Choosing a cattery – 9 tips for future owners on how to choose a good cat cattery

1. Legalność hodowli

A good cattery should be registered in one of the feline organisations operating under the auspices of World Cat Congress (WCC), np. FIFe/FPL, TICA, WCF.

Look for information (or ask the breeder outright) which organisation their cattery belongs to and check whether it really is one within the WCC.

Jeśli będzie to hodowla w jakimś klubie/stowarzyszeniu ale POZA FIFe/FPL, TICA czy WCF – here too be careful, because due to the imperfections of the act, they too can release „swoje rodowody„, które jednak w legalnym kocim świecie nic nie znaczą.

Dodatkowo jeśli „hodowca” oferuje „pedigree cats without pedigrees” – uciekaj. Prawdziwy rasowy kot zawsze ma udokumentowane pochodzenie. A hodowca należy do klubów/organizacji zrzeszonych właśnie w WCC.

Our cattery

Jesteśmy zrzeszeni w Klubie EKKR, który należy do FPL/FIFe, a ta należy do WCC. Więcej o naszych rodowodach oraz organizacjach przeczytasz na podstronie o naszej hodowli. Tam też znajdziesz szczegóły rejestracji naszej hodowli.

2. Sprawdź dokumentację kota

Każdy rasowy kot powinien mieć:

📜 Rodowód – confirming its origin (necessarily from the WCC – FPL/WCF/TICA)
📘 Książeczkę zdrowia – z aktualnymi szczepieniami i odrobaczeniami.
📍 Chip – essential for identification (important: implanted in the cat and not „given in hand”).

An honest breeder will have no problem showing documents (including of the kittens' parents) and ich badań zdrowotnych. Upewnij się, że przy odbiorze kota faktycznie dostaniesz rodowód do ręki, and not that it will be conditional in the contract on some additional conditions.

Dodatkowo koniecznie zapytaj hodowcę właśnie o UMOWĘ sprzedaży kota i poproś o jej udostępnienie PRZED zakupem or even before your decision to buy. If the breeder doesn't have such a contract or doesn't want to share it in advance – think twice about whether you really want to choose this cattery, because you may later have problems pursuing any of your rights (because there's no trace that the cat was sold to you).

Co do chipa – ważne, aby chip został zaimplantowany przed hodowcę (at the vet's), and not to get the chip into your own hand. If you're given the chip in your hand, then first of all you have to implant it yourself later (an additional expense), but more importantly – you have no certainty that the cat you collected is a pedigree cat! Make sure the chip is in the cat and that the number matches the pedigree (you can check this at any vet).

Our cattery

We write information about the pedigree, chip, health record very openly on stronie naszej hodowli. We also show the contract template right at the very beginning (even before the reservation!), and we're open to potential changes to it. Our pedigrees are issued by FPL/FIFe. And every cat leaving our cattery has a full health record book (with vaccinations, dewormings and information about neutering) and of course has a chip implanted, additionally already registered by us with Safe Animals.

3. Zdrowie kotów

Cats' health is one of the more important issues when deciding on the choice of a cattery. Unfortunately, we know many examples where someone chose a cat and a cattery without paying attention to this, only to then have big problems, frequent vet visits or even the treatment of serious diseases (e.g. FIP).

Wybierając hodowlę, warto sprawdzić:

✅ Zdrowy wygląd kotów – czyste oczy, nos i uszy, błyszcząca sierść, brak oznak chorób.
✅ Badania rodziców kociaków – ask about genetic and health tests (e.g. for HCM, PKD, FeLV, FIV).
✅ Szczepienia i odrobaczenia – kociaki powinny być w pełni zaszczepione przed wydaniem.
✅ Kastracja – odpowiedzialny hodowca powinien oddać koty już po kastracji.

Co do zdrowego wyglądu kotów – są dwie opcje – zdjęcia oraz wizyta w hodowli (the second of these will be covered in point 4). Ask the breeder for photos of your kittens, ideally from different moments of its life (when it was tiny or a bit bigger), see what they look like and how they present themselves. If the photos are blurry, maybe the breeder wants to hide something. If they don't want to send them to you (or send 1 or 2 photos), that's also not a very good sign.

Jeśli chodzi o neutering, then the one done at the cattery is (despite the additional costs for the breeder!) much better – the cat has less stress, the new owner doesn't have to do it themselves (looking for the right clinic, then stressing about the procedure and finally caring for the cat after neutering), the cat recovers in a place it knows and with its mum. So choose catteries that do this on site before handing over the kitten! Current research and expert opinions say that kittens as young as two months can already be neutered.

Koniecznie też sprawdźcie czy podczas wydania kociak ma więcej niż 14 tygodni (based on the date of birth of the litter / pedigree). Kittens released earlier, even though they may seem much sweeter (and you certainly cannot wait for them!), nie są gotowe at their early weaning from their mother and siblings, because socialisation should last at least until the 14th week. Those given away and collected earlier may later have problemy behawioralne but also health ones. Besides, organisations within the WCC do not allow younger kittens to be released. So a good cattery with basic knowledge of feline behaviour understands that extra time at the cattery (even though it's always an additional cost for the breeder!) will pay off in the kitten's future. 

Our cattery

In our cattery we take exceptional care of the cats' health. We are under the care of a specialist round-the-clock clinic right next to our home. We always test the cats' parents for FIV and FeLV.

In our cattery there has NEVER BEEN ringworm, FIP (feline infectious peritonitis), FIV (the feline equivalent of human HIV), parasitic diseases (giardia, toxoplasmosis, tapeworms, roundworms); none of our cats have ever had cat flu (caused by the FHV-1 and FCV viruses), feline leukemia (caused by the FeLV virus), feline panleukopenia (caused by the FPV virus), chlamydia, or rabies.

We also post lots of photos of our kittens on the website and Social Media, and we keep in very good contact with the new parents from the start – sending lots of photos, recorded videos and informing them about the little ones' condition.

Our kittens leave the cattery at 15-16 weeks, they are very heavily socialised, and are of course also neutered (in the purchase price).

4. Reputacja hodowli – sprawdź opinie!

Zanim zdecydujesz się na zakup, poszukaj opinii o hodowli.

Wpisz nazwę hodowli w Google or on Facebooku and forums and groups devoted to a given breed – and see for yourself what opinions appear about it. See the detailed guide „How and where to look for reviews of a cat cattery – 5 places to check„

Additionally it is worth asking other owners who have already bought a cat from a given breeder – rzetelne hodowle nie mają nic do ukrycia, a nawet często się chwalą tym gdzie ich kotki znalazły nowy dom.

Here you have to watch out for one thing – there are, unfortunately, legal catteries that sell sick cats (often very knowingly). We know such examples too, from families who later bought cats from us. But if you start precisely by reading reviews, they should be easy to spot + you can do what we describe in the last (9th) point of this guide.

Our cattery

And what do people say about Kotki Kędziorki*PL? 🙂 We encourage you to read for yourself – here you will find opinie o Kotki Kędziorki na Google and opinie o Kotki Kędziorki na Facebook. There are statements from families who bought kittens from us – see for yourselves what they write in the context of our cattery.

5. Oceń podejście hodowcy

Dobry hodowca nie sprzeda kota pierwszej lepszej osobie. The poor one will simply want to sell the cat to anyone as long as it is quick…

Dobry hodowca powinien zadawać pytania o warunki, jakie zapewnisz zwierzęciu, about your approach to animals, about what your expectations are, what you like and what you do not tolerate, should ask who the cat will live with (with a family, children, other cats or animals). If they do not ask such questions, then perhaps they sell cats indiscriminately and to just anyone…

The breeder should also inform you about the specifics of the breed and its requirements. About this czego oczekuje od nowego domu, jak wyobraża sobie przyszłą komunikację.

Warto też zwrócić uwagę, czy chętnie odpowiada na Twoje pytania – if they avoid difficult topics, that is a bad sign. If they answer curtly, then maybe they do not have knowledge about cats. If you feel that they want to end the meeting/conversation as quickly as possible, that also does not speak well of them.

By the way – you too should not start conversations by asking only about the price (more on that in point 8)… Powiedz coś więcej o sobie, especially if you have already chosen a particular cattery (write/tell us why you would like a kitten specifically from them!), tell us what experience you have with animals, what your family is like (are you on your own, with children, with other animals), what you are looking for and what you expect.

Our cattery

Tu trochę ciężko pisać o sobie samym, więc po prostu zachęcamy do contact us and talking with us. We like to talk about cats, our cattery and to answer all your questions! But we also very much like to hear who you are and what you expect from such a little cat.

6. Porównaj ceny – uważaj na zbyt tanie koty!

Koszty prowadzenia dobrej hodowli są high – obejmują:

🏠 Stworzenie odpowiednich warunków hodowli (przestrzeń, wyposażenie)
🍖 Wysokiej klasy karmy i odpowiednie dbanie o kocięta i matkę
💰 Krycie starannie dobranym kocurem
🍼 Opiekę nad kotką w ciąży i kociętami
💉 Opiekę medyczną: szczepienia, odrobaczanie, chipowanie
🧑‍🎓 Continuous development and gaining knowledge (at training courses, participation in shows)
⏱️ Pracę i czas hodowcy (rozmowy, kontakt przed i po zakupie)
✂️ Kastrację (powinna być wykonana przed wydaniem kota)
🧰 Bogatą wyprawkę dla malucha

Jeśli znajdziesz kocięta dużo tańsze niż u innych hodowców, it may mean cutting corners on each of these elements above. And the worst is when it is cutting corners on their health, care and socialisation (e.g. not spending time with them and keeping them in small enclosed rooms).

Besides, Devon Rexes live 15-20 years and believe me, buying a cat is one of the smaller costs you will incur over these 15 years of its life with you.

Uwaga: Zdarza się czasem, że hodowle (w tym nasza) mogą mieć dorosłe koty pohodowlane do płatnej adopcji. Their price is then lower (most often related to the cost of neutering and preparing the cat for adoption), but then it is worth reading about the details and conditions of such an adoption.

And finally – if you cannot afford to buy a Devon from a legal and good cattery – think about adopcji ze schroniska czy fundacji (zamiast wspierać pseudohodowle).

Our cattery

We do not have the lowest prices among Devon catteries, we do not want to compete on that. But we also do not make a living from the cattery and do not have to think about how to sell the most cats.

We allocate the funds to developing the cattery and investing in cat things – cat walkways, scratching posts, toys, beds, space. We give them the best quality food, we take care of their health (the cats', the mums' and the kittens'), and we train ourselves too. Neutering and a rich starter kit are included in our price. We also don't sell cats to just anyone – we do everything to be sure we've found them the best possible home.

7. Wizyta w hodowli (i odbiór kota)

Visiting the cattery before making a decision to buy is a very important matter! After all, we are choosing a friend for many years, so it is worth devoting even an hour or two, and sometimes a day or two for travel, if we live further away.

Na miejscu zobaczysz, w jakich warunkach żyją koty i jak się zachowują.

Warto wtedy zwrócić uwagę na:

✅ Zachowanie – koty powinny być socjalne, ciekawe świata i nie bać się ludzi.
✅ Warunki w hodowli – clean, fresh air, access to light and space to play.
✅ Swoboda – cats should move freely around the home, not sit in cages their whole life.
✅ Obecność mamy i rodzeństwa – during the visit not only the chosen kitten should be present, but also its mum and (if possible) its siblings.

If such a visit is not possible (because you cannot make the trip OR there are also good catteries that do not want visits at all for reasons of cattery safety), then also ask about możliwość rozmowy z wideo i pokazania hodowli zdalnie (mamy przecież w dzisiejszych czasach Teamsy, WhatsAppy, Messengery).

Jeśli umówicie się na odwiedziny – ważne, by obecna była mama kociaka i jego rodzeństwo (if it has one). If the breeder brings the kitten to the living room from another place in the house and only lets you see that one, let us consider what the reason for this might be. If the cats run away at the sight of a person, it may mean that they do not have daily contact with them.

It may happen, however, that some particular cat is more shy on first contact and may not let a stranger pet it, but rather not all of them! It's worth choosing a cattery that has sociable animals and kittens eager to interact with people. Even if they don't jump onto your lap right away, they won't hide and will happily and fearlessly play or eat a treat you offer. It should be clear that the cats know the breeder well and trust them, and the breeder themselves is able to say a lot about each of them!

Odbiór kota should also take place at the cattery, and not „at a petrol station”, „in a car park” or „in front of a house”. In Poland there is a legal ban on selling animals outside their place of breeding. An exception may be a situation where you yourselves ask the breeder to bring the cat to your home — but remember that this may involve additional costs, and we generally don't recommend it.

Our cattery

My dopuszczamy możliwość odwiedzenia naszej hodowli and Devon Rex lovers are always welcome guests in our home. It has happened that families living several hundred kilometres from us visited us.

Tu jednak warto też pamiętać, że w wypadku naszej hodowli, ze względów bezpieczeństwa naszych kociaków, nie chcemy turystyki kociej and viewing a cattery just for the sake of viewing (because „the children want to pet the kittens” czy ktoś „just wants to check whether they are allergic").

Pozwalamy więc na wizyty dopiero po rezerwacji (non-binding). Additionally, visits are only possible once the kittens are vaccinated (around 10 weeks) and at the entrance we will ask you to wash and disinfect your hands.

We encourage you to contact us w celu uzgodnienia szczegółów i umówienia się.

Our kittens are in 99% of cases collected at our home/cattery. The only exceptions are when the buyers themselves wanted us to deliver them to their home or the kittens were going abroad with a transport company (but we can count those on the fingers of one hand).

8. Sprawdź transparentność hodowli

Renomowana hodowla zazwyczaj prowadzi stronę internetową lub aktywnie działa w mediach społecznościowych. It should publish information about kittens, photos even films, contact details, as well as opinions from previous buyers.

Yes, there can be good catteries that do not have this, but we do nevertheless suggest szukać takich, które dzielą się szczerze i otwarcie with such information. Creating a website today is a small outlay compared to running a good cattery.

Unikaj hodowli, które mają tylko ogłoszenia na portalach sprzedażowych (OLX, Allegro or others). Remember too that under Polish law cats cannot be sold at auctions!

You should find some information about the cattery on Google (just enter its name) and be able to potwierdzić jej istnienie w danym klubie/federacji belonging to the WCC. Some clubs have lists of catteries on their websites (divided by breed or voivodeship). These are also good places to start the search. 

Jeśli hodowla nie ma ŻADNYCH śladów w sieci – warto się zastanowić, dlaczego!

Our cattery

You are now on the website of our cattery and we hope you like it and find a lot of information here. We write as transparently as possible. We show nasze mioty, nasze wszystkie koty, by each cat we write where it went and if we have an opinion from the new family then we add it too (see e.g. Einsteina, Heweliusza, or Finezję), piszemy bardzo dokładnie jak wygląda proces zakupu kota. Jesteśmy też bardzo aktywni w sieci – na Facebook, Instagram i TikTok – tam też na bieżąco publikujemy wiele zdjęć, video i informacji.

9. Zasięgnij opinii społeczności

Breeders often know each other, but there is also a large group of Devon fans in Poland – if you have doubts, zapytaj o daną hodowlę na grupach Facebookowych poświęconych rasie. Often at that point the owners of kittens who have already bought a kitten from a given cattery speak up – sometimes these are great reviews, and sometimes downright warnings straight out against a given cattery (selling e.g. cats sick with FIP).

W przypadku Devon Rexów dużą społeczność znajdziesz np. na grupie „Devon Rex – moja miłość„, liczącej ponad 13 tysięcy członków.

It is better to devote more time to searching and checking, than to later face the health or behavioural problems of an animal. And we have had families come to us who had bardzo kiepskie doświadczenia z INNYMI hodowlami (and spent e.g. 10-20 thousand zlotys on care for the cat, because it was sick with FIP)…

Our cattery

We are not afraid of opinions about us. We always take care of the new families of our cats, we are always available to them. If you only feel like it – ask about Kotki Kędziorki*PL e.g. on największej polskiej grupie Devon Rex na Facebook.

Ostatnio (w lutym 2025) na tej grupie ktoś zapytał „Czy ktoś posiada devona z hodowli Kotki Kędziorki? Jakie opinie?„, więc sami możecie przeczytać ponad 50 odpowiedzi w tym temacie 🙂 Jak najbardziej sami też możecie o to zapytać.