The Kittens are here!

Our kittens will be 3 weeks old tomorrow and they are growing unbelievably fast! As happy as I am that they are thriving, I am sad that I will have to say goodbye to them once they are 12 weeks old. My family reminds me that these  kittens will give someone else as much happiness and joy as they've brought me, and I hope to get frequent updates and pictures once they leave us. A piece of my heart will go home with my fur babies :(
I get quite a few hateful, hurtful messages a few times a week (mostly on Facebook) about how heartless and cruel I am to be breeding cats and contributing to the homeless cat population. It breaks my heart and makes me angry to read and hear these comments from strangers that have no idea about me or my cat's. I LOVE animals and my pets (and kids) are my world. I fully support animal rescues, but not all of them stand beside their health testing and are so full of rescue cats that the maintenance is nearly impossible. Years ago we rescued a "kitten" from a cat adoption agency in Ada, Michigan (I won't give any specific names). We were told she was 4 months old, and when we had to take her to the vet for severe vomiting and diarrhea, we were told she was AT LEAST 4 years old! They lied about her age in hopes of finding her a home faster, as kittens are usually adopted faster than adult cats. Her age was not a deal breaker, but the fact that we spent hundreds of dollars on her health problems and she never got better really upset us. We ended up having to surrender her back to the agency we got her from after she refused to use the litterbox, the vomiting never subsided after medication and  a diet change, and she had explosive diarrhea... all over my husband's pillow :( Some shelters are amazing and are thorough on their health exams with their cats/kittens they take in. Unfortunately adopting from this shelter was a nightmare and ended in heartbreak. 
Some shelters will even lie about the breed of cat. Most long haired cats will state they are a Maine Coon mix. Because Maine Coons are so popular, it's  another strategy to get homeless cats adopted faster. 
It sounds strange that I support GOOD, ethical breeders and rescues but I do (and it is possible)!
If you're looking for a specific breed of animal, you should be able to adopt that particular breed. I get nasty comments all the time that I am only breeding my cats for profit...the amount of money I paid for our healthy breeding  cats, health testing, vet bills,  toys, food, litter, and maintenance is shocking.  I breed Maine Coons because I want people to be able to adopt their dream cat that is healthy and from a loving home :)  

​

---