I'm going to try and answer everything for you...warning this will be long....

What our cats do go a little past meowing...they actually "talk" to you. Different types of sounds at different times...And each has a distinctive voice. It's pretty amazing actually.

There is a saying...Siamese talk just to hear themselves talk and Tonks talk when they have something important to say.

Mine will "call" (a pseudo "wail" each other in the house when they are alone and sure enough the others will come running...mine will tell me when they are hungry, when they want to be pet, when something is in their way and they want to climb on it...ect...

When my parents got their first one...I was on the phone with my mother one day and I could hear Jazz talking in the background...my mother said he had been doing that for a few minutes...I asked her where he was, and she said in the sink...I told her to turn the faucet on he was thirsty...she did...and sure enough he drank...she checked the water bowl and it was empty...

Tonks are very smart and if you take the time to try and figure them out you will communicate quite nicely...

No matter how many Tonks you have, they will always want human attention and affection...I have three and they all sleep touching me at night...Tonks generally bond with ONE human though who they show the majority of their affection to...Bentley and Alastair both own me, they chose this on their own...I purposely bonded Finster to my son who was 4 when we got him...and Fin is the only one who will sleep with him on occassion and run around the house playing with him tirelessly.(Fin is also more of a lap slut and will hang with anyone who will sit still long enough)

Bentley was an only cat for about a year...he was soooooooooo needy...he followed me everywhere, the bathroom, shower, I could not sit for a minute without him on my lap, in my plate...getting him another cat just took a little bit of the attention off of me so I could function like a normal human again...(I'm a stay home mom)...he still loves me just as much...he just has two other cats to hang with so when I am not around he is not alone...

Like we've said earlier...if the cat will be alone the majority of the day another cat is a good idea...they will both love you when you get home...

As for your third question...most breeders have a real job to supplement the cattery...most breeders do not breed to make a living, they simply love the breed they show them regularly because kittens bred from champion cats are not only more desireable but command a few extra $$$'s and the cattery is more respected, so the cattery most of the time becomes a means to offset their "show" costs. At the end of the day a breeder does not make much per kitten when you factor in all the costs...food, litter, first and/or second round of shots, vet costs if their are complications with the birth, plus she is responsible for all the food, litter, supplies and vet expense of her queens and studs who are around for years, or if she doesn't keep any studs in her cattery, she has to pay a fee and usually give up a kitten to a breeder with a viable stud each time she mates...trust me, the breeder doesn't just pocket the $$$ you give them for a kitten...the money most times has already been spent. Sadly, good breeders do not become rich from their catteries...Good breeders make sure their cats are happy, healthy and go to good homes.

By the way, these are all great questions...I hope I'm helping...

[ Reply To This Message ] [ Subscribe to this Thread ] [ Show Entire Thread ]