The Expanding Purebred Cat MarketPlace
by Michael
(London, UK)
Commentators call it the fall of the US Empire. The British Empire disappeared long ago, in the 1930s perhaps. It is now the turn of the USA. That is not America bashing – just a fact of life. American is the greatest power in the world, economically and militarily but it is rapidly waning. The US is crippled by debt and that limits what they can do. The US Empire lasted for a much shorter period than the British Empire. That is probably because everything that happens in the world is speeding up.
The purebred cat market place is probably still pretty healthy in the USA however. The average cat breeder runs a hobby business. It makes a bit of money on the side. I doubt if breeders are solely dependent on income from breeding.
I sense though that there is a shift and expansion of the concept of cat breeding to the east, to Asia. I am thinking of India and China. As the USA wanes and nears the end of its world dominance, China is expected to become the biggest economy in 2020. India’s economy is growing rapidly too. There are dangers in rapid growth and the predictions may not come to pass but with greater wealth you are bound to get more people who desire to “own” a fine purebred cat with the resultant expansion of breeding of purebred cats locally.
There are breeders in India (opens a new window). And there is interest in purebred cats in China. I don’t know if there are cat breeders in China. I’ll try and find out.
The cat breeds that you will see in India are the very well established breeds that go back to the beginning of the cat fancy – the Persians and Siamese to name two. I have also seen Russian Blues advertised in India, by the way.
So there is a gradually expansion of the concept of keeping a purebred cat companion in the east and far east. Where once England and the USA were preeminent in the companion cat world we will see a gradual expansion in these Asian countries.