Studs and their owners are the integral foundation of a flourishing, healthy and vibrant cat fancy that strives to produce kittens that, as closely as possible, conform to recommended standards of the various breeds. Breeders who permit queens to visit for mating are a boon to those who are unable for diverse reasons, to accommodate a stud tom of their own. Consider a breeder who lives in a flat or town house or has a small property where stud housing would encroach on the available ground space or violate municipal by-laws.

Therefore, all breeders of pedigree cats need to negotiate the services of a stud male at some time or other during their breeding career. Many breeders maintain their own studs but may want to go out to stud when they need an out-cross to improve the genetic base, or the genetic material offered by a specific cat or to prevent a dangerous degree of inbreeding in their programmes.

Very few breeders who do not own their own stud/s seldom realise just how generous the stud owners are, those who permit "outside" queens in for mating. Each time an outside queen is accepted for breeding, stud owners play Russian roulette as they are putting their own breeding cat's health in jeopardy. Every visiting queen is a potential source of devastating disease and the danger of illness is ever present. Very few brood queen owners will honestly disclose health hazards within their homes and catteries. These omissions and unidentified medical conditions may involve a carrier of some contagious or infectious disease.

When accepting an outside queen for mating, time should be devoted to briefly inspect the visitor. If there is any doubt about her condition, her health or that she may be infested with fleas, ear mite or if you see a suspicious lesion, refuse her admission. Perhaps more stud owners should insist on prior examination by a veterinarian and demand a clearance certificate. These simple steps could prevent a serious outbreak of disease which the proffered stud fee would never cover.

There are many high quality males available to the breeding fraternity, both imported and locally bred. Imported studs invariably help enhance and enlarge limited gene pools with hopes that they will contribute to producing vigorous litters of good quality and, ultimately, the inevitable "show stopper"

A stud can be evaluated by his show performance and the accomplishments of his progeny. There have been studs who have produced good quality kittens though their own show records have not been spectacular. Perhaps the owner is unable to participate in competition for a multiplicity of reasons. Poor specimens with serious faults will never achieve the level of excellence that all breeders wish to achieve. It is an undisputed fact that quality begets quality.

Stud fees vary between breeds and may even differ between stud owners within the same breed. The value placed on the service may be related to the cat's title, his origins, eg. an imported cat or may even be because of unique genetic make-up within in his breed group or possibly because he carries no dilutes or maximum dilutes with other desired patterns, etc. Ultimately the fee settled upon is always at the behest of his owner. Some stud owners may even inflate the fee to discourage other breeders from using their male/s.

Not all owners allow open stud service, or may only allow selected females to be taken to stud. This is always entirely at the stud owners discretion. However, several matters need to be investigated and discussed prior to taking your queen to the selected male.

If your queen carries dilutes and various patterns or if you are doing a tortie mating, the stud owner should be able to advise you on possible results, i.e. colours and the assorted combinations that can be expected from the mating particularly if you are not familiar with genetics. If you have a wide choice of males, you may wish to discuss the alternatives as far as the colours or patterns you would like to breed.

An observation that needs to be expressed is that after repeated visits and failure of certain queens to conceive. There may be a physiological dysfunction requiring veterinary examination, the queen may be obese or quite simply she doesn't "fancy" the male chosen for her. However, under these conditions of repeated visits for unsuccessful matings, do not expect or demand a refund on the stud fee. The fee does not only cover the few drops of semen provided by the stud, but also contributes to his upkeep, maintenance and well-being. It also covers the expenses involved in caring for your queen and her repeated visits. Perhaps the simplest solution would be to try another stud after she has undergone a thorough examination to exclude an underlying medical condition. Further, her continued presence may prevent the stud owner from accepting a queen who is fertile and will breed readily.

Stud keeping is definitely not a profitable source of revenue although it may appear so to the uninitiated novice breeder. Maintenance of good housing, quality diet, ongoing prophylactic medical care, etc., is expensive.