I spayed and neutered all of my purebred cats the beginning of the year with the intent on focusing on my Border Collie. It became too difficult to find good homes for my kittens and my dog is demanding a lot of time, which I enjoy giving him.

On June 17 I rescued nine kittens from certain death. There is a flea market about 15 miles from me where people bring their "free" kittens. If they do not find homes for these kittens, they often just let them go at the flea market. Many of these kittens are too young to be away from their mothers, never mind to survive on their own in such a difficult environment. Not all of the kittens who are "adopted" from this flea market are brought home to viable homes, many go as Pit Bull bait as that flea market is full of people selling Pit Bulls.

All of the kittens that I rescued on that day and will likely rescue in the future (on September 2 I brought home two tiny black kittens) will be raw fed, won't be vaccinated except for what is required by law and will be parasite free. Most of the kittens had I rescued on June 17 had absolutely delightful temperments and I found local homes for several of them. They are playful, easy to handle, very energetic (sometimes too energetic!); they are just great kittens and in fact, I'm enjoying them more than I did most of the purebred kittens I bred. They have had no health issues whatsoever since they've been with me.

Even though I've become very attached to them, I would place them in holistic homes. If you were considering getting a cat from a shelter, keep in mind that any kitten or cat adopted from a shelter is going to be vaccinated, likely spayed or neutered too young and fed kibble. I am always hearing from people who adopted such a kitten or cat and had quite a few problems with their health. Some rescue groups won't adopt to people who feed raw and don't vaccinate annually. You can have the best of both worlds with one of these kittens, it will be raw fed, not vaccinated and will be a rescued kitten.

I'd be willing to put money on the fact that the parents of these kittens were not vaccinated and of course the kittens were not. While they may have eaten kibble for a short period of time, it wasn't long enough for them to develop kibble-related problems.

After seeing what I've seen at this flea market and quite frankly, all around me, I can't ever in good conscience breed another litter of cats or even dogs.