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.
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?
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!