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, 22:36:43 UTC 6 years ago
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.
May 13 2011, 14:04:54 UTC 6 years ago
And yeah. I know a lot of "status symbol" dogs, but not so much with the status symbol cats. Cats don't give a crap whether you want to have status or not. My cats are such goofy morons that they probably damage my cred.
May 13 2011, 14:14:10 UTC 6 years ago
I do eventually plan on getting a Sphynx (well *I* think they're adorable) or a Maine Coon (I have had a Giant Cat before and really miss it) and I sincerely, deeply doubt that they will have any more dignity than the ones I have now. In fact, I should be rather disappointed if they did.
Although if they wanted to not barf on my books, that would be great.
May 13 2011, 15:33:36 UTC 6 years ago