Monday, May 30, 2011

Word of Warning

Unfortunately - as we all know there are thieves and scammers everywhere these days - and with the Internet we are truly a global community.  However not everyone is who they say they are. It has become so prevalent in the Siberian recently - that many many advertisements for kittens are in fact scammers!  Anytime you see an advertisement for a Siberian kitten - or even a website - do some checking around.  Make sure the people/persons are who they say they are.

If they claim to register with TICA or CFA - they should have a cattery name they are using. Check and make sure they are!  For TICA you can find a current list of registered catteries here : www.tica.org/public/breeds/includes/cattery.pdf    For CFA , here:  http://www.cfainc.org/client/catterynamesindex.aspx

Also - if they claim to be on a breed council or breed group - check!  These can also be found on the CFA and TICA websites. Or if they claim to have a CFA  cattery of excellence or a TICA Outstanding CAttery - check the websites!

Other thieves are stealing pictures from legitimate cattery websites and calling them their own. If you see a picture in your searches on more than 1 cattery listing - that's a good indication 1 of those is a scam! 

Other indicators COULD be - if a kitten is priced exceptionally low - ummmmmmmmm why would that be? Remember in economics class the TANSTAFL theory (there ain't no such thing as a free lunch).  Yes everyone has a good sob story these days - and I am sure some are true. however. Caveat Emptor


SOME of the questions you should be asking - is how long have they been breeding, WHY are they breeding? Do they show and if not WHY not because if you are not showing how do you know your cat(s) meet the standard?  And I am sorry - simply to produce kittens because there is a demand possibly for them - does NOT a good breeder make - it does however make a fine kitten mill. What health testing has been done to insure these are as reasonably healthy as possible?  And I am sorry - Felv and Fiv is only the tip of the iceberg. 


So - all that being said - back to our regularly scheduled blogging!

Blast from the past

Here are a couple of pictures of a beautiful girl - bred by Furtuosity Siberians (my mothers cattery) born in 2000
Her name is Lilly - Thank you Taria , her loving and perfect home for sharing these with me. "And allowing me to share them with you.

Lilly, the Cat of the Day