You're right there. Homing the babies is absolutely the hardest bit, even when you put it next to sleepless nights, loss of savings, time off work etc. I broke my heart when my lot left, and will probably do the same next year too. But it's the price we pay to give something back to the breed and give others a chance to enjoy their cats the way we do ours. When you consider the joy you're giving to others, it makes it worth it.

thanks for all your info so far, very helpful
this might not be anything to do with it but i just saw it on another thread..m
may i ask what is an outcross program?

I'll try and answer, though hopefully others will fill in the gaps. Basically it's when you breed a kitten of a said breed by using one or both parents of another breed. It is done to widen the gene pool, I don't know if all breeds allow it. A cat needs to be at least 4 generations the same breed to be shown with GCCF, but can be registered at fewer generations.

So if I mate my Siamese and my Snowshoe I get a first generation Snowshoe with nil inbreeding who I can breed to other Snowshoes and by the 4th generation the kittens are full Snowshoe. It's useful if there are very few stud cats or if there are high levels of inbreeding. It results in lovely kittens with characteristics of both breeds and often hybred vigour. It's a long journey, but essential in some breeds where there isn't a lot of diversity of lines. If done carefully it might assist in controlling genetic conditions but it might worsen the situation if you are not very careful.

You might find those breeders with an outcross program would welcome you as a new breeder, as it is difficult to do without ending up with an awful lot of cats, so it is usual to work with others on an outcross program.

Hope that is a little bit clearer.

this isnt allowed within the GCCF remember, its only TICA, and 4 generations is about 10years of work (for anyone thinking of doing it!) so out-crossing isnt for the faint hearted, and remember that most breeds dont / arent allowed outcrosses as they dont need them.

but for example selkirks are in the early stages so can cross to british shorthairs (and persian?)

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Are you sure GCCF don't allow outcrossing - I thought they did but obviously only certain breeds - like BSH with Selkirk?

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please look at my website - www.finesthourcats.webs.com - for gorgeous GCCF registered RagaMuffins and Selkirk Rex

Varies by breed and many don't allow any though the genetics committee would like to work towards every breed having an approved out cross.