Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm so glad to have found this board; thanks in anticipation for your help.

We live in Los Angeles, we own one elderly Persian whose litter-mate and companion died earlier this year, and we are serious about acquiring two new purebred kittens.

A family conference has produced a shortlist of breeds but I'd be grateful for any advice members here may be prepared to share about the suitability of these breeds to our circumstances (also listed below). Finally, if we have overlooked any particular breed that strikes you as appropriate for us, I'd love to know, as we are not "locked in".

Circumstances:

- Indoor cats only.

- We have two children, eight and six years old who are gentle with pets, respectful and deserving of a relationship with cats that actually like interacting with children.

- Decent furniture not suitable for over-zealous kneading/scratching: Is this characteristic breed-associated in any way?

- We need to do what we can to ease the transition for our cherished old Persian and this consideration should influence our choice of a companion breed if it's relevant.

- Short hair preferred this time around.

- The house is decent-sized but not huge and therefore not ideal for a stir-crazy cat. However we don't want a feline throw-pillow either!

- Nocturnal howling is also unwelcome and we'd prefer to avoid breeds known for this trait.

The breed shortlist, so far:

Abyssinian
Egyptian Mau
Ocicat
Bengal
Burmese

We are dedicated cat-people and will provide a wonderful home and much social and tactile stimulation for the right pair of kittens. We love the exotic nature of purebred cats and we're inclining towards the more lithe, shorthaired breeds, having owned Persians in the past. However, we do have two children and do not want cats that tend towards excess nervousness around children, aggression or greater than usual aloofness. We'd love to find cats that are social, playful, affectionate and only use their claws and teeth as a last resort. And we welcome the larger breeds, too.

Thank you again for your hospitality and I look forward to some very well-informed responses!

It has been my eperience that Pursians are one of the more docile breeds. That said, just about any breed of kitten, purebred or mixed, will be very active for the first year or two.

Young kittens will likely be upsetting to your older cat, but hard to predict how long it will take for the older cat to adjust or just how upsetting it will be. When you integrate any new pet into a household, you have to do it slowly over time. Pretty much separate the new and old cats for a couple weeks, usually putting the new cat(s) in a room of their own for the two weeks with slow, gradual, supervised introductions. If you drop the new cat(s) in the middle of the living room on day one and "let them figure it out themselves" it usually doesn't go well. The resident cat gets VERY upset and will either be aggressive, or, hide out and potentially not eat, etc... So, very slowly over a couple weeks. You might be lucky and your resident cat embraces the new cat(s), but chances are greater it will be upsetting.

I am not familiar with all the breeds, but all cats have similar tendencies. Most will knead. Scratching is something you'll discourage from the start, so it won't be a problem with kittens and a little training.

From your list, I know Abys are very alert, active, inquisitive, climbers, etc... The rest of the list will likely be active kittens... I know folks with Bengals that live them and share stories of their antics.

Cats are more individual personalities rather than a guaranteed personality based on a certain breed. I currently have two cats from the same litter. One is fairly laid back and sharp as a tack, very smart... The other is hyper-active, dumb as a brick, and meows a lot. LOL. Similar to children in the same family from the same parents -- they can be night and day different in personalities.

I wish you luck. You might have luck calling breeders in your area and meeting parent cats and kittens of breeds you are interested in. You can also visit a shelter and get to know the personalities of the cats there, but you probably won't get a purebred (sometimes you can). Many of us have had wonderful luck with mixed breed cats...
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Tammy
Stanley and Pookey

I just thought of something. We have "breed" boards on the main page. You can select the breeds you like and talk to the folks that have that breed.
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Tammy
Stanley and Pookey

Hi! Welcome to the boards!

I'm from a long line of barn cat rescuers so I don't have much to share however - My brother took a walk on the wild side many years ago by going purebred. The Mau was striken off his short list of breeds because he kept hearing they are very prone to UTIs which of course lead to litterbox problems. (he eventually got two Manx)

The Bengal is a cat I drool over myself but I've heard you have to be at least three generations out before you breed out excessive feral tendencies. And they were so explosively popular over the last decade I'd question whatever breeder I was dealing with very carefully - you always want to buy from a breeder who does it for the love of the breed, not just to make a quick buck.

Head south on the main page and find the aby board - PHAbymom is a great resource (even for a lowly barn cat owner!)

Purrs,
Elizabeth

PS - scratching is all about territorialism - a long slow introduction while the cats figure out who is who will help - and give them lots of vertical space to express haughty one-up-manship amongst themselves without shredding the couch.

This is a fantastic and helpful response, Elizabeth, thank you.

>>The breed shortlist, so far:
>>
>>Abyssinian
>>Egyptian Mau
>>Ocicat
>>Bengal
>>Burmese
>>

HI,

Not trying to be the devil's advocate here, but...Why buying purebred when there are so many mixed breed cats (a lot of them with physicals characteristics that closely resemble pedigreed cats) in desperate need of homes? There are TONS of rescue organizations that actually HAVE purebred cats if you are still thinking about getting the physical characteristics. Two of my cats are what you would consider purebreds, but, they were adopted from a rescue organization.
By the way, all of the breeds on your list are actually considered VERY active cats that may end up upsetting your older resident kitty and causing other problems when not properly entertained, so that is something to keep in mind.
Petfinder.com is a good place to start looking for rescues. You can choose from their search engine according to breed, color, age, etc.
If you are fixed on buying pedigreed kittens, please make sure you get them from a reputable, not a backyard breeder. And give slightly older kittens and young adults a try!

Good luck in your search,

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Bob Daisy Emily