DNA test, heart scan, PK deficiency, SMA
Ragdoll	HCM DNA test, heart scan
Persian, Exotic	PKD1 (kidney cysts), Persian PRA (eyes)
Bengal	PK deficiency, Bengal PRA, heart scan
Abyssinian, Somali	PK deficiency, PRA eye tests
Burmese	Head defect, hypokalemia, GM2
British Shorthair	Blood type both parents, heart scan

Sources: UC Davis VGL (HCM, PKD1, PK), CFA’s magazine and Cornell.

A DNA test finds only the mutation it looks for. Cornell calls the echocardiogram the gold standard for diagnosing HCM and says genetic results need a vet’s interpretation. One HCM screening clinic, at an American Cat Fanciers Association show in August 2026, listed $120 per cat (ACFA).

For every cat you plan to breed, ask your vet about testing for feline leukemia virus (FeLV) and FIV before mating. In breeds with many type B cats, such as British Shorthairs, Devon Rex and Birmans, blood-type both parents: kittens of a type B queen and a type A tom can die of neonatal isoerythrolysis (Holst, 2022). And go easy on close relatives: CFA warns that inbreeding can bring smaller litters, immune problems and more birth defects.

Vet care for the queen and kittens

Before breeding, the queen needs a checkup, her tests and up-to-date vaccines. The 2020 AAHA/AAFP vaccination guidelines advise against giving pregnant queens a modified-live panleukopenia vaccine, so plan the timing with your vet.

Pregnancy lasts about 63 to 65 days (International Cat Care). Holst’s review advises keeping the pregnant queen away from other cats for at least the last 2 to 3 weeks, and quarantining any new cat, or one back from a show or a mating, for 2 to 3 weeks.

Births don’t always go well. In a 2024 survey of breeders in 29 countries covering 853 litters born in 2019, 14.9% of litters needed a vet’s help and 10.7% a C-section. Counting stillbirths, kitten deaths up to 12 weeks ranged from 7.1% in Cornish Rex to 23.4% in Bengals. Drugs for a stalled labor work in only about 30% of cases, according to Holst. International Cat Care says to call the vet if a queen strains for 20 to 30 minutes without producing a kitten, or if labor hasn’t started after her due date.

Kittens start core vaccines no earlier than 6 weeks, repeated every 3 to 4 weeks until 16 to 20 weeks (AAHA/AAFP). TICA’s voluntary code says no kitten leaves before two vaccinations; CFA’s code says not before it has proper immunity. Kittens also need handling: ideally 30 to 60 minutes a day of pleasant contact with people, says the 2021 AAHA/AAFP Life Stage Guidelines. Pedigree kittens usually go home at 12 to 16 weeks: CFA’s magazine says 16, or at least 12, and TICA’s leaflet 14 or older. See what age to adopt a kitten.

Do you need a license to breed cats?

It depends on your state, your city and your numbers. Laws vary and change, so check with your state’s agriculture department and your city or county before the first litter.

Federal rule. A USDA Animal Welfare Act license ($120, valid three years) is for dealers. You’re exempt if every buyer sees the kitten in person before buying it, or if your household keeps four or fewer breeding female pets (dogs and cats count together) and sells only their offspring, born and raised there (9 CFR 2.1; 1.1; 2.5). Ship kittens sight unseen with more than four breeding females, and you generally need one.

Five state examples:

State	You need a license if you	Fee
Colorado	Breed more than 3 litters, or transfer more than 24 cats, in 12 months	$400
Illinois	Sell or rehome cats you bred and keep more than 5 females able to breed	$350 application fee
Minnesota	Keep 10 or more adult intact dogs or cats and have more than 5 litters a year	$10 per intact adult, up to $250; the same again for the first inspection
Missouri	Keep more than 3 intact females mainly to breed for sale	$100 plus a per-animal fee, up to $2,500, plus $25
New Hampshire	Transfer 30 or more cats a year	$200 a year

Licensed breeders can owe buyers paperwork: Illinois cat breeders covered by the law must give buyers vaccination records and proof of a registered microchip (225 ILCS 605). Some rules reach smaller breeders too. Missouri’s hobby or show breeders, with up to 10 intact females, skip the license but must register each year, free. And cities add their own: Los Angeles requires a yearly breeding permit for each dog or cat allowed to breed (LAMC 53.15.2).

Time, space and money

Time. From mating to the last kitten leaving takes about five to six months: roughly nine weeks of pregnancy, then 12 to 16 weeks of kittens. A female who isn’t bred keeps coming back into season, calling about every three weeks in the breeding season (International Cat Care).

Space. Intact males mark territory with strong-smelling urine, sometimes indoors, says International Cat Care. TICA’s inspection form expects breeding males and females to be securely separated, an isolation area for new, show or sick cats, a quiet birthing area, and young kittens kept apart from the other cats for their first six weeks. Cornell notes that FIP seems more common in crowded catteries and recommends no more than three cats per room. CFA’s minimum standard sets 30 cubic feet for one cat’s enclosure, plus daily exercise if the cat can’t move freely in it.

Money. The costs we found, checked Oct 7, 2026:

Cost	Price
Cattery name	CFA $100 for 5 years; TICA $75 to $80 once
CFA litter registration	$20 to $25, plus $20 a kitten
DNA test (UC Davis)	$47 per test, per cat
HCM heart scan	$120 per cat at a 2026 show clinic
Vet exam	$20 to $95.95 a visit
FVRCP vaccine	$15 to $46 a shot
FeLV/FIV test	$20 to $55
Spay or neuter	$89 to $368.95
State license, if needed	$200 (N.H.) to $400 (Colo.); Missouri up to $2,500

Example: vet bills for one litter of four. We took the lowest and highest published prices in our vet-fee data. A pre-breeding exam and FeLV/FIV test for the queen, plus two exams, two FVRCP shots, a deworming and a microchip for each kitten, came to $440 to $1,655. Spaying or neutering all four before they leave, as TICA’s code asks breeders to try, brings it to $796 to $3,130. That’s before food, litter, tests, registration or any emergency. No single clinic charged every high price, and some charge less for extra pets seen at the same visit. Our new kitten checklist names the clinics behind each price.

CFA’s legislative group puts it bluntly: “Conscientious breeding of cats is not profitable” (CFA).

The ethics, and why many people don’t breed

CFA’s Breeder Code of Ethics asks breeders to aim for healthy kittens that improve the breed, disclose illness, place kittens only once they’re properly immunized, sell so they can keep advising owners, and mentor newcomers. TICA’s voluntary code adds: breed only if you can find suitable homes, guarantee health at sale with a written agreement, try to spay or neuter kittens before they leave, and answer buyers’ questions promptly. International Cat Care says a bred cat must be no less healthy than an ordinary one.

The honest reasons many people stop at owning cats:

• Shelters are full. About 3 million cats entered US shelters and rescues in 2025; about 2.2 million were adopted and 277,000 euthanized (ASPCA, from Shelter Animals Count data). CFA argues that fewer than 1% of cats handled by US animal agencies are identified as pedigreed, but every kitten you breed still needs a home.
• Your cat carries the risk: difficult births, C-sections and lost kittens, as the survey above shows.
• Careful breeding doesn’t pay, by CFA’s own account.
• It doesn’t end at the sale. Both codes expect you to keep advising buyers afterward.
• Your home changes: separate rooms, spraying males and calling females.

If you still want to: a checklist

1. Show a spayed or neutered cat of your breed for a season or two, and find a mentor.
2. Buy foundation cats with breeding rights, tested parents and a written contract.
3. Register a cattery name, and consider TICA’s vet-inspected Outstanding Cattery program.
4. Test every breeding cat for its breed’s risks, FeLV and FIV, and blood type where it matters. Ask your vet which results rule a cat out.
5. Set up separate spaces: for an intact male, quarantine, birth and kittens.
6. Line up your vet and a 24-hour emergency clinic, get a C-section estimate, and budget for it.
7. Check your state, county and city rules, and the USDA rule if you’ll ship kittens.
8. Write a contract covering vaccines, spay or neuter, a health guarantee, and whether you’ll take the cat back.
9. Keep every kitten until 12 to 16 weeks, with at least two vaccinations and its vet records.

FAQ

Does a registered cat breeder mean a good breeder?

No. It means the cattery name is on a registry’s books. CFA and TICA both say they don’t vouch for the breeders they list. Ask for health tests, vet records and a written contract.

Do I need a license to breed cats at home?

It depends on your state, your city and your numbers. Colorado’s license starts above three litters a year, Missouri’s above three intact females kept to breed for sale, and Los Angeles requires a permit for any breeding.

Is breeding cats profitable?

Not when it’s done carefully, says CFA’s legislative group. In our example, vet bills alone for one litter of four came to $440 to $1,655.

Should I let my cat have one litter before she’s spayed?

No. International Cat Care says it’s unnecessary and of no benefit to her. Cats can get pregnant from about 4 months old, so ask your vet when to spay.

How long is a cat pregnant?

About 63 to 65 days, or nine weeks, says International Cat Care. Holst’s review puts the average at about 65 days, within a range of 57 to 72. Your vet can confirm it.