Why do "pure" breeds end up in rescues, shelters?

I have been a cat person all my life, but always just had cats abandoned by others, never from a pet store or shelter. Until a year ago, when I did adopt an adult flame point ragdoll from a rescue. He supposedly was taken from a shelter but otherwise no known history where he came from. The rescue does adoptions on a regular basis at area stores, they have a web site, and otherwise appear on the up and up.

My cat had a red eye problem when I got him that the rescue people said was a scratch from other kittens. It would not heal and weeks later I had to pay alot of money for laser surgery, the vet said it was likely herpes.

My question is why breeds like that would ever end up in a shelter or rescue to begin with.

I would like to adopt another cat but am hesitant to look at rescues.

Mine ended up in a rescue due to a breeder closing down. Some rescues rescue from Back yard breeders, hoarders, others from breeders that can't take the cat back upon an owner return... Most work with shelters so when one cat that is believed to be of that breed gets in there, it gets pulled.

That rescue should have been treating that eye. Even a scratch (had it been only that) would have needed vet care - and a decent vet would have recognized it was from an infection. I can see why you'd be hesitant now to adopt another…

Breeds end up in shelters for the same reasons non breeds do. Irresponsible owners, owners that are having some money issues, someone turns out to be allergic, one finds out that cat (and pet care in general) care takes effort, etc. Good breeders will take their kittens and cats back when it doesn't work out for some reason, but people don't always know this. Small breeders just in it for money are less likely to do that and create other problems which contribute to breeds in shelters. (I don't like the term backyard breeders as this is also technically what small in home breeders that only produce a litter a year are called)

Now one other thing you must realize is that many cats labeled a particular breed are not. Many shelters label cats based on some of physical traits, such as any pointed cat being labeled a siamese or a long hair being a maine coon or ragdoll. These cats may have some of these breeds in them, but aren't pure bred and are more likely to have the same history that other non breeds in a shelter have.


… wow, I had a lot of errors with the site trying to post this.

A lot of cats are being turned into my shelter because of the economy. People lose their homes to foreclosure and have to move in with others or to an apartment that won't allow them to take their cats (or dogs). It's heartbreaking. Some of these animals are purebreds.

And I agree that shelters and rescues will say that an animal is a breed, when they have no proof (and don't even want to offer proof) to try to "sell" them to potential adopters. My shelter doesn't do this, exactly. The most they will do is say that a cat is a Persian "type" or appears to be a Norweigian Forest Cat. The exotic looking cats usually don't stay in the shelter long. Most are adopted within a week or two.

The ones that just kill me are the cats who are 6, 10, 12, 14 years old and people bring them to the shelter because of economic problems. Or someone moves in (maybe because of the economy) and is allergic to the pet. Or an elderly person who goes into a nursing home, or dies, and the family brings in their animals. And if the cats are black, they probably will live the rest of their lives in the shelter. This happens with other colors, too. I always think these cats (and dogs) must be so bewildered as to why they no longer are home with their people. It's so sad.




Robin

The purest breed we've ever gotten at our shelter was a true wedge-head Siamese. He came in because his owner's girlfriend move in with him, and her cat didn't get along with Ramses. Eventually, although the cat was accepted by a rescue, he died from system damage from being bullied into not eating for quite a while.

We had a 14-year-old Persian in because his owner died and none of the kids would take him. I think that may well be the most common reason.

And, unbelievably, some are picked up as strays. Who would let an expensive cat outdoors? I assume some are accidental escapees, but still...

Originally Posted by bastetservant

Or an elderly person who goes into a nursing home, or dies, and the family brings in their animals. And if the cats are black, they probably will live the rest of their lives in the shelter.

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I suspect my black girl cat Siri was previously owned by a person that went into a nursing home the same week we moved in. She didn't like being outside and acts like she was an only cat (plus was spay and a few years old). With no shelter here and a token rescue group that doesn't really like to bother with cats, she was turned outside and left to fend for herself.

I also have a neighbor that has two ragdoll looks alikes and what appears to be a persian (poorly bred, though). All neutered and front declawed, all are also let outside.

Originally Posted by strange_wings

(I don't like the term backyard breeders as this is also technically what small in home breeders that only produce a litter a year are called)

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Not sure where you're getting that definition from.

Breeders also don't 'close down' they retire, and decent breeders either keep their retirees or adopt them out not send them off to a rescue.

Many breeders make it very clear they are to be contacted to assist in rehoming or take back the cat should the owners be unable to care for the cat, no questions asked. Owners sometimes ignore that so kitty ends up in a shelter.
There is also the already mentioned issue of shelters labelling cats are purebreds when they are not.

Originally Posted by missymotus

Breeders also don't 'close down' they retire, and decent breeders either keep their retirees or adopt them out not send them off to a rescue.

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If you want to use the terminology "retire", sure, you can. But there have some breeders that did close down due to the economy, and that was not retiring by choice exactly. As you know, breeding is expensive, and a lot of people are hurting now as a LOT of people no longer have jobs to support this expensive "hobby".
The rescue I took mine from got 2 close downs last year alone, Bugsy came from another. Call them what you may, but the bottom line is people are suffering here in the US - the economy is not what used to be, and things are happening that are out of the ordinary. When you are being evicted, or foreclosured, about to become homeless, well.... you just might look into releasing your cats to a rescue you trust.

Originally Posted by bastetservant

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The ones that just kill me are the cats who are 6, 10, 12, 14 years old and people bring them to the shelter because of economic problems. Or someone moves in (maybe because of the economy) and is allergic to the pet. Or an elderly person who goes into a nursing home, or dies, and the family brings in their animals. And if the cats are black, they probably will live the rest of their lives in the shelter. This happens with other colors, too. I always think these cats (and dogs) must be so bewildered as to why they no longer are home with their people. It's so sad.

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This is how I got my senior girl their owner had to go into Long Term Care and couldn't bring them with them. The daughter has allgeries and couldn't take them. I feel like Missy (the girl I have left) is happy to have someone to love her, pet her, and feed her, while she sleeps most of the day away and is always so happy to see me.

I feel like it was fate for me to come along and find these girls. Now I just need to get all 3 of the girls to get along

Bless you for taking Missy. I won't be getting any "new" cats anymore other than seniors. At least that's my intention.

Getting your 3 girls to get along can take some time. I'm working on integrating my 5th cat for the last 4 months, now. It's going very slow.

And the other 4 don't get along so well all the time, every day either.

Sigh.

Robin

Thanks for the replies.

It so happens the cat I had previously was black. He lived almost 19 years.

I never even thought about the cats not being the named breed, funnily enough. And it really doesn't matter about papers to me. I really just like knowing what happened to a cat.

The one i have sure looks like what he supposd to be and his colors have evolved. I just thought he would be good with my young son.

We would definitely like to see photos of your cats!

Kittens, especially nice ones, rarely have a hard time getting adopted. It's the seniors who kill us at the shelter, and far too many of them go to that awful room in the back.

But there are any number of sweet ones.

Sheba, who I adopted for my brother.



Jojo, who came in with Sheba. He was eventually adopted by a couple who had two just like him.

Originally Posted by strange_wings

(I don't like the term backyard breeders as this is also technically what small in home breeders that only produce a litter a year are called)

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Apparently I'm a backyard breeder then. Or at least becoming one.. I have my cats in my home, not caged anywhere, they are living here as my fur kids, not just as breeding and showing objects. This is what most northern country-catteries are like, small family catteries. All of my cats are from conditions like these except for Luna (german import) whose breeder sells their retired cats, but even they have kept their first breeders as neutered pets.
Over here backyard breeders are those who make a living out of their breeding (it's very very hard to do it properly/ethically unless you're a millionaire, you would have to build a proper house for the males or queens if you have lots of them, the weather is not suitable for large scale kitty business as you can't just build a random enclosure or shed in your yard for them), or the ones making random breed mixes and asking a lots of money of the kittens (which usually have never seen a vet). And of course those who breed cats and claim them to be purebred whatevers but have no intention of registering the kittens and the parents aren't usually registered either.


We don't have any 'purebred' rescues here. (Not sure if Sweden or Norway has?) I've never heard of an actual purebred ending up in a shelter here unless it had escaped and later returned to it's owner through the shelter (most purebreds are microchipped here). The shelters here don't advertise the cats as 'breed x or breed y', but the people adopting the cats usually make up stuff like "this one must be a half-norwegian forest cat because he has long hair, this one is definitely part russian blue because she's blue, I want her!". If the cat is a colorpoint, you can be sure it's a mixed breed, we don't have the colorpoint gene in our native wild cats of this country.

No, a backyard breeder is someone who doesn't do health testing or showing. They breed for money or because they like the cats/breed or just want to have kittens from Fluffy. They often breed randomly with no regard to breed standard or improving the breed/health. They sometimes don't s/n the kittens or have any s/n contract either (although they may to avoid future competition with their breeding operation.)


If you want to see some reasons why purebred end up in shelters/rescue, check out this site. They list a lot of the stories for the cats:
http://www.purebredcatrescue.org/ava...for-adoption-2

Originally Posted by bastetservant

The ones that just kill me are the cats who are 6, 10, 12, 14 years old and people bring them to the shelter because of economic problems... And if the cats are black, they probably will live the rest of their lives in the shelter. This happens with other colors, too. I always think these cats (and dogs) must be so bewildered as to why they no longer are home with their people. It's so sad.

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In my one year on TCS, I've learned so many things that break my heart. I know that superstition prevents many black cats from being adopted, but I had no idea so many were passed over. I just read an article from 2008 that cited a study showing that "adoption rates over nine months in a California pound found that black cats were about half as likely to be adopted as tabby cats and two-thirds less likely than white cats."

I was one of those people who passed up a black kitty in favor of a tabby. Had I known what I know now....

When I'm ready to adopt again, I think I will look for a black adult cat deemed "unadoptable." No cat deserves to be turned away just because of its color. They're all a bundle of cuteness anyways.

I always tell people at the shelter that if they adopt a black cat, they are almost certainly saving a life.

If you've read "Homer's Odyssey" about a little blind black cat, you may recall the incident of a visitor actually bullying the poor cat into a corner and scaring it just because it was black.

I will post pics when I figure out how to do that. I looked at the FAQ but was not able to find the right things in order to attach.

I prefer the term 'hobby breeder' to refer to those of us who run small, in-house programs for the pleasure of preserving and promoting the breed of our

No hobby breeder I know would ever call themselves a 'backyard breeder.' The latter phrase has too many negative connotations that are in complete opposition to what we are trying accomplish as the good stewards of our breeds.

No one would call himself a "backyard breeder," just as no one would refer to himself as a "slumlord." Some terms are accurate and descriptive without being favored by those who it might apply to.

The term does have very negative connotations. The worst problem we have in this area is backyard pit bull breeders.

Originally Posted by mrblanche

No one would call himself a "backyard breeder," just as no one would refer to himself as a "slumlord." Some terms are accurate and descriptive without being favored by those who it might apply to.

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Of course, the way it was used in this thread is quite incorrect though...not at all accurate. Post #14 gives an excellent description of a BYB, and that does not apply to the active breeders on this site..all of whom are registered, test their cats, show, live in the home with their cats as pets etc etc