Breeding Traditional and Classic Cats involves dedicated, hard work extended toward loving and caring for extremely valuable cats. The broad scope of this endeavor extends beyond the breeding, feeding, health, bonding, and maintaining of each cat and kitten. It expands to customer contacts, house cleaning, keeping records, answering the phone and e mail messages, preparing for customer visits to choose their next fur family member, advertising and book keeping (just to name a few!). This sometimes-exhaustive activity is a valuable objective as each breeder overcomes obstacles to achieve the desired result.

Adding to the significance of this sustained effort is the very rarity of the Traditional and Classic Cat Breeds. Due to abuse and baseless persecution by all of the other cat associations all over the world for over 100 years, the Traditional and Classic Cat Breeds languished. Then I came along, discovered they were nearly extinct, and I set out to stop the destructive tide against them. From the humble beginning of looking for a Traditional Siamese to enjoy, came my many years of influencing the future of these treasures. Immediately I recognized there numbers were terribly low. Even after years of what I consider my duty to help breeders and enthusiasts, the supply has not reached equilibrium with the demand. Purebred breeding stock is still difficult to locate. Therefore the task of breeding these distinctive Traditional and Classic Cats is an uncommon privilege.

The actual process of breeding Traditional and Classic Cats, following their individual Breed Standards, is an art form all its own. Memorizing the Breed Standard of the breeders chosen breed and using it to create a vision of the most perfect specimen is a necessity. Each generation of kittens is a molding of that "minds eye" sculpture. Like a sculptor each breeder creates a living representation, as close as possible, to that perfect specimen. Breeding is a challenge, because there is never total satisfaction with the results. Perfection can’t be achieved. There in lays the fascinating invitation to continue seeking that goal. So it is that breeders seek what ever their bloodline is weak in. Maybe their bloodline needs darker eye color, so breeding decisions are made using a Traditional or Classic Cat with dark eye color. There is a warm, wonderful feeling when such a specific goal is reached. Breeding achievements are done one step at a time.

Coupled with all of this energetic labor comes the necessity of being recognized for it. When breeders have their Cattery Names Registered with TCA, INC. they no longer exist in unidentified obscurity. Their energies are recognized and solidified into a single identity, which is your Trademark. Each and every cat and kitten produced by a cattery is consolidated to one Cattery Name. Once Registered with TCA, INC. the individual Cattery Name precedes the cat’s name on each Registration Certificate. Therefore, each breeder receives acknowledgement for all breeding stock and for each kitten produced from her cattery. This builds creditability, establishes reputation, provides customer confidence, gives credence to those individual cats who are reproducing the generations who preserve the breeds, and develops a data base of irrefutable records. The most famous catteries of the past have always had a Cattery Name, which gave instantaneous recognition to them. Say one of the old Cattery names and a certain "look" or personality of their cats comes to mind. It is an identity, and definition for the breeder and her cats. It is as valuable as your signature.

With all of this in perspective, the reasons why The Traditional Cat Association, Inc. requires each new breeder to register her Cattery Name with us are evident. Even more valuable is the fact that there is a one-time fee of $30.00 for a lifetime of use. In other words you don’t have to pay each year, as other cat associations require. Each Cattery Name is "sacred" to the owner. Only the owner can use it, unless there are signed documents addressing other circumstances, such as a lease or co-ownership. Cattery Names are never re-used unless there is a signed document turning the use of a Cattery Name over to a chosen benefactor. A will would be an example.