American Shorthairs

[SchrodingerCat]

Hello! I am hoping to be a new cat owner. I love cats. I have helped cat-sit for multiple friends when they were traveling and visited rescues and met many cats there. I had been hoping to get a rescue kitten/cat, however, I feel it's quite difficult to find a cat with the type of temperament I am looking for. I recently visited a cat lounge and rescue and really liked one of their kittens, but she got adopted by someone else on the same day I was there. Most of the other kittens/cats in the rescues I've seen are too shy and I want a confident cat. I have a dog (he's very calm and have no prey drive) and would really like my cat and dog to get along well and be friends. So I am leaning towards getting a kitten from an ethical breeder who socialize the kittens at an early age and breed for temperament. One breed that has attracted me is the American Shorthair. They are supposed to be a pretty healthy breed and their temperaments are sociable, easily trained, and adapt well to other animals and children. I was wondering if anyone has gotten an American Shorthair from a breeder they could recommend? Thanks!

 

[JcatT77]

While I cannot speak about the breed of cat I can say that our 18 month old DSH, Joules, was a farm kitten rescue. We got her as a very young kitten and she and our dog (5years old), are now the best of friends. As I type this they are playing their daily game of tag.
I feel that if you take the time and really introduce the kitten and dog correctly, they will adapt to each other and learn to get along. With any pairing of animals there is always a chance that they will not get along, but with correct introduction and time they should at least learn to tolerate each other.
We had Joules for two weeks before we introduced her to our dog, Bella. Mainly for Joules security and allowing her to adjust to her environment. She was very young when we got her at 6 weeks old. She had been taken from her mama at 4 weeks old, was not cared for properly, and was the runt of the litter. We had to spend lots of time with her individually to help her feel safe, allow her to get to know her surroundings, and build up some confidence. After this, we slowly introduced her to Bella. Bella is an Australian Shepherd…they are a high prey drive dog, but very smart. We just kept telling her to be gentle and never let them alone together for the first month after the initial introduction. They are inseparable now. They sleep together, clean each other, play together, and if Bella goes outside Joules will sit at the door and wait for her to come back inside.
Bella was raised in the house with our other cat, Tigi, but we pretty much had the same process when introducing them. Bella acclimated separately for a couple of weeks and then we slowly introduced them. Tigi tolerates Bella but they are not friends like Joules and Bella.
I wish you the best of luck in finding a new feline friend and hope we get to see some photos of them when you do!

 

[SchrodingerCat]

Aww, your dog and cat snuggling together is so cute That would be my dream for my dog and future cat for them to be best friends. Thanks for sharing your experiences with me about the introduction. I'll share photos if I get my new feline friend