enragedDon't you ever, ever insult my cats. Don't you ever, ever imply that I own them because they're "status symbols," or because I am in some way taking pleasure in the knowledge that other cats are being put to sleep right now. Lilly, Alice, and Thomas are my companions. They are my friends. They are the closest I intend to come to having children, and while I may be up for judgment, they are off limits. Leave my cats the fuck alone.
Why do I get my cats from reputable breeders, rather than from the local shelter? A whole bunch of reasons.
I do it for the health of the cat. When I visit a reputable breeder, I can not only meet the kitten I'm hoping to take home with me, I can meet their parents and grandparents. In the case of Alice and Thomas, I met their great-grandfather. I want to know that my cats have a good genetic shot at a long, happy life.
I do it for the temperament of the cat. I have had incredibly sweet, loving shelter cats in my life. I have also had bitter, terrified, xenophobic shelter cats who couldn't be integrated into a household, because they were too damn scared. I want a kitten that has been socialized and loved, and that has been bred to have a good personality to go with those good genes. I want a Lilly, an Alice, a Thomas, a Ripley, a Toby, an Alligator.
And yes, I do insist on kittens whenever possible. At best, I'm bringing home a new cat to an adult who isn't sure about the situation; at worst, I'm bringing home a new cat to two adults who already think there's no room at the inn. I am loud. I move quickly. I go away for long periods of time. I do things the way I do things, and a lot of adult cats can't adjust to me, no matter how hard we both try.
There are cats in shelters. There are cats in rescues. There are cats in need of homes. But I am not in the market for an adult rescue, and the kittens don't need me to be the one that saves them; kittens stand a much better chance than adults. Why do I know this? I know because I have volunteered at shelters and rescues and free clinics since I was twelve years old. Just like I know that I want as complete of a genetic profile as possible on my cats, because I buried so damn many of them when I was bringing them home from the pound.
My cats are not a zero-sum game. Bringing Thomas home from Betsy's didn't kill a kitten somewhere in the world that was waiting for my love; if it hadn't been Thomas, it would have been no new cat at all. Do I wish that there were no cats anywhere in the world waiting for their forever homes? Yes, I do. But that doesn't mean we shut down the breeders, abolish the breeds, and become a Domestic Shorthair and Domestic Longhair-only world. It means we breed responsibly. It means we support the shelters. It means we spay and neuter our pets.
And it means that my cats are not fucking status symbols. They are not somehow less worthy of love and comfort and a place to sleep than cats who have been abused or abandoned. They are exactly as worthy of all those things. And they are getting them from me, as will all the cats in my future.
If you can't be nice to my cats, you leave them the fuck alone.
May 12 2011, 23:42:26 UTC 6 years ago
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.
May 13 2011, 14:16:47 UTC 6 years ago