Schimmel Siamese & Oriental Cats are Oriental cat breeders based in Oxford, UK. We sometimes have Oriental and Siamese kittens for sale. We also have 2 Oriental Stud Cats and online kitten diaries.

The main reason behind this page is that I was actually curious as to what it costs, from start to finish, to raise one litter of babies and I spoke with Graham about it, and he suggested that I should cost it out just to see. I did tell him it was probably not a great idea as he would no doubt be horrified by the final total when the babies left at 13 weeks of age, and quite possibly may suggest I find a new hobby! However he still seemed to think it would be an interesting experiment. Please do note that this costing is for items that you can actually put a value on. There are no costing's at all for actual "labour" with regards to the amount of time spent raising the babies. The reason for this is that raising my babies is a labour of love, and that is something that you can never put a price on. For those of you out there who think you can just buy a girl and have a litter, or those who think how nice it would be for your "pet" to have babies of her own, or if you think you are going to make lots of money breeding cats, then I suggest you have a very good look at this page and I would also suggest you take into account the hours you will be spending raising the babies, on average, 10 hours PER DAY: feeding them, stroking them, playing with them, chatting to them, singing to them, litter training them, weaning them, cooking for them, washing their bedding daily, bleaching their trays daily. If you can not put in this much time on raising babies, or if the amount at the end of this experiment shocks you, then find another hobby! Babies deserve the absolute best in life and if you can't offer that, then have your girl spayed.

We decided that we would use Toussaint's forthcoming litter because at the time of writing this page, Toussaint is just over 3 weeks pregnant. Raising a litter starts at the time of conception, not when the babies are born, because remember that pregnant queens need to eat more as they have high dietary needs than the rest of our feline family who are not expecting. There are also possible vet bills should anything go wrong during the pregnancy. We are lucky in the respect that we have our own stud cats and we do not need to go through the expense of petrol for traveling to stud, blood tests every time we mate one of our girls, or the expense of a stud fee. So already, we are starting off in a much better financial position than many other breeders. Having thought about it, this list is going to be an extremely long one because we will be taking into account, the amount of food intake on a daily basis, all of which will be recorded here. In order to ensure this page doesn't scroll down forever, her daily food requirements will be listed as one total per week, with an explanation of what foods she has been consuming and how much. It is extremely difficult to cost the first 3 weeks of food intake because at this time, she is still eating joint meals with rest of our cats, so we have divided the amount of food per meal, between the amount of cats eating it, in which to come up with a rough estimate as to how much she has per day. Also, having thought about it, the idea is to include every single cost possible, even down to cleaning products i.e. bleach, washing powder etc. because once the babies are born, the washing machine is on the go all day long, as is the dryer, so we will also include electricity as well. Anyone who happens to be reading this, may want to check my calculation as mathematics was never my strong point :)

To read Toussaint's Pregnancy/Kitten Diary - August 2006 to January 2007, please Click Here.

EXPENSE - PREGNANCY	AMOUNT	SUB TOTAL
Week 1	£14.39	£14.39
Food Intake and cat litter
Food is approximate as Toussaint is sharing meals with everyone else at the moment: (Commercial wet food: Hi Life; Natures Menu; Gourmet Gold Pate - £6.25) (James Wellbeloved kitten biscuits £3.50 - cheaper as we buy it direct from the company via a breeders scheme) (chicken/mince/fish meals - £1.64) Cat litter is approximate as Toussaint is currently sharing trays with some of our other adult cats so I've had to divide how much I spend on litter per week by the amount of cats (Paper based litter £3.00)
Week 2	£14.39	£28.78
Food Intake and cat litter
Approximate as Toussaint is sharing meals with everyone else at the moment: (Commercial wet food: Hi Life; Natures Menu; Gourmet Gold Pate - £6.25) (James Wellbeloved kitten biscuits £3.50 - cheaper as we buy it direct from the company via a breeders scheme) (chicken/mince/fish meals - £1.64) Cat litter is approximate as Toussaint is currently sharing trays with some of our other adult cats so I've had to divide how much I spend on litter per week by the amount of cats (Paper based litter £3.00)
Week 3	£14.39	£43.17
Food Intake and cat litter
Approximate as Toussaint is sharing meals with everyone else at the moment: (Commercial wet food: Hi Life; Natures Menu; Gourmet Gold Pate - £6.25) (James Wellbeloved kitten biscuits £3.50 - cheaper as we buy it direct from the company via a breeders scheme) (chicken/mince/fish meals - £1.64) Cat litter is approximate as Toussaint is currently sharing trays with some of our other adult cats so I've had to divide how much I spend on litter per week by the amount of cats (Paper based litter £3.00)
Week 4	£18.55	£61.72
Food Intake and cat litter
This has been a bit easier to calculate as Toussaint is now being fed her "wet" meals separately to the rest of our cat family as she is now on kitten food and not adult food. I have also increased her daily food intake slightly as well. (Hi Life Kitten; Whiskers Kitten Loaf, Nature Menu Kitten; Gourmet Gold Pate - £9.55) (James Wellbeloved kitten biscuits £3.50 - cheaper as we buy it direct from the company via a breeders scheme); (chicken/mince/fish meals - £2.50) Cat litter is approximate as Toussaint is currently sharing trays with some of our other adult cats so I've had to divide how much I spend on litter per week by the amount of cats (Paper based litter £3.00)
Week 5	£19.45	£81.17
Food Intake and cat litter
(Hi Life Kitten; Whiskers Kitten Loaf, Nature Menu Kitten; Gourmet Gold Pate - £9.55) (James Wellbeloved kitten biscuits £4.00 - cheaper as we buy it direct from the company via a breeders scheme); (chicken/mince/fish meals - £2.50) Cat litter is approximate as Toussaint is currently sharing trays with some of our other adult cats so I've had to divide how much I spend on litter per week by the amount of cats (Paper based litter £3.00)
Week 6	£22.45	£103.62
Food Intake and cat litter
(Hi Life Kitten; Whiskers Kitten Loaf, Nature Menu Kitten; Gourmet Gold Pate - £9.55) (James Wellbeloved kitten biscuits £5.00 - cheaper as we buy it direct from the company via a breeders scheme); (chicken/mince/fish meals - £4.50) Cat litter is approximate as Toussaint is currently sharing trays with some of our other adult cats so I've had to divide how much I spend on litter per week by the amount of cats (Paper based litter £3.00)
Week 7	£22.45	£126.07
Food Intake and cat litter
(Hi Life Kitten; Whiskers Kitten Loaf, Nature Menu Kitten; Gourmet Gold Pate - £9.55) (James Wellbeloved kitten biscuits £5.00 - cheaper as we buy it direct from the company via a breeders scheme); (chicken/mince/fish meals - £4.50) Cat litter is approximate as Toussaint is currently sharing trays with some of our other adult cats so I've had to divide how much I spend on litter per week by the amount of cats (Paper based litter £3.00)
Week 8	£22.45	£148.52
Food Intake and cat litter
(Hi Life Kitten; Whiskers Kitten Loaf, Nature Menu Kitten; Gourmet Gold Pate - £9.55) (James Wellbeloved kitten biscuits £5.00 - cheaper as we buy it direct from the company via a breeders scheme); (chicken/mince/fish meals - £4.50) Cat litter is approximate as Toussaint is currently sharing trays with some of our other adult cats so I've had to divide how much I spend on litter per week by the amount of cats (Paper based litter £3.00)
Week 9	£38.44	£186.96
Food Intake, cat litter, litter tray
(Hi Life Kitten; Whiskers Kitten Loaf, Nature Menu Kitten; Gourmet Gold Pate - £9.55) (James Wellbeloved kitten biscuits £5.00 - cheaper as we buy it direct from the company via a breeders scheme); (chicken/mince/fish meals - £4.50) Cat litter is now exact as Toussaint is no longer sharing trays with anyone and she is currently going through 2 bags of litter per week. (Paper based litter £6.00) As Toussaint is now in rooms with us, on her own, this has meant we needed to purchase a new litter tray for her as we have totally run out of trays due to the fact that we have a number of babies in the home at the moment. (Hooded Litter Tray from Argos - £12.99)

Well that is the end of our pregnancy costs and we will very soon be entering the costs that arise from when the litter is born. On the whole, I think we got out of that fairly well with regards to no stud feeds, no vet bills, so we have been really lucky. Toussaint is due in approximately 2 days' time and that is where the costs will really start mounting up. I spoke with Graham and our daughter last night, and as they are the "brains" in the family, they will work out for me all the difficult things, such as how much electrictiy is used when the kitten room floor is hoovered each day, and how much we use when all the kitten bedding is washed, and then dried. Once the fur children are born and reach Week 1 of their lives, the next entry will go in here so please check back around October 17 for the next updated amount. In the meantime, don't forget to keep an eye on Toussaint's pregnancy diary for news of the birth.

EXPENSE - KITTENS
Balance carried forward from Pregnancy Costs		£186.96
Birth Expenses
C-Section	£308.59
Phone Call to vets	£0 .10
Petrol for 2 trips to the vets	£4.00
Bleach, Washing Powder, Softener	£1.00
Food during labour - 2 tins of Hi Life, 1 tin of Sheba	£0.96
Electricity for washing machine (3 loads of kitten bedding) - £0.53 (17.88 per load)	£0.53
Electricity for the tumble dryer (3 loads of kitten bedding) - £2.67 (0.89 per hour)	£2.67	£506.81


Up to the start of Week 1 (Day 7)	£87.89	£594.70
Food Intake, vets, litter, washing/drying, electricity, heating
Hi Life Kitten; Whiskers Kitten Loaf, Gourmet Gold Pate - £16.92 James Wellbeloved kitten biscuits, cheaper as we buy it direct from the company via a breeders scheme £5.00 chicken/mince/fish meals - £5.00 Paper based litter - £6.00 Newspaper as all of our litter trays are lined with a few sheets of paper prior to putting litter in - £1.40 (2 x 70p per paper) Electricity for washing machine (36 loads of kitten bedding up until Day 7) - £6.44 (17.88 per load) Electricity for the tumble dryer (36 loads of kitten bedding up until Day 7) - £32.04 (0.89 per hour) Electricity for Dyson hoover £2.80 (approximately 4 pence every 10 minutes and it only takes 10 minutes to hoover the kitten room) Electricity for Lighting £1.12 (A 60 watt light bulb that that is turned on for 8 hours per day at a cost of £0.028 per hour) Heating £5.00 (one radiator in the kitten room, central heating, running 24 hours a day at 25 degrees celsius) Bleach/Washing Powder/Softener - £4.17 Petrol for trip to the vets for Toussaint's check up - £2.00
Up to start of Week 2 (Day 14)	£61.95	£656.65
Food Intake, vets, litter, washing/drying, electricity, heating
Hi Life Kitten; Whiskers Kitten Loaf, Natures Menu, Gourmet Gold Pate - £21.90 James Wellbeloved kitten biscuits, cheaper as we buy it direct from the company via a breeders scheme £5.00 chicken/mince/fish meals - £5.00 Paper based litter - £6.00 Newspaper as all of our litter trays are lined with a few sheets of paper prior to putting litter in - £1.40 (2 x 70p per paper) Electricity for washing machine (11 loads of kitten bedding up until Day 14) - £1.96 (17.88 per load) Electricity for the tumble dryer (11 loads of kitten bedding up until Day 14) - £9.79 (0.89 per hour) Electricity for Dyson hoover £2.80 (approximately 4 pence every 10 minutes and it only takes 10 minutes to hoover the kitten room) Electricity for Lighting £1.12 (A 60 watt light bulb that that is turned on for 8 hours per day at a cost of £0.028 per hour) Heating £5.00 (one radiator in the kitten room, central heating, running 24 hours a day at 25 degrees celsius) Bleach/Washing Powder/Softener - £1.98
Up to start of Week 3 (Day 21)	£57.46	£714.11
Food Intake, litter, washing/drying, electricity, heating
Hi Life Kitten; Whiskers Kitten Loaf, Natures Menu, Gourmet Gold Pate - £21.90 James Wellbeloved kitten biscuits, cheaper as we buy it direct from the company via a breeders scheme £5.00 chicken/mince/fish meals - £5.00 Paper based litter - £6.00 Newspaper as all of our litter trays are lined with a few sheets of paper prior to putting litter in - £1.40 (2 x 70p per paper) Electricity for washing machine (7 loads of kitten bedding up until Day 21) - £1.25 (17.88 per load) Electricity for the tumble dryer (7 loads of kitten bedding up until Day 21) - £6.23 (0.89 per hour) Electricity for Dyson hoover £2.80 (approximately 4 pence every 10 minutes and it only takes 10 minutes to hoover the kitten room) Electricity for Lighting £1.12 (A 60 watt light bulb that that is turned on for 8 hours per day at a cost of £0.028 per hour) Heating £5.00 (one radiator in the kitten room, central heating, running 24 hours a day at 25 degrees celsius) Bleach/Washing Powder/Softener - £1.76
Up to start of Week 4 (Day 28)	£71.26	£785.37
Food Intake, litter, washing/drying, electricity, heating
Hi Life Kitten; Whiskers Kitten Loaf, Natures Menu, Gourmet Gold Pate - £23.52 James Wellbeloved kitten biscuits, cheaper as we buy it direct from the company via a breeders scheme £6.00 chicken/mince/fish meals - £7.00 Paper based litter - £6.00 Newspaper as all of our litter trays are lined with a few sheets of paper prior to putting litter in - £1.40 (2 x 70p per paper) Electricity for washing machine (15 loads of kitten bedding up until Day 28) - £2.68 (17.88 per load) Electricity for the tumble dryer (15 loads of kitten bedding up until Day 28) - £13.35 (0.89 per hour) Electricity for Dyson hoover £2.80 (approximately 4 pence every 10 minutes and it only takes 10 minutes to hoover the kitten room) Electricity for Lighting £1.12 (A 60 watt light bulb that that is turned on for 8 hours per day at a cost of £0.028 per hour) Heating £5.00 (one radiator in the kitten room, central heating, running 24 hours a day at 25 degrees celsius) Bleach/Washing Powder/Softener - £2.39
Up to start of Week 5 (Day 35)	£66.57	£851.94
Food Intake, litter, washing/drying, electricity, heating
Hi Life Kitten; Whiskers Kitten Loaf, Natures Menu, Gourmet Gold Pate - £25.01 James Wellbeloved kitten biscuits, cheaper as we buy it direct from the company via a breeders scheme £7.00 chicken/mince/fish meals - £7.00 Paper based litter - £8.00 Newspaper as all of our litter trays are lined with a few sheets of paper prior to putting litter in - £1.40 (2 x 70p per paper) Electricity for washing machine (7 loads of kitten bedding up until Day 35) - £1.25 (17.88 per load) Electricity for the tumble dryer (7 loads of kitten bedding up until Day 35) - £6.23 (0.89 per hour) Electricity for Dyson hoover £2.80 (approximately 4 pence every 10 minutes and it only takes 10 minutes to hoover the kitten room) Electricity for Lighting £1.12 (A 60 watt light bulb that that is turned on for 8 hours per day at a cost of £0.028 per hour) Heating £5.00 (one radiator in the kitten room, central heating, running 24 hours a day at 25 degrees celsius) Bleach/Washing Powder/Softener - £1.76
Up to start of Week 6 (Day 42)	£72.05	£923.99
Food Intake, litter, washing/drying, electricity, heating
Hi Life Kitten; Whiskers Kitten Loaf, Natures Menu, Gourmet Gold Pate - £27.29 James Wellbeloved kitten biscuits, cheaper as we buy it direct from the company via a breeders scheme £7.00 chicken/mince/fish meals - £8.00 Paper based litter - £8.00 Newspaper as all of our litter trays are lined with a few sheets of paper prior to putting litter in - £1.40 (2 x 70p per paper) Electricity for washing machine (9 loads of kitten bedding up until Day 42) - £1.60 (17.88 per load) Electricity for the tumble dryer (9 loads of kitten bedding up until Day 42) - £8.01 (0.89 per hour) Electricity for Dyson hoover £2.80 (approximately 4 pence every 10 minutes and it only takes 10 minutes to hoover the kitten room Electricity for Lighting £1.12 (A 60 watt light bulb that that is turned on for 8 hours per day at a cost of £0.028 per hour) Heating £5.00 (one radiator in the kitten room, central heating, running 24 hours a day at 25 degrees celsius) Bleach/Washing Powder/Softener - £1.83
Up to start of Week 7 (Day 49)	£70.85	£994.84
Food Intake, litter, washing/drying, electricity, heating
Hi Life Kitten; Whiskers Kitten Loaf, Natures Menu, Gourmet Gold Pate - £27.29 James Wellbeloved kitten biscuits, cheaper as we buy it direct from the company via a breeders scheme £7.00 chicken/mince/fish meals - £9.00 Paper based litter - £8.00 Newspaper as all of our litter trays are lined with a few sheets of paper prior to putting litter in - £1.40 (2 x 70p per paper) Electricity for washing machine (7 loads of kitten bedding up until Day 49) - £1.25 (17.88 per load) Electricity for the tumble dryer (7 loads of kitten bedding up until Day 49) - £6.23 (0.89 per hour) Electricity for Dyson hoover £2.80 (approximately 4 pence every 10 minutes and it only takes 10 minutes to hoover the kitten room Electricity for Lighting £1.12 (A 60 watt light bulb that that is turned on for 8 hours per day at a cost of £0.028 per hour) Heating £5.00 (one radiator in the kitten room, central heating, running 24 hours a day at 25 degrees celsius) Bleach/Washing Powder/Softener - £1.76
Up to start of Week 8 (Day 56)	£73.93	£1068.77
Food Intake, litter, washing/drying, electricity, heating, worming
Hi Life Kitten; Whiskers Kitten Loaf, Natures Menu, Gourmet Gold Pate - £27.29 James Wellbeloved kitten biscuits, cheaper as we buy it direct from the company via a breeders scheme £7.00 chicken/mince/fish meals - £9.00 Paper based litter - £8.00 Newspaper as all of our litter trays are lined with a few sheets of paper prior to putting litter in - £1.40 (2 x 70p per paper) Electricity for washing machine (9 loads of kitten bedding up until Day 56) - £1.60 (17.88 per load) Electricity for the tumble dryer (9 loads of kitten bedding up until Day 56) - £8.01 (0.89 per hour) Electricity for Dyson hoover £2.80 (approximately 4 pence every 10 minutes and it only takes 10 minutes to hoover the kitten room Electricity for Lighting £1.12 (A 60 watt light bulb that that is turned on for 8 hours per day at a cost of £0.028 per hour) Heating £5.00 (one radiator in the kitten room, central heating, running 24 hours a day at 25 degrees celsius) Bleach/Washing Powder/Softener - £1.76 Worming 4 kittens with Panacur Liquid 10% - £0.95 (each kitten was given 0.5mils for 3 consecutive days. The cost per .05mils is 8 pence).
Up to start of Week 9 (Day 63)	£76.58	£1145.35
Food Intake, litter, washing/drying, electricity, heating, worming
Hi Life Kitten; Whiskers Kitten Loaf, Natures Menu, Gourmet Gold Pate - £31.02 James Wellbeloved kitten biscuits, cheaper as we buy it direct from the company via a breeders scheme £8.00 chicken/mince/fish meals - £9.00 Paper based litter - £9.00 Newspaper as all of our litter trays are lined with a few sheets of paper prior to putting litter in - £1.40 (2 x 70p per paper) Electricity for washing machine (7 loads of kitten bedding up until Day 63) - £1.25 (17.88 per load) Electricity for the tumble dryer (7 loads of kitten bedding up until Day 63) - £6.23 (0.89 per hour) Electricity for Dyson hoover £2.80 (approximately 4 pence every 10 minutes and it only takes 10 minutes to hoover the kitten room Electricity for Lighting £1.12 (A 60 watt light bulb that that is turned on for 8 hours per day at a cost of £0.028 per hour) Heating £5.00 (one radiator in the kitten room, central heating, running 24 hours a day at 25 degrees celsius) Bleach/Washing Powder/Softener - £1.76
Up to start of Week 10 (Day 70)	£150.27	£1295.62
Food Intake, litter, washing/drying, electricity, heating, worming, vets
Hi Life Kitten; Whiskers Kitten Loaf, Natures Menu, Gourmet Gold Pate - £31.02 James Wellbeloved kitten biscuits, cheaper as we buy it direct from the company via a breeders scheme £8.00 chicken/mince/fish meals - £9.00 Paper based litter - £9.00 Newspaper as all of our litter trays are lined with a few sheets of paper prior to putting litter in - £1.40 (2 x 70p per paper) Electricity for washing machine (7 loads of kitten bedding up until Day 63) - £1.25 (17.88 per load) Electricity for the tumble dryer (7 loads of kitten bedding up until Day 63) - £6.23 (0.89 per hour) Electricity for Dyson hoover £2.80 (approximately 4 pence every 10 minutes and it only takes 10 minutes to hoover the kitten room Electricity for Lighting £1.12 (A 60 watt light bulb that that is turned on for 8 hours per day at a cost of £0.028 per hour) Heating £5.00 (one radiator in the kitten room, central heating, running 24 hours a day at 25 degrees celsius) Bleach/Washing Powder/Softener - £1.76 Phone call to book vet appointment £0.10 Kitten vaccinations £70.64 (1st vaccinations, Flu/Ent for 4 kittens.) Petrol to and from vets £2.00 Worming 4 kittens with Panacur Liquid 10% - £0.95 (each kitten was given 0.5mils for 3 consecutive days. The cost per .05mils is 8 pence).
Up to start of Week 11 (Day 77)	£81.67	£1372.29
Food Intake, litter, washing/drying, electricity, heating, worming, vets
Hi Life Kitten; Whiskers Kitten Loaf, Natures Menu, Gourmet Gold Pate - £34.11 James Wellbeloved kitten biscuits, cheaper as we buy it direct from the company via a breeders scheme £8.00 chicken/mince/fish meals - £11.00 Paper based litter - £9.00 Newspaper as all of our litter trays are lined with a few sheets of paper prior to putting litter in - £1.40 (2 x 70p per paper) Electricity for washing machine (7 loads of kitten bedding up until Day 63) - £1.25 (17.88 per load) Electricity for the tumble dryer (7 loads of kitten bedding up until Day 63) - £6.23 (0.89 per hour) Electricity for Dyson hoover £2.80 (approximately 4 pence every 10 minutes and it only takes 10 minutes to hoover the kitten room Electricity for Lighting £1.12 (A 60 watt light bulb that that is turned on for 8 hours per day at a cost of £0.028 per hour) Heating £5.00 (one radiator in the kitten room, central heating, running 24 hours a day at 25 degrees celsius) Bleach/Washing Powder/Softener - £1.76
Up to start of Week 12 (Day 84)	£177.88	£1550.17
Food Intake, litter, washing/drying, electricity, heating, vets, worming
Hi Life Kitten; Whiskers Kitten Loaf, Natures Menu, Gourmet Gold Pate - £34.11 James Wellbeloved kitten biscuits, cheaper as we buy it direct from the company via a breeders scheme £8.00 chicken/mince/fish meals - £11.00 Paper based litter - £9.00 Newspaper as all of our litter trays are lined with a few sheets of paper prior to putting litter in - £1.40 (2 x 70p per paper) Electricity for washing machine (7 loads of kitten bedding up until Day 63) - £1.25 (17.88 per load) Electricity for the tumble dryer (7 loads of kitten bedding up until Day 63) - £6.23 (0.89 per hour) Electricity for Dyson hoover £2.80 (approximately 4 pence every 10 minutes and it only takes 10 minutes to hoover the kitten room Electricity for Lighting £1.12 (A 60 watt light bulb that that is turned on for 8 hours per day at a cost of £0.028 per hour) Heating £5.00 (one radiator in the kitten room, central heating, running 24 hours a day at 25 degrees celsius) Bleach/Washing Powder/Softener - £1.76 Phone call to book Rodney in - £0.10 Petrol to and from vets- £4.00 (2 journeys on 02/01/07) Vet fee for Rodney's x-ray and treatment - £91.16 Worming 4 kittens with Panacur Liquid 10% - £0.95 (each kitten was given 0.5mils for 3 consecutive days. The cost per .05mils is 8 pence).
Up to start of Week 13 (Day 91)	£154.31	£1704.48
Food Intake, litter, washing/drying, electricity, heating, vets
Hi Life Kitten; Whiskers Kitten Loaf, Natures Menu, Gourmet Gold Pate - £34.11 James Wellbeloved kitten biscuits, cheaper as we buy it direct from the company via a breeders scheme £8.00 chicken/mince/fish meals - £11.00 Paper based litter - £9.00 Newspaper as all of our litter trays are lined with a few sheets of paper prior to putting litter in - £1.40 (2 x 70p per paper) Electricity for washing machine (7 loads of kitten bedding up until Day 63) - £1.25 (17.88 per load) Electricity for the tumble dryer (7 loads of kitten bedding up until Day 63) - £6.23 (0.89 per hour) Electricity for Dyson hoover £2.80 (approximately 4 pence every 10 minutes and it only takes 10 minutes to hoover the kitten room Electricity for Lighting £1.12 (A 60 watt light bulb that that is turned on for 8 hours per day at a cost of £0.028 per hour) Heating £5.00 (one radiator in the kitten room, central heating, running 24 hours a day at 25 degrees celsius) Bleach/Washing Powder/Softener - £1.76 Petrol to and from vets- £2.00 Kitten vaccinations £70.64 (2nd vaccinations, Flu/Ent for 4 kittens.)
Up to start of Week 14 (Day 98)	£182.35	£1886.83
Food Intake, litter, washing/drying, electricity, heating, kitten packs, kitten registration
Hi Life Kitten; Whiskers Kitten Loaf, Natures Menu, Gourmet Gold Pate - £34.11 James Wellbeloved kitten biscuits, cheaper as we buy it direct from the company via a breeders scheme £8.00 chicken/mince/fish meals - £11.00 Paper based litter - £9.00 Newspaper as all of our litter trays are lined with a few sheets of paper prior to putting litter in - £1.40 (2 x 70p per paper) Electricity for washing machine (7 loads of kitten bedding up until Day 63) - £1.25 (17.88 per load) Electricity for the tumble dryer (7 loads of kitten bedding up until Day 63) - £6.23 (0.89 per hour) Electricity for Dyson hoover £2.80 (approximately 4 pence every 10 minutes and it only takes 10 minutes to hoover the kitten room Electricity for Lighting £1.12 (A 60 watt light bulb that that is turned on for 8 hours per day at a cost of £0.028 per hour) Heating £5.00 (one radiator in the kitten room, central heating, running 24 hours a day at 25 degrees celsius) Bleach/Washing Powder/Softener - £1.76 Kitten Registration Fee - £24.00 1 Black Ink cartridge - £22.99 1/2 Colour ink cartridge - £11.50 A4 sheets of paper (purchased from our local Tesco) - £6.32 A4 Laminating sheets - £3.27 8 x 1st class stamps - £2.56 4 kitten packs consisting of wet foods, treats, toy, 2 bowls each, etc (all purchased from our local Tesco) - £30.04


Total Monies Spent from Pregnancy to Birth		£1886.83
Kitten Adoption Price (£450 per kitten)		£1800.00

Total Loss on one litter		-£86.83


I would also remind anyone reading this that this cost is simply to raise one litter. Please also remember the daily upkeep of each of our girls, our stud cats. It is the things like cat food, litter, adult vaccinations, heating for stud houses, daily washing, bleaching litter trays, bowls, scratch posts, toys, all of these things need to be taken into account because when your girl does not have babies, she still must be fed and given the best in life. Then there are the neuters in the home. Yes, even they are fed the best quality foods and receive veterinary care when needed. Have you actually given any thought to what happens if the girl you bought for breeding is not able to breed? That girl should still have a home with you for life, regardless of whether or not she ends up being able to produce babies. Breeding is a hobby, not a business, breeding cats are family members, not money making machines. If you plan on "getting rid" of your cats because of their inability to produce then you should not be allowed to keep fleas, let alone cats! Also little things like show fees (yes, even that, because the idea behind breeding is to improve on the breed type and to ensure you are breeding Siamese or Oriental kittens that conform to the Standard of Points (SOP) for the Breed. If you are not prepared to attend some shows, show your own cats, and understand the SOP, then all you will be doing is breeding extremely poor quality cats, which contributes nothing to the breed at all. Another reason for showing, as well as being a member of a cat club is that you are always in contact with other breeders of your chosen breed and have somewhere to turn to if you ever need help. If you're not prepared to research your breed, if you don't understand exactly what it means to be responsible for little fur children's lives, if you don't understand the difference between a good quality Siamese, as opposed to poor quality Siamese, if you don't have the time to spend hours on the phone and the computer in contact with your kitten families, then half of the babies you produce will no doubt end up on the street on in rescue and I would not ever want that on my conscious.................would you? At the end of the day, these are little lives we are talking about, they are not commodities to be sold or disposed of as we see fit. These babies are our responsibility for life.