Hello and a couple questions

Hello, my name is Will. I am a big time cat lover. I just lost my cat, Smokey, late Friday night, but had known for a while it wouldnt be long. She was almost 15 and I had her since I was 6 years old. Its been a tough couple of days but Im trying to just think of the good times and think about getting a new little kitten in the next couple of months and had a couple questions. I wondered which types of cats lived longer, domestic or purebred? Also, which would live longer male or female? Im not looking for any special looking cats, just your average looking joe, but I do want to get a calico colored cat, do you think this will be hard to find? Any info or links you think I might find helpful are greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Will

Your best bet is to wait until after the holidays and then go visit your nearest animal shelter. Most shelters put a freeze on adopting animals during the holidays. But don't go in there with your heart set on a certain color, let the cat click with you when you are there with them.

Yeah, I wouldnt totally base my decision on the color, Id just prefer the calico color.

Welcome Will! Sorry to hear about Smokey . However, I wish you good luck on getting a new kitty.
BTW I did not know that calicos are hard to find. One of my cats is calico color and she is also the oldest of my 3!

welcome Will
Very sorry to hear about your Smokey but good luck with the new cat

Hi Will - welcome and I'm so sorry to hear about Smokey. I do know that cross breeds tend to be less trouble health-wise and should (in theory) live longer than pedigrees, but of course that is not always the case.

Hpe you find that special cat that reaches out to you and says 'take me home with you' very soon.

When you're ready to start looking, why not browse through www.petfinder.com to get an idea of what kitties are in local shelters? You may find one that steals your heart.

I would go with a shelter or rescue kitty, rather than from a breeder. There are a lot of homeless cats and kittens out there who would be thrilled to come home with you!!!

Good luck, and let us know how it goes.

I've never had a purebred cat and probably never will. All three of my current cats came from a shelter and any future cats probably will, too.

Earlier this year, I went "shopping" for a black cat. A large, long-haired tuxedo caught my eye, though and when a little tiny squeak came out of this great big cat, I was a goner! Buddy is a sweet-tempered snuggle-baby and I wouldn't trade him for a dozen solid-black cats.

Go to a shelter and look at all of the cats. One of them is bound to "speak" to you and make a wonderful companion. As for longevity, keeping a cat indoors, spaying/neutering and good feeding will contribute to a cat's long life.

I am so sorry of your loss .

There is really no cat I know of what life longer then a other one . It is just like us humans , no matter what color or size we are , we still don't know who's life is longer and who is not .
I agre with the others on how to look for a kittie . There are also # of rescue groups around . Good luck in finding a new friend for life .

Hi Will, Calicos tend to be female, but will also be hard to find.

I have a friend who just adopted a cat and what she did was pick up the cats that matched her needs (an adult male was what she wanted) and the one that just melted into her like a baby was the one she chose.

My cat Toes chose me. Out of the whole litter he would sleep with me even before I knew I would be able to have him (I visited the house he was born in).

Tailer was chosen because I wanted a female with the same coloring that Toes had. She took a little longer to fit in.

Out of the cats my family has had, females have lived longer, but I've had closer relationships with males (my first cat was a big orange Tom and Toes is a boy too). I had one female who lived to 19, but until she became senile she hated humans.

I would go to shelter and look around and choose a cat that comes up to you and when you hold it that seems to connect to you. I wouldn't worry about pedigree, color, or gender. I got Jefferson that way (he's named after the animal shelter) and he always appreciated being rescued.

Hi will, my heart feels for you, about your kittie cat,I have 2, newman,cosmo. I would be so sad if they were not apart of my life. I do believe when you shop for your cat,to keep an open heart, your new friend just might be around the corner.

Thanks for all the replies. Its been a tough week but being the holidays w/ family over made it a little easier. I will start the search for my new cat pretty soon. Im not so much set on a calico as I was, just so long as the new cat is colored differently than my last kitty. My only real must is that I want a kitty, as young as healthy and best for the kitty to leave its mother. I really dont want to adopt a cat from a shelter w/ a name and everything already associated w/ it, I want to be able to name it and be there for it like I was for Smokey. Thanks again for all the info and responses.

Will

Will:

Many shelter cats are kittens from unwanted litters. One advantage of adopting from a shelter, like the Humane Society, is that testing for many diseases takes place before you adopt. I have heard more stories of people getting kittens with fatal illnesses from "Free to Good Home" kittens. Both of my cats were 12-week old kittens when I got them from the Humane Society. A place like that often spays or neuters and microchips the animals before you bring them home, too.

Will, I'm sorry to hear about Smokey. You definitely can get young kittens from a shelter or rescue organization, and you can name them whatever you want. Most shelters name the animals because just giving them a number would seem heartless, but they certainly don't insist that you stick to that name. Deb has given you several good reasons to adopt from a shelter; I'll see if I can add some more. We always take shelter animals or rescues, and the pets are so happy to have a warm home, good food, toys, and lots of affection and attention that they form very close bonds with their caretakers. Taking in a shelter animal means room in the shelter for another homeless animal starving and freezing out on the streets right this minute. Adopting a shelter animal means you aren't contributing to pet overpopulation by buying from a kitten farm (I don't want to malign serious breeders here) or taking a kitten off the hands of somebody who is too lazy or misguided to have their cat neutered; if they manage to easily find homes for every kitten in this litter, they'll figure they'll have no trouble next time. Please at least consider the idea. It is a misconception that most shelter animals "carry baggage"; the best pets we've had, both dogs and cats, have been from shelters.

Will I have a few from my local shelter and they were all healthy cats , I even change their name to what I like . The shelter test them all for all kinds of sickness and usualy spay/neuter all their animals befor they can go to a new home . Also you can always look at your local shelter and see what they have . If you see one there you can ask them all the question in the world about that cat to get as much info as posible from them . Then you know what the cats reason is that the cat endet up in there and also all the health issue . You don't have to take one there if you don't want to . But saying that I also want to you to be very carefull by getting a cute kitten from some one for free . That kitten may have never seen a vet and may never had any shots in their life and also you don't know if they have aids or feline lukemia . So maybe you want to take that all to your heart and think about .

Tailer had another name when I got her and she was 5 months old, but I changed her name from Polka to Tail and she selected Tailer on her own.

You don't have to keep their names.

Well, just to report in, I picked up the new edition to the family last week. She is fairly young but checked out A ok at the vet. She is very loving and just looks like she will be a good cat. I ended up getting her at the local humane society. She is kinda three colors, a brownish and black tabby on the head which fades to a grey and black tabby towards the back and then a white belly, paws and chin! Ill post some pictures of her later. I hope she is w/ us as long as Smokey was.

Cool bananas Will!!!!! So glad you've found yourself a new feline friend. It'd be great to see pics when you have a moment!!!

So sorry Will to hear about Smokey.

Which ever fur baby you decide on, im sure he/she will be loved.

Good luck, and let us know what you get!.

Susan

Will T-

Congrats on the new addition. Please post a pic when you get one!