is it just me or.

Hello

Please no one get offended by this but i have been to a few cat shows and every cat seemed to have the same temperment. Laid back extremly friendly docile and usually small in size (Other then maine coons) Like the siamese, and other medium sized short hairs seem so tiny! lol From reading breed descriptions about maine coons or siberians or NFC's, I thought they were meant to be a good outdoor cat with some fire in them? Anyways just my observation hopefully dont offend anyone.

99.9% of the cats you see at cat shows are meant to be INDOOR cats - not outside cats. While they originated outside, doesn't meant they belong outside anymore.

It took many years to develop a quality pedigree cat in those breeds and breeders do not want them back outside to mix with the general population. Why do you think otherwise?

what if someone was looking for a purebred cat with strong prey drive? Its just all the breeds just seemed to be the same temperment wise and none of them seemed to have any spunk. Felt like they were more like stuffed animals. Aren't there people out there that would like to have a purebred cat but still have cat like qualities in them?

Also size wisse are a lot of breeders out there looking to get the small fragile look in most of the breeds?

Just a guess, as I have never bred or shown animals, but the show cats are well trained to tolerate being handled by they judges.

I do foster cats, and can tell you the most firey cat at home, generally curls up and takes a nap when you put them in a cage at Petsmart to try to find them a new home. I would guess the show cats do the same. Yawn, this is one of those weekends where Meowmie shows me off, so I'll catch up on my sleep. Then at home you would see more personality.

I don't know about the size, except if it meets breed standard.

Show cats are laid back because they must get used to being handled by different people and be in a show hall where there is a lot of noise, people milling about and different smells galore! I cannot speak for any other organization other than the one I support, but most of the cats you see at CFA sponsored shows are the smaller, more modern cats in appearance. The Siamese in particular have undergone quite a physical transformation since the late 1950's to early 1960's.

~gf~

Don't discount a pedigree from not having instincts of a outside cat. I know rex breeders who's cats were bred indoors for generations and yet when presented with a few mice in the house they moved into; the cats instincts kicked in and every mouse was caught by them and presented as little presents in the morning.

I had a rex that probably would have killed a small snake if she got the chance. I had a rubber realistic one that she approached as a hunter - from behind and was going for a neck kill. They DO know how to hunt. They may not know its something to eat, but they will hunt and kill if given the chance.