{"id":5984,"date":"2012-06-15T23:50:38","date_gmt":"2012-06-16T03:50:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/?p=5984"},"modified":"2012-06-28T14:35:55","modified_gmt":"2012-06-28T18:35:55","slug":"the-controversy-of-cat-breeders-a-breeders-perspective-my-interview-with-teri-thorsteinson-of-furry-dance-cattery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/the-controversy-of-cat-breeders-a-breeders-perspective-my-interview-with-teri-thorsteinson-of-furry-dance-cattery\/","title":{"rendered":"The Controversy of Cat Breeders – A Breeder’s Perspective: My Interview With Teri Thorsteinson of FurryDance Cattery"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

A typical A to Z cat breed book<\/p><\/div>\n

When I was much younger, before computers, I was a regular visitor to the library and bookstores for my edification and entertainment. No matter the circumstances, I always made time to go to the animal section to look at the cat books. You know the ones I mean, the A to Z\u2019s of cats that showed each breed, complete with pictures and a description of the cat\u2019s physical traits and personality. I have several of these types of books in my own personal library and have always been fascinated with all the different breeds of cats. Until recently, I never equated these books with controversy, cat overpopulation, or anything other than I loved the wonderful variety of cats and learning about them.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Teri and her Cornish Rex, Brighton, at last year's BlogPaws opening ceremony.<\/p><\/div>\n

The same can be said of Teri Thorsteinson of Dumfries, VA. The only difference was that she did have a specific fascination, the Cornish Rex. She fell in love with the breed after seeing them at a cat show, eventually deciding to become a breeder herself, and in 1988 had her first litter and the beginning of FurryDance cattery. Teri has been a Veterinary Technician since 1971, is the author of the popular blog, Curlz and Swirlz<\/a>, and also is an active member of the BlogPaws community where I met her at last year\u2019s conference. She was very interested in my current series on the controversy of cat breeding where I asked the very compelling question – should cat breeding be banned until the numbers of cats in shelters is greatly reduced or should someone be able to purchase a pedigree cat if they want to? This was a question that Teri has had her own personal struggle with, as did I as an owner of two purebred cats, and she was grateful for the opportunity to talk to me from her perspective as a breeder.<\/p>\n

She said that when she began breeding over twenty years ago, there was not a stigma attached to the subject like there is now and for her, breeding was an extension of her love for the breed and her career as a Veterinary Technician. She welcomed the opportunity to share the breed with other Cornish Rex lovers and took breeding very seriously, with the health, temperament, and integrity of the cat foremost in mind to ensure strong, stable, and healthy kittens. All of her breeding cats were screened annually by board certified vet cardiologists for HCM (Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy) and if a problem was found, she did not use that cat in her breeding program. Any cat that entered her cattery had a full veterinary exam as well as lab tests for felv-fiv\/fcv\/toxoplasmosis, chemistry\/cbc and for intestinal parasites as well as a fungal culture. Her\u00a0 breeding cats also\u00a0had regular wellness exams and lab work, including tests for contagious diseases and internal parasites.<\/p>\n

With complete responsibility in mind, any adult cat or kitten purchased from Teri came with full veterinary records, a health guarantee, and was altered and microchipped BEFORE adoption.\u00a0 The adoption process itself was also rigorous \u2013 because the lifetime well-being of an animal was at stake, Teri had a 4 page questionnaire that she had people fill out for pre-screening, and if for any reason she was not comfortable with any of the answers, she would decline the sale. She has actually had potential clients indicate that they felt the form was \u201cfar too personal in nature\u201d and that certainly was a red flag to her. But, because she needed to ensure each cat\/kitten was best matched to the personality and environment of each potential buyer, this intensive process was critical. She would expect the same inquiries of her and encouraged those looking to purchase a cat to ask her questions, to ask for references and medical records, and to come by and visit the cattery, if possible, to meet her and all her cats. Responsibility is a two-way street and Teri always recommends anyone looking for a purebred cat do their homework to find a reputable breeder.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Clement is one of Teri's cats that was returned to her that she was able to successfully re-home.<\/p><\/div>\n

The other reason her interviewing process was so thorough, was because it was part of her Contract of Sale that she would take a cat back for any reason, at any age, and in the over 22 years she bred the Cornish Rex, she has had 8 cats returned to her, and she was successful in being able to re-home them. Her rationale \u2013 she would much rather get these cats back than find out they were surrendered to a shelter, which would just break her heart. If the problem was behavioral, she would work with the cat in what she called a \u201c12 step program to recovery\u201d before she re-homed the cat, to help ensure it had the best chance at a new forever home.\u00a0 She is very proud to admit that of the 155 kittens her cattery has sired, she has remained in contact with all but two of the owners, and those she lost contact with was due to the complications surrounding divorce.<\/p>\n

Teri is actually so devoted to the breed, that she has been involved in the rescue of three cats that she did not breed herself. Not all breeders are as dedicated or passionate as she was, and it saddens her deeply when she sees a Cornish Rex in rescue, because it signifies to her that the breeder was not there for the cat, either because the person giving it up did not keep in touch with the breeder, or the breeder had no interest in taking back the cat. It also pains her when her motives are questioned.\u00a0 She recalls a time when she commented on a post on DogTime about what she thought made a responsible breeder and someone wrote in saying, \u201c\u2018You weren’t a good breeder, you were just a good businesswoman.\u201d That comment hurt her deeply, but when she looked into her heart, she did not have any doubts of what she really was\u2026an animal lover who cares deeply for each cat she brought into this world. She continues to be there for each of them, and in that way, she knows she is so much more than a business woman\u2026\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Hero is another of Teri's cats that she successfully re-homed.<\/p><\/div>\n

Because of the lifetime commitment Teri has given to her cats, she retired from breeding last year, feeling that if she continued breeding any longer, she could no longer comfortably ensure she would be able to care for any cat that might be brought back to her. The veterinary costs and other expenses alone are a huge commitment, and when you add in the time and effort involved to care for these animals, I can understand and respect her decision. She is ready to just enjoy her 4 cats as pets now that they are all spayed or neutered, and not have all the worries of breeding and finding the right home for her kittens. Teri plans on staying active in the Cornish Rex community, drawing from her 40 years of experience as a Veterinary Technician and her 22 years of breeding experience to continue to foster and promote the health and well-being of this breed. She will eventually turn her cattery website into one targeting Cornish Rex care and cat care in general. She has dreams of writing a book and hopes to get two of her cats \u201cTherapy Certified\u201d to help others.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Retired from breeding, Teri is looking forward to spending more free time with her beloved Coco.<\/p><\/div>\n

She also hopes to help educate people that the theory of \u201cif you buy, one dies,\u201d is just not as black and white as that and can be a very hurtful statement to both responsible breeders and owners of purebred cats who love their pets dearly. Teri indicates that so many of the people who bought cats from her started out with rescue cats and when they sought out a purebred, sometimes it was a difficult decision for them too. But, if someone ultimately does decide to purchase a pedigree cat, she feels that right should not be taken away from them, nor should they be accused of causing another cat to die as a direct result of it.\u00a0 As pet expert, Steve Dale pointed out in my previous interview<\/a>, there has always been a demand for purebred cats and there always will be. With that being said, as long as the cat has a stable and loving home, then judgments need not be made. The real priority should be preventative measures that ensure cats and kittens don\u2019t end up in shelters and dumped on the streets in the first place. Keeping a cat indoors, spaying and neutering, correcting behavioral problems rather than bringing a cat to a shelter, proper institution of TNR programs in communities to prevent litters of kittens from being born, mainstream education on the subject of pet responsibility and so on – Teri is an advocate for all of these measures and also believes that irresponsible breeders should not be supported.
\n\u00a0<\/strong>
\nTeri and I both had terrible phone connections and our interview was cut off numerous times before she ended up calling me from her car in the middle of a thunderstorm. I was huddled in a corner of my office, straining to hear her, but that is what we do as cat lovers! I have no doubt of the integrity of Teri as a breeder or of her devotion to the well-being of the feline species. Her career as a veterinary technician speaks volumes, as does her kind heart to help an animal in need. I thank her for taking the time to share her experiences with me and to shed further light on\u00a0this important\u00a0topic.<\/p>\n

If you would like to know more about the Cornish Rex breed, or more about FurryDance cattery, please click this <\/em>link<\/span><\/a> for details. Also, don’t forget to keep nominating your favorite blogs for a Pettie Award <\/span><\/a>and the chance to win $10K for a rescue or shelter of your choice. Nominations close on June 29th and you can vote once a day until then!<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I was much younger, before computers, I was a regular visitor to the library and bookstores for my edification and entertainment. No matter the circumstances, I always made time to go to the animal section to look at the cat books. You know the ones I mean, the A to Z\u2019s of cats that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6001,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[364],"tags":[360,373,374],"class_list":["post-5984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interviews","tag-cat-breeding","tag-cornish-rex","tag-responsibility"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/DSCN0041_copy-copy.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5984","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5984"}],"version-history":[{"count":40,"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5984\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6201,"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5984\/revisions\/6201"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}