And then Seanan got angry.

I'm big on adopting bunnies from shelters, because a lot of rabbit breeders suck. But if someone decides to get their bun from a reputable breeder then that's their call, not mine.

(It's only when they get them from crappy backyard breeders who are in it for the money rather than the breed that I get hissy. I'm going to another state this weekend to try to help nab a loose domestic bun that has a breeder's tattoo in her ear and I'm probably going to end up bringing her back with me to my local rescue in Chicago because she was probably dumped.)

But my own "used easter bunny" has a chronic health condition that without pet insurance would have bankrupted me, and I now have to give her antibiotic shots every 3 days to allow her to keep breathing. So I can totally understand someone not wanting to take that kind of a risk of having their heart and their wallet broken.

Your cats are adorable, and hilarious, and clearly loved and spoiled rotten. No one has the right to tell you otherwise.

I adore your pets from a distance. Given that I am fairly allergic to cats, I would continue to adore them from a distance even if I lived near you and knew you personally, which I don't.

I love the way you write about them, even if I don't have their full names memorized. I love the pictures of them.

I admire you for knowing what you want and taking reasonable steps to achieve it. And I agree with your explanation that it's not a zero-sum game (I am also reminded of the conversation I had with the GYN when I asked about getting my tubes tied: "What if you meet Mr. Right and he wants kids?" "If he wants kids, he ain't Mr. Right.").

[icon is not directed at you]

A lot of people are too stupid to understand the subtleties of the real world, so they go out and become Brandon Majors. Subtleties like the difference between *some* animal breeders being horrible people and *all* of them.

This.

It drives me nutty the tendency people have to either hear something and then parrot it without bothering to find out if it's correct, or ignore any of the details that don't fit their particular shtick.

(Not to mention that there are often very sensible reasons to opt for a purebred; sometimes you REALLY need to know what kind of animal you're getting and what kind of temperament its likely to have.)

I am very sorry to hear that someone is poking that particular button.

As I think I mentioned before, our cats were rescue cats. One of them died of lung cancer a year and a half ago. The other one got bone cancer at a ridiculously early age but is still with us. I don't regret for a moment getting them from the shelter. I also very much understand wanting to have a good understanding of the genetics involved.

Your cats are ... well, they are a part of you. And anyone who thinks otherwise hasn't been paying attention to your posts about them.

Any animal that you bring into your home is one less animal that will suffer, be hurt, or end up in a shelter. I don't give a damn where they came from in the first place. You're still giving them a forever home. You're still giving them a life.

Jerks.

me = aghast. Some people...

It doesn't come anywhere near the emotional intensity of pet sourcing (shelter/breeder) or child sourcing (adoption/biological), but I have heard those same sorts of justifications applied to buying a used car over buying a new car, or buying a hybrid over a "gas guzzler".

I don't think I said anything at the time, but I really appreciated your previous posts on why you get your cats from your breeder, because I hadn't understood why there were benefits beyond a pedigree. However, I never thought not understanding someone's choices was an excuse to insult them or be rude.

I know that well-meaning people - including myself - get very worked up about animal welfare, but anyone whose pets are happy, safe, and not adding to the local population of strays shouldn't be the target of that anger.

What the hell? Oh my god, fucking people. SERIOUSLY NOW.

I pick up my cats either as strays who find their way to me or as someone brings them to me. This is just how I roll, and has been for almost 34 years.

But next time? Next time I am seriously considering a purebred cat for all of the reasons you list above, and the only thing holding me off on that would be money, which I am chronically short on.

Some people, purebred cats are just how they roll. I have never, never ever ever met one of these people who used their pets as fucking "status symbols." I am not saying they aren't out there, but I have never met one. (Sadly I cannot say the same for dogs.)

YOU certainly aren't one, as should be obvious to anyone who pays even the slightest attention to how you talk about them. They are your friends, FFS. Your little buddies.

Two links about it that I appreciated when I read them. Way of Cats: what "purebred" means and Way of Cats: why go purebred. It's a generally interesting and helpful blog, and it's refreshing to read a pet animal behavior blog that doesn't condemn not rescuing a shelter pet Every Single Time.

I've had purebreds, I've had strays (one of my best cats just wandered up to my house and decided to stay), and I have rescue cats right now... all of them need homes and love. That troll can go fuck themselves.

Thankyou for this post; it gives me a lot of useful information for considering where I get cats in future (when I have a home that allows me to have pets)

When I was a kid, we generally bought pet shop pets, but now as I've grown older and realised how many cats are put down every year it's made me inclined to shelter cats. And I always thought that moggies were generally healthier than purebred cats which tend to be inbred and prone to illnesses, at least in Australia. But my boyfriend is very very partial to the siamese breed and really wants them and only them. So it's going to be a tough decision to make.

Yes. That, and the fact that Maine Coons don’t set off our allergies, is why obsessivewoman and I found a breeder who went to considerable lengths to go outside the normal Maine Coon breed lines to get healthy cats. Cleo and Yeti are the cats who, at 4 weeks of age, picked Mara and myself as the humans they wanted to be with (Cleo fell asleep in the palm of Mara’s hand, Yeti insisted on staying with the humans when the rest of the litter wanted to nap with the momcat), still liked us at the 8 week visit, and came home with us at 12 weeks when they were ready for a home.

The allergy thing is something I'm curious about, since I have (manageable, with medicine) cat allergies. Maine Coons don't set yours off? Any idea if that's the norm for people with cat allergies, or just you?

I won't be on my own for at least two years from now (when I graduate from college) but I'm already planning to find a feline companion or two and I'd love to make it/them a Maine Coon(s) if I can find a stable job that allows me to afford a purebred. Two years just isn't a long time, if the first two years of college are anything to go by.

[Once again, I'm reminded I need a cat icon; picture time when I go back to my mom's house!]

There are some really unpleasant people out there. I'm so sorry you were subjected to this.

Shakin' my head.

Anybody who thinks you don't love and care for your cats was not present to see you terrified you were going to lose Alice to pneumonia, and horrified and guilty that you couldn't be the one to bring Alice to the catdoctor with your own two hands, to be there to pet and console and comfort her.

Anybody who thinks they're just status symbols for you wasn't around to see you before you were ready to get Lilly, after you'd lost your previous Siamese (whose name escapes me at the moment, apologies). No one who just considers cats as status symbols could have been that broken over the loss of a furbaby.

Anybody who thinks your cats are less loved and less worthy of love because they came from breeders, and does not take your extremely careful consideration into account?

Morons. Beneath your contempt.

Shout it, sister.

I do have "rescue cats." And you know what? I don't need or want any praise for that. I didn't acquire them because I'm a do-gooder; I acquired them because the no-kill shelter had cats that met my specifications. I've owned cats all my life, and I knew two pre-socialized adult females - in this case, a mother-daughter pair - stood the best chance of adjusting to my ways and living long, happy lives.

As long as we're caring for our animals and giving them a safe, happy and healthy life, it's nobody else's damned business.

Good lord, people are awful sometimes. We already know this of course; I just like to state the obvious sometimes.

As you know, I adore my Battersea cat, Minerva. But I've also taken to heart your advice about if I really want a cuddly cat that wants a load of attention, look for a good Siamese breeder when I can afford it. And one day, I will do that. Minerva is a treasure, but she's not the only kind of treasure there is, and she definitely hung the moon. I can tell. :-)

Sorry you have to deal with such idiocy.

I am so very sorry somebody dared to say something mean about your friends.

To be fair, my cats (and dogs) have never come from a shelter. The first pet I honestly remember getting, my dog Casey, was the runt of a litter of 11 puppies. Her mom had been found by a friend of my mother's, and she died of heartworm three days after giving birth. We know she's half Old English Sheepdog, because her mother was a purebred. Given what she looks like when shaved, I think her father was a Whippet.

Casey is 17, and one of the most family-oriented dogs I've met. She has few health issues: a delicate stomach, cataracts, and the possibility of going somewhat deaf. Unsurprising, given her size and age. But I didn't get her from a shelter.

My first cat, that I got two years ago, was a stray who had adopted my husband's parents' place as a good place to get food. When we moved in, she appeared again after several months, and became more and more eager to see us the more we offered her food and cuddles. One evening, she climbed up the carport and sat in front of our window, crying to be let in.

Sierra, who was over a year when we adopted her, is now at least three years old, and is the supreme Queen of all she surveys, especially spots next to laps where she can be petted. I didn't get her from a shelter, either.

My last pet I got as a small kitten. A coworker's Siamese had escaped and gotten knocked up by a local tom, and they had five kittens in the litter. Two were up for adoption, and the smallest chose me. I took the kitten home, and began the careful process of integrating him into a home with a cat who, beforehand, could be charitably described as neurotic. The entire reason I agreed to adopt a kitten was to soothe her neuroses and her abandonment issues, because she was so alone when my husband and I left for the weekend.

Simon is now fifteen months old, and a little half-Siamese love-monster. And I didn't get him from a shelter, either.

I understand entirely why you chose to get your cats from respectable breeders. When my pet didn't adopt me, my family got our pets from people we could trust, who had done everything they could to give us good pets. I did not get my pets from a shelter, nor did I get them from a breeder. Does this make me a bad pet owner? No.

I take care of my pets, feed them, and take them to the vet for check-ups and when they aren't feeding well. I do everything I can to keep them happy and content with the world. That's all any pet owner can do. And anyone who says otherwise, who claims that where you got your pet matters more than how you treat and love them, is a moron.

What? What? WHAT? *hugs your kitties* Haters to the left, because your kitties are staying right damn well HERE. :P

Having been there when you two met, I can confidently say that Thomas _was_ the kitten waiting for your love. I've never seen a cat fling himself at someone so joyously.

Brava for standing up for what you believe in.

While current pair of cats were rescued, I'd really wanted a well bred old style Burmese to replace the one I lost due to the poisoned cat food problem in 2007. My Burmese, who lived for 17 years, would likely still be alive except for the poisoned food we got at the store. Her parents both lived well into their 20s and were beautiful, healthy cats.

Her companion cat, Ahree died at age 12 of cancer. She was an alley cat/lilac point Siamese cross, so while her mother had a great pedigree, her father was a genetic unknown.

I have no idea how long the rescued sister cats I have might live. They were dumped at my local vet's office, and the woman who fostered them didn't know enough to feed them more than twice a day. (They were so tiny their eyes hadn't opened, and of 5 in the litter, only the two of them survived.) They may live to a nice, ripe old age, or they might die at 8-11 the way most of my rescue cats have. When you get a rescued cat you really don't know what you're getting. Even if the cat is a kitten and seems healthy the genetic makeup is totally unknown. You might luck out and get a cat that lives into it's late teens or twenties, or you might wind up with a heart breaker that dies at age 6 from some malady that wasn't apparent when you got the kitten. You simply don't know.

So yes, buying from a reputable and responsible breeder is always the best option for a long lived pet, whether cat or dog. It's the 'pet mills' that are the true tragedy in this country and they are one of the biggest reasons that so many 'pure bred' animals wind up in shelters, unloved, and often put down because of genetic or other terrible problems.

It's not the fault of the animals. It's not the fault of the people who buy them. It's the failure of proper regulations on pet mills and that's where people need to focus their anger and outrage. If only reputable breeders were allowed in the business there wouldn't be nearly as many animals waiting in shelters. Mills breed animals in terrible conditions, then, when they're finally shut down--sometimes after a decade or more-- those animals that have been abused and neglected their entire lives aren't likely to find loving homes. Many are too physically or emotionally damaged to make good family pets and then there's only one option.

I admire you for standing up and speaking out on this issue. Thank you for doing so.

You've actually inspired me to be a better companion to my own cat. While I don't support pet stores or backyard breeders, and I wince when I read about how overbred certain breeds are, I have a healthy respect for good, dedicated breeders. All species need variety, and that variety needs to be carefully maintained when you're talking about a domestic species.

My cats have all been rescues, and I've had my share of xenophobic, hostile cats as well as those that were loving and friendly. (Lucky, my current rescue, is a perfect example of the latter. I've often said that if he were my child, he'd be on a milk carton, he's so friendly.) But I have nothing against people who do keep bred cats unless they treat the cats as nothing but showpieces. It's like people who enter their children into these Godawful beauty pageants at 3 and 4 years of age; you get the feeling that, for them, the children aren't their offspring, but little trophies they got for having the right genetic combination that produced good-looking toddlers.

So, good for you, and much love to Lilly, Alice and Thomas.

I admit, when I first read about your buying from a breeder, I raised an eyebrow. I've always had secondhand cats, and I figured that was the only socially responsible thing to do. But, your life, your choices, etc., so I left it alone. Then you listed your reasons, and I realized I could get on-board with that. In fact, I've started looking at Siberian breeders, because I want a Risu clone. (She, it turns out, is a full-blooded Siberian, bred by disreputable breeders who took care of the litters of kittens by shooing them outside to fend for themselves as soon as their eyes were open.)

My housemate has cats who her then-boyfriend got for her from a "free kittens" ad for a Christmas present. Pixel and Puff are neurotic to the extreme. For a while, they'd crap on the floor whenever she spent the night anywhere but at home. Now, they do it all the time. I can't even TRY to pick Puff up, because I wouldn't survive the blood loss from his scratches. And they have terrible health issues, including the formation of urine crystals and that they're prone to UTIs. My housemate actually talks openly about how she anticipates they won't last much longer.

I love my Herc, and I wouldn't trade him for the world. I adore my Risu. But I am NOT going to risk picking up another Pixel and Puff at the shelter, when it comes time to find a new companion for Risu. I'm going to save up to buy a purebred, and I'm going to do my homework.

If I'm going to have a companion for about 20 years of my life, I want that companion to be healthy, a good personality match, and I want to know that I'm not going to spend the next 20 years quietly waiting for it to pass on.