Cattery Software for Working Cat Breeders

Queens, kittens, waitlists, deposits, buyer portal — built natively for catteries, not bolted onto a dog tool. Nine species in one account, 14-day free trial.

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The cattery workflow, one connected system

Heat & Mating
→
Pregnancy
→
Queening
→
Kitten Records
→
Weights & Vax
→
Applications
→
Deposits
→
Contracts
→
Buyer Portal

Most cat breeders run this on three or four different tools. Spreadsheet for the queens, Notes app for kitten weights, PayPal for deposits, email for the buyer questions. Cattery software collapses that into one workflow.

Cat breeding is operational work. Between heat patterns that do not look like dog cycles, planned matings, queening nights, kitten weight checks, color and pattern recording, registration paperwork, waitlists, deposits, contracts, and the steady stream of "any updates on her kittens?" emails — the software you choose either makes that easier or quietly makes it harder.

The hard part is that most software in the category is dog-first. Cat support is usually a checkbox added later, with screens that still use "puppy" copy or workflows that assume dog cycle patterns. For a working TICA or CFA cattery, that mismatch shows up on every page.

This page is about what a cattery actually needs from software, and how BreederHQ is built for it.

What a cattery actually needs from software

Here is the rubric that matters once you are running a real cattery. If a tool fails on more than two of these, it is the wrong tool, no matter how slick the marketing is.

1. It understands feline reproduction

Queens are induced ovulators on seasonal, polyestrous cycles. That is not a dog cycle and it is not a livestock cycle. A real cattery tool models heat patterns specific to cats, planned matings (live cover and AI both supported), confirmed pregnancy at 21–28 days, the ~63–67 day gestation window, and queening notes. If "breeding" is one date field, the tool was not built for cats.

2. Kittens are individuals, not a row

Every kitten gets a record from the night they are born. Birth weight, daily weights, color, pattern, microchip, vaccinations, deworming, eye-open date, the buyer they go to. A "Litter A had 5 kittens" row is not enough — the part that matters is the part that lives on the individual.

3. Color and pattern genetics, not "color: gray"

Cat color is a genetic system, not a label. EMS notation, dilute, agouti, colorpoint, white spotting, breed-specific patterns. The tool should let you record what you actually see on the kitten and what you expect from a planned mating, and surface results on the pedigree.

4. Registry-aware records

TICA, CFA, ACFA, FIFe — registry numbers, titles, championship status, and DNA tests need to live on the cat and surface on the pedigree. So you do not look them up manually every time you plan a mating or fill out paperwork.

5. Waitlists, deposits, and contracts

Your real pain is not pedigrees, it is the waitlist that is six months old, the deposit you cannot remember collecting, and the contract you sent on email and cannot find. A serious tool treats waitlists, deposits, and contracts as core objects tied to the queen and the upcoming litter.

6. Buyers can self-serve

The single biggest time win in modern cattery software is letting buyers see their own kitten records, photos, pedigree, and documents without emailing you. A buyer portal is the difference between answering the same five questions 30 times per litter and answering them zero times.

7. It works on the phone, in the nursery

Half the actual work happens away from a desk. Kitten weights at the queening box. A quick photo when eyes open. A buyer question answered from the couch. The tool should be usable one-handed on a phone, not "mobile-friendly enough."

8. The data is yours

Export. CSV, PDF, your pedigrees in a usable format. If you cannot get your data out, you do not own your program, you rent it.

Pedigree depth that matches how cat people actually think

BreederHQ tracks the whole picture on each cat — registration numbers across TICA, CFA, ACFA, and FIFe, titles and championship status, DNA test results (HCM, PKD, PRA, breed-specific panels), color and pattern with EMS notation, and the pedigree itself.

When you plan a mating, the COI is calculated from your pedigree data. When the kittens are born, those parent records are already linked to the kitten records — you are not retyping anything.

If your program runs more than one breed or more than one species, all of it lives in the same account. Maine Coons and Ragdolls, or Siamese and a couple of Bengals, or cats plus the family's horses or dogs — one login, one buyer pipeline, one set of records.

Why a dog tool with "cat mode" does not work for a working cattery

It is fair to be specific about this, because every cat breeder has tried it.

Cycle vocabulary is wrong. The screens say "heat" the way dogs experience it — a discrete window with progesterone-driven timing. Queens are induced ovulators with seasonal polyestrous patterns. The interface keeps asking you to plot a single ovulation date, and you keep skipping the field.
Litter cadence is wrong. Cats commonly have two or three litters per year per queen, often back to back during the breeding season. Tools built around a one-litter-per-year dog pattern force awkward workarounds.
Registries are wrong. The fields say "AKC number" and "UKC title." Your records use TICA or CFA. Field names that do not match your registry create friction on every record.
Color genetics is wrong. "Color: brown" is enough for a dog tool. For a cattery, you need pattern + color + dilute + agouti + breed-specific markers, often in EMS notation. Single-field "color" loses information you need.
Health panels are wrong. A dog tool's health-testing module emphasizes OFA hips, elbows, eyes, and cardiac. A cattery needs HCM, PKD, PRA, FeLV/FIV, and breed-specific genetic screens. Same idea, different panels.

BreederHQ uses cat vocabulary on cat surfaces. That is the whole point of building it nine-species-native from day one.

What BreederHQ does not do

BreederHQ does not verify, vet, or vouch for catteries. We do not run health tests, file registry paperwork on your behalf, or provide veterinary services. We track the records you need so the submissions you make to TICA, CFA, or your vet are clean and exportable, but the submission is yours.

For the full posture on what verification means (and does not mean) on BreederHQ, see Identity and Credentials.

Pricing built for working programs, not enterprise SaaS

14-day free trial of the full platform. The first 100 founding subscribers can use code FOUNDER50 at checkout for 50% off Pro or Enterprise for 12 months.

Same product whether you run one queen or twenty, one breed or three. The trial is the full thing — no "lite" version you outgrow.

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Frequently asked questions

What is cattery software, and how is it different from generic pet software?

Cattery software is built around the workflow of a working cat breeder: queens and their heat patterns, planned matings, kitten records from birth through placement, registration paperwork for TICA or CFA, waitlists, deposits, contracts, and a per-buyer portal. Generic pet software treats cats as line items in a database. Cattery software treats your program as a connected operation. BreederHQ was built natively for nine species, including cats, with cattery-specific vocabulary (queen, tom, kitten, litter) rather than a dog tool with a "cat mode" toggle.

Does BreederHQ support TICA and CFA registration tracking?

Yes. You can track registration numbers, titles, color and pattern codes, EMS notation, and DNA test results on each cat, and the data carries through to the kitten records and pedigrees. BreederHQ does not file registration paperwork directly with TICA or CFA on your behalf; you still submit through the registry, but the records you need are organized and exportable.

How does kitten weight tracking and milestone logging work?

Each kitten is an individual record from birth. You log birth weight, daily or weekly weights, color and pattern, microchip, eye-open date, vaccinations, deworming, and vet visits on the kitten — not on the litter row. The whelping area (or queening area, in cat-speak) is designed mobile-first so you can update from the nursery without a laptop. Weights chart automatically so you can spot a fader early.

Can I run a waitlist and take kitten deposits in BreederHQ?

Yes. Buyers apply through your storefront, approved applicants land on your waitlist tied to a specific queen or upcoming litter, deposits are settled through Stripe directly into your bank account, contracts are signed in the same workflow, and once a kitten is matched the buyer gets a portal with their kitten's records, photos, pedigree, and documents. No PayPal screenshots, no "did I get your deposit?" emails.

Is there a public marketplace where buyers can find my cattery?

Yes. Your cattery shows up at marketplace.breederhq.com with your cattery profile, available kittens, and an inquiry channel that lands back in the same system as your operations. Inquiries do not auto-create Contacts — you decide who becomes a curated contact and who stays a prospect.

Why not just use dog breeding software with a "cat mode"?

Because the biology and the buyer flow are different. Queens cycle differently than bitches (induced ovulation, seasonal estrus, polyestrous patterns). Litter cadence is different. The registries are different (TICA, CFA, ACFA, FIFe instead of AKC, UKC). Color and pattern genetics use a different notation. Health-testing panels are different (HCM, PKD, FeLV/FIV protocols instead of OFA hips and elbows). A dog tool retrofitted for cats forces you to translate every screen in your head. BreederHQ uses cat vocabulary on cat surfaces.

Will BreederHQ work for a small one-queen hobby cattery?

Yes, and it will scale with you when you add a second queen, a stud, or a second breed. The 14-day free trial is the same product the multi-queen catteries use. There is no "lite" version that you outgrow.

Is BreederHQ really free?

BreederHQ offers a 14-day free trial of the full platform — not a permanent free tier. The first 100 founding subscribers can use code FOUNDER50 at checkout for 50% off Pro or Enterprise for 12 months. See the pricing page for current tier details.