✔ Good reputation: Google reviews, social media

✔ Passionate about cats

✔ Takes good care of cats

✔ Professional: education, certificate, registration

✔ Comply with laws/regulation on breeding and care

✔ Pay taxes

✔ Easy to communicate and reach out

✔ Honest and transparent

✔ Prioritize cats’ health, wellbeing and happiness above all

✔ Give sufficient recovery time between litters for queens

✔ Require kittens to be spayed/castrated for kittens as pets

✔ Only sell kittens with pedigree to make sure the kitten is a pure breed

✔ Breed according to breed standard: avoid breeding with extreme traits

✔ Professional website with clear info

✔ Clean, hygienic, safe, spacious and bright environment

✔ Space arrangements and facilities that meet each individual cat’s needs to rest, exercise, socialize, natural instincts (hunting, nursing, etc.) and feel safe

✔ Feed cats with high quality food tailored to individual cat’s needs: eg. different stage for kittens, pregnant or nursing queens

✔ Every cat is comfortable in the cattery

✔ Test common genetic diseases of the parents or the kitten if necessary: eg. HCM and PKD for ragdoll breed

✔ Veterinary care: update to date vaccination and deworming, health checks

✔ Healthy parents with zero or very low inbreeding coefficient: check parents’ pedigrees

✔ Health guarantees in the contract

✔ Early socialization: from 2 weeks old

✔ Parents with good temperament:  at least half of a kitten’s character is genetic, some more like the father, some more like the mother

✔ Kittens learn important social skills from their mother and siblings, avoid separating kittens from their mother before 12 weeks old

✔ Kittens are used to different environment, people, handling, other cats/animals, sounds/noise and situations

✔ Bloodline and parents: most likely a kitten will grow up to be like his/her father or mother or mix between

✔ Coat: semi-long soft fur, color (eg. seal, blue, red, tortie, and their dilutions), patterns (point, mitted, bicolor), lynx

✔ Eyes: oval shape, different degrees of blue

✔ Ears: medium-sized, with rounded tips

✔ Medium-large well balanced body structure with broad wedge-shaped head, well developed cheeks, slightly rounded forehead and fluffy tail

✔ Research well in advance on the breed, catteries/breeders (google, references, website, social media)

✔ Contact breeder and inquire: you may need to join a waiting list

✔ Reserve a kitten: check this whole checklist, ask about his/her/parents’ bloodline and appearance, character

✔ Visit the cattery if possible

✔ Pickup/delivery/transport with your dream kitten and the necessary documents

✔ Pedigree

✔ Cat registration/ownership

✔ Contract

✔ Passport and microchip

✔ Kitten’s or Parents’ health test

✔ Provide information on the breed’s characteristics, temperament and special needs

✔ Offer advice and tips for the kitten’s first few weeks/months in new home

✔ Lifetime support

✔ Over crowded or too many cats in limited space

✔ Accept any buyer without screening

✔ Stressed cats in the cattery

✔ Think ahead: what kinds of breed and kittens (playful or calm) do you like, are you aware of the responsibilities and possible financial and time cost of raising a kitten, what’s your financial budget

✔ Your impression from the meet and communication with the breeder is important. Only an honest, responsible and professional breeder can ensure high quality kittens

✔ Trust your gut feeling, if you feel something not right about breeder, cattery or kitten, walk away. You should feel confident and comfortable in your decision