Price in USD: Retired breeding cat about $500. Cat bought from breeder around $1,200-$1,600.
Although this is a popular cat breed there appears not to be that many breeders in the US. Breeders retire-off their breeding cats. They are purebred, of course, and of good quality but they are adult cats that have probably been stuck in an enclosure most of their life. They may not be the best socialized cats in the world.
Normally purebred cats sell from around $500-$1500 depending on quality.
As for the UK you can nearly always put a pound sign in front of the US dollar figures. I am sure the price is similar across Europe if you can find a breeder.
See a page on the Egyptian Mau.
The Better Answer
The above is the conventional answer. You want to know what the better answer is, don’t you?
Forget about buying a fancy pedigree cat and find a cat that really needs you instead; a cat that lives in a shelter waiting to be euthanised unless you come along.
As we all know, there are hundreds of thousands of shelter cats looking for homes. A lot of people who care about cats find it very difficult to accept the breeding of cats when there is already a sizeable number that are being euthanised. Actually that is the wrong word because these are healthy cats. They’ll make superb companions.
A intermediate solution is to see whether you can get lucky and find a purebred cat at a cat shelter. It does happen. People do occasionally relinquish their purebred cat to a cat shelter. However, I think you’ll be extremely lucky to find an Egyptian Mau at a cat shelter.
VG, a friend of mine, found her Maine Coon, Tootsie, at a shelter through an online search.
Without responsible breeders many types of cats would disappear. We believe in spaying and neutering all cats that are not used in keeping a breed alive. The Egyptian Mau is a special very loving cat that is not common in the United States. We spent a years salary building a cattery with central heat and air and spacious rooms. We love our cats. I do understand that some people will always have issue with breeders and make rude, uneducated, unnecessary comments , what they don’t understand is that responsible breeders don’t make a lot of money and that keeping special breeds alive takes effort. Soldierfire Ranch in Oklahoma even escorts kittens in the cabin of a plane to insure they don’t ride in cargo.
Thanks for commenting. It is appreciated. I don’t believe you will find uneducated viewpoints on this website. Also I don’t believe you are keeping the Egyptian Mau breed alive. The feral cats of Egypt are truer Egyptian Maus than the cat fancy breed in the US. A lot the mainstream cat breeds bear no resemblance to the original. The Persian is an example and so is the Turkish Angora. I would doubt the USA Egyptian Mau has any connection to the original Egyptian Mau from Egypt so what are keeping alive exactly? A US invention/creation.
I do understand that there are a lot of decent people who are breeders and they are caring and I also understand that most don’t make much money. I just question whether we need more cats when so many are unwanted in shelters.
Your comment really doesn’t make sense. There are a lot of cats in shelters because people don’t take care of their cats. They let them go out and mate, and that is why there are so many cats in shelters. The reason many people buy a pure breed cat is because they want a certain temperament and yes a certain look, but temperament is important. I am sure that if you go to a shelter you wouldn’t adopt a cat that hisses at you, would you?
Most breeders are responsible breeders who care about the welfare of their cats and who don’t sell their cats to just anyone. There are many people who go to shelters to buy animals and these people are not responsible. Get off you self-righteous ass!
I take your point. But are you sure that purebred cats have automatically better temperaments than non-purebred cats? That is not the case. Breeders breed for appearance primarily. Yes, some purebred cats (Siamese and Persian) have better temperaments than moggies in general but there are many individual moggies with characters as good as the characters of purebred cats. Adopters can discover these cats at shelters through interacting with them.
I agree with your reason why there are cats at shelters. People who wish to adopt a cat can reduce that number by adopting at a shelter rather than buying. That does make sense doesn’t it?
I wish people would see the beauty in all cats and not hanker after especially bred pedigree cats or certain coloured cats or whatever. Each and every cat is special and deserves a happy life yet thousands are being killed while breeders go on breeding more kittens to satisfy their own ego, their bank balance and the people who want to ‘own’ who they think is a ‘special’ cat 🙁
Ruth, why are we different to a lot of people?
It’s a matter of emapthy and beauty lying in the eye of the beholder.
People who want accessory cats are not beautiful inside.
I don’t know why we are different Michael but I’m glad to have PoC to come to where most of us are like minded and only want cats worldwide to be appreciated and properly cared for and the senseless killing of so many of them to stop.
Yes, we are truly concerned about cat welfare worldwide. Lots of people don’t think about it and I don’t understand why. It is not hard to think about animal welfare. I feel out of place in the world.
Need you say more. 😉
Were you looking for a cat-fancier to come along and refute that last statement? 😉 Moggies are loved as much as any fancy breed, I’m certain.
I agree with you. That cat is elegant, considerate, intelligent and beautiful. That ruff and those eyes, and the silkiness of that fur can’t be matched. It doesn’t ask for much. As a breed, they stand out. (My sister’s Alexander was a stray Angora (my parents had a knowledgeable veterinarian.)
I am asking for a cat fancier to come along and argue with me 😉 I think cat breeders have a hard time justifying their existence at the moment. With money being tight and a lot of unwanted cats how can one justify deliberately creating more?
Harvey, Michael, Ruth, Marc,
We are all one and the same. I do not like the CFA nor TICA. Never have, never will. Where do their monies go? exactly.
But I DO appreciate hybrid breeders of the Serval with the domestic. I cannot help it. Does A1 need recognition with either of these organizations who like their deviated persians? No, they do not. They are doing the right thing. Intuitively, I know this to be true.
The use of the term pure-bred is very misleading because most such cats are not pure at all. they are concoctions. The cat fancy Turkish Angora is perhaps the most extreme example of that.
2005 Mitochondral DNA studies showed the Egyptian Mau to be related to the Siamese, Russian Blue, Korat, and Abyssinian. Later studies also linked them to the American bred Turkish Angora and Van. The much despised moggie or alley cat is much mote pure than the cat fancy breeds. http://www.messybeast.com/dna-studies-critique.htm