Adopting vs. Buying Pure Breeds

[rosiemac]

I love cats no matter what breed they are or where they came from because at the end of the day they need a home

Some people don't believe in spending thousands of £/$ when it comes to vets fees, but if i have the money then it's up to me if i want to spend it on adopting or buying a pure bred

 

[bella713]

Originally Posted by rosiemac

I love cats no matter what breed they are or where they came from because at the end of the day they need a home

Some people don't believe in spending thousands of £/$ when it comes to vets fees, but if i have the money then it's up to me if i want to spend it on adopting or buying a pure bred

You go girl!!!!

 

[tavia'smom]

very well said Rosiemac

I agree its a personal choice as long as you love your kitty and do what you need to do to give the kitty a good, stable, loving home.

 

[hell603]

Loki came to me via the Bengal Rescue Network - best thing I have ever done!

 

[jenny82]

I've adopted my 2 and will continue to adopt from shelters.

 

[lionessrampant]

I'm going to be the old crumudgeon and say that with the number of animals that die in shelters and on the streets each year (3-4 million in the US- roughly the population of Chicago proper), there is no good reason for selective breeding or the purchase of selectively bred cats to be happening.

Sorry.

There are two things I can't excuse as far as the overpopulation issue goes: allowing for litters to be born of intact animals and selectively breeding. As a rescuer, those things amount to a slap in the face of everything I do.

Again, sorry.

 

[yosemite]

Firstly, I just want to say that I'm so happy there are good breeders out there to continue healthy lines of special breeds of cats. I would seriously hate to see any breeds become extinct or die out because of a lack of interest in pedigree animals. I for one hate to see animals become extinct or need to be bred in captivity to avoid becoming so.

I've always had rescue cats and loved them to bits just as I really love all cats and animals in general. When we lost our Simba, I decided that since I had always dreamed of and wanted a Bluepoint or Lilacpoint Siamese, that now was the time - I NEEDED a cat in my life, I could afford to buy the cat of my dreams and although I never read want ads, for some reason I did that week and there were Siamese kittens for sale. I considered this to be fate.

I have NO guilt feelings whatsoever.

Bijou is, without a lie, the most amazing cat we've ever had. His temperament and disposition are unlike anything we've ever experienced. He has changed my husband's outlook on cats in general to a degree that my daughter and I cannot believe. Now that our daughter has moved back home with Mika (Bijou's full sister), we have found Mika has the same wonderful temperament and disposition as Bijou and my husband now refers to himself as Mika's Opa (grandfather in Dutch). These 2 wonderful creatures have already converted some die-hard Siamese cat "dislikers" into Siamese "likers". One friend has already gone to the breeder and chosen a Red-point or should I say Minou chose him

(I prefer the term Flamepoint but the breeders frown on that name).

It is unlikely that I'll buy another cat from a breeder in my future, but I will adopt from a Siamese Rescue because we are definitely hooked on Siamese.

 

[scamperfarms]

Originally Posted by Malena

I loved your novel. But please keep that dog fenced up. He has obviously noticed you are collecting cats and dogs are often so helpfull.
I would never buy a pure bred cat for the simple reason that other animals keeps moving in.
I think that breeders are important though. They educate first time cat owners and spread the interrest about cats to more people. They increase the status of the cat as a species. They open the market for good cat-insurences and better vetrinary care. More money is invested in veterinary medicine because people owns expencive pets who needs care - and all cats benefit from from the new knowledge.
For most people that first cat opens their hart to cats in general and there will be more cats in their lives. In that way I even think breeders generate more places for cats in need than there would be without them.

She, is kept fenced, she happened to get away from me while on leash and went off and came right back. It was really rather funny when we sat down and thought about it and jade has been a blessing.

 

[lionessrampant]

Originally Posted by Malena

I think that breeders are important though. They educate first time cat owners and spread the interrest about cats to more people. They increase the status of the cat as a species. They open the market for good cat-insurences and better vetrinary care. More money is invested in veterinary medicine because people owns expencive pets who needs care - and all cats benefit from from the new knowledge.
For most people that first cat opens their hart to cats in general and there will be more cats in their lives. In that way I even think breeders generate more places for cats in need than there would be without them.

I don't necessarily agree with this completely. Any good shelter or rescue is going to include an interview and a question and answer period with every adoption. True, there are some shelters, specifically large municpal shelters that depend on tax money, that are in a state of total disrepair. But I don't buy for a second that it's the shelter's fault that conditions are poor and adoptions aren't thorough. When a municipal facilty isn't being run well, it's no one else's fault than the taxpayer's and the government they have elected to represent them. But that is the subject of a different thread entirely.

Anyway, a good shelter or rescue will always take an application and will always sit down with our adopters to discuss the level and nature of the care we expect our cats to be getting in their new homes. We discuss things to look for as far as when to take cats to the vet, we discuss proper nutrition (right now, we're recommending a mostly/all wet diet), we discuss proper socialization and techniques to introduce cats to a home, we also discuss scratching behavior, litter box behavior, and play therapy techniques. We offer our own health insurance for a month.

The mission of a good rescuer is to prove and respect the inherent value of ALL animals, not just the pretty and expensive ones. 99% of my cats' genes are the same as Yosemite's cats' genes. The status of cats as a species are not exclusively dependent on which cats are pretty and fancy and have been created for our "fancy". We're responsible for all of them, least of all the unwanted excess that we've created. So, most o us in rescue really stress two things: adopt, don't buy and SPAY AND NEUTER (which is like the Grand High Exhalted Mysic Ruler of all things important in pet ownsership)