Hi BB-imo yes it's important,especially for a breeding programme. It means you can research a possible stud/queens bloodline at least 5 generations back which can help you avoid some health/fault issues(if you want to breed a show cat) or even just a pet
To look at a cats pedigree shouldn't cost and to do this you look on the site for the breed of cat that interests you and their is usually a link for you to click onto that allows you to look at the cats pedigree etc,however none of this is relevant if your just seeing mad names of cats amd not understanding who they are,so research thoroughly and then you'll understand what your looking at and who the prefix's are,which will enable you to read the pedigree and understand the lines and the relevance