I've been lurking in this group for a while, getting nuggets of advice
here and there, and I can't help but notice the dogmatic attitude the
majority of the participants have towards the breeding of our masters.
It was made explicit in the recent thread about "breading", but it
was apparent in other threads too. Dogmatism, however, is never good.

For some reason, this dogma assumes that all cats are equal, and if you
want a kitten, go to the shelter where they're overflowing. Would that
be the same advice you would give to people that want to have children,
and would you yourself practice it? After all, the planet has more than
enough people, more than can be sustained, in fact, and the orphanages
and the third world countries are overflowing with unwanted kids, whose
fate you can only improve. So sterilize yourself, (or don't have
children), and adopt. If you have done so, and if this is the advice
you're giving to wannabe parents, then I submit - you have all the right
to advocate the same for cats. If you haven't however, please STFU.

The responsible attitude, as I see it, is not to let the kitties breed
indiscriminately - far from it - but to treat each on a case by case
basis. Don't spay/neuter the kitty until they are let's say 2 years old,
before considering if they are really that special kitty that deserves
having one litter. After all, they are /not/ created equal, and not each
is cute, smart, affectionate, healthy and playful. The same way one
would not adopt just any kitty from a shelter, and would skip the ugly,
dumb, sick and inferior (and most often would /not/ find one worth
adoption), one should give a chance to your pet, if (s)he has the
qualities that you like. In that case, if you have secured homes for the
eventual kittens with acquaintances that have been charmed by your
kitty's qualities and that want to have a similar one, find a suitably
fine mate, and let them have a litter. If however, you can't guarantee
homes for the litter, or if the kitty is not up to par (and I admit that
this is the hardest thing to decide, for they are like our children, and
it is very difficult to see and admit their faults), then of course,
visit the vet. But after that, love them doubly, if possible, to
compensated for the potential offspring that you have destroyed,
essentially killing them (in the grand scheme of things).