Keeping an intact male?

[N0BODY]

I have an 8 month old Persian kitten and I'm debating whether or not I should neuter him. A little background: the past year or so I've become very interested in the idea of breeding Persian kitties (my favorite breed). I understand that there are plenty of clueless/irresponsible people out there who decide on a whim to breed cats without knowing fully what they're getting into. I just want to make it clear that I'm NOT one of those people. I'm not expecting to make any money out of this, its just a passion of mine. I fully understand that this is going to require a lot of commitment and will require a huge amount of learning and preparation before I am ready to start.

With that out of the way, I adopted Saris my Persian kitten from a reputable breeder PRIMARILY as a pet, however I've been considering keeping him intact and using him as a stud once I'm ready to get started. He is high quality and definitely meets the standards for breeding purposes. He's also very well mannered and hasn't sprayed yet (neither does his father and I've heard it can be a genetic thing, but no guarantees I suppose).

But getting to my question, it'll likely be at least 2 years until I'm finally ready start breeding (my current living situation wouldn't be conducive to such a setup, I'll be moving but like I said it'll be 2 years minimum). So assuming that he doesn't spray too much or get aggressive during this time he would be perfectly fine for ME to live with, but what about his quality of life? In your experience would a male cat get frustrated and miserable being kept inside like that with a perpetual breeding urge? Or would he not be feeling urges since he wont be around females in heat? Also in the beginning I'll probably be starting with just one queen which would mean he wouldn't be bred very often at first (until I acquire more queens). If he's going to be stressed then I don't think that's fair on him and will neuter him. This is an area I don't know much about so I'm very curious to hear about your thoughts and experiences.

TLDR: In your experience, would an intact male be miserable if not allowed to breed for a while or not bred often enough?

 

[Willowy]

Some males don't get frustrated until after they've mated for the first time. Some males don't spray, but most do. Persians are bit more laid-back then other breeds. So all anyone can say about how it'll affect his temperament is, maybe. No way to know what he'll be like until you experience it.

Keep in mind that tomcat urine has a very strong odor even if they reliably use the litterbox, so if you're in an apartment the neighbors may object.

First thing though---most reputable breeders sell their cats as either pet quality OR breeding quality, not both. Make sure he's breeding quality and you have full permissions from his breeder.

 

[StefanZ]

Did you got with you his certificate from the Association? Did you got breeding rights, or if its possible to get OK from the breeder? Perhaps for a extra payment, as you bought him as a pet.

 

[N0BODY]

Some males don't get frustrated until after they've mated for the first time. Some males don't spray, but most do. Persians are bit more laid-back then other breeds. So all anyone can say about how it'll affect his temperament is, maybe. No way to know what he'll be like until you experience it.

Keep in mind that tomcat urine has a very strong odor even if they reliably use the litterbox, so if you're in an apartment the neighbors may object.

First thing though---most reputable breeders sell their cats as either pet quality OR breeding quality, not both. Make sure he's breeding quality and you have full permissions from his breeder.

The breeder I got him from produces a high percentage of breeding quality kittens, I specifically requested one that was breeding quality (even though I wanted him mainly for a pet) and since we're pretty good friends she obliged. And yes I do have the permissions. I actually meant to ask her this question (of this topic) but she's been really busy and I don't want to bother her.

One thing I wanted to add is that as of recently he's been a little nippy biting my hands (gently) when I pet him, also recently he's started going on meowing sprees where he runs around meowing repeatedly for a bit, (he's perfectly healthy, got his checkup last week) so it seems he's already maturing. Is this a sign that he's becoming frustrated? I really want him to be happy, so if he's unhappy I'd rather neuter him. I'm perfectly fine with getting a queen to start breeding with and using a stud service instead (all when I'm ready and set up of course).

 

[lutece]

Are you interested in both showing and breeding Persians, or are you thinking about just breeding them to sell as pets? Your ultimate goals will make a big difference in your plans.

If you are interested in showing and breeding Persians, you will only want to use males that are top quality for show, in both temperament and type. In that case, a good first step would be to thoroughly evaluate your male, ideally by taking him to some shows, and/or discussing him with other experienced Persian breeders... you might start with posiepurrs on this site, who is a Persian breeder and has been very helpful to other site members. You'll also want to learn as much as you can about Persian show grooming, since that is a big part of successfully showing a Persian. Even if your boy isn't top quality, you can practice show grooming with him

I don't work with Persians so I am not an expert on that breed... but if I were in your position with a male only 8 months old that was already acting nippy and hormonal, I would be concerned that he might start to get frustrated and develop unwanted behaviors (biting, peeing, etc)... so unless there was a strong reason to keep him whole (such as coming from rare breeding lines that need to be preserved), I would consider neutering him. He could be shown in Premiership (the class for neutered and spayed cats), and that way you can learn more about show grooming and the Persian breed standard, meet other Persian breeders and make connections that would be useful to you as a breeder in the future.

 

[posiepurrs]

Honestly, if he is showing signs of maturing that early you might have a problem waiting that long to breed him. In my experience, Persian males are usually much slower to reach sexual maturity. My first 2 males were almost 3 when they started breeding, but my boy now started trying at a year. A frustrated male can become nasty tempered.