Hello everyone! 
I am a TCS newbie but not a cat newbie. I'm 34 and I've had cats for the majority of my life. Over the years I changed from a kid who just wanted a cat to a husband who is trying to sway my wife from the idea of being a (typical, at least) backyard breeder.
A little about me and my wife that might explain the above: I grew up in the USA where it's easy to find sheltered cats, or even that stray cats can have different appearances. I had and always have had a wide variety of options when it comes to having a cat without spending too much outside of health costs. My first was aptly named "Kitty" and while he was of an unknown breed, we loved to speculate that he was a Russian Blue Persian. Kitty became a loving outdoor cat that eventually had to be put down at 13 years of age due to liver failure.
My next cat was adopted from a local pet store. This cat's name was Miko and was claimed to be a Siamese Persian by the store. We paid $25 for the adoption and was given medical records. We actually had Miko for several years while Kitty was still alive. Miko was an indoor cat, as was my sister's can, a Tortie long hair she named Golden Eyes...because of her golden eyes. At length, these two cats also became outdoor cats. After about 10 years, Miko stopped showing up but Golden Eyes went with my sister when she moved out of the house. GE eventually passed of natural causes.
My sister picked up another cat named Sam, the offspring of her boyfriends' parents cats. Sam was a crazy female and was never fixed. At the same time, I had a roommate and we came across a pair of kittens that we loved so we picked them up and gave them the names Jasper (male) and Jade (female, my cat). Jasper was raised to attack feet and Jade really liked to try to milk from humans. A few months after we picked up the cats, I moved in with my sister, bringing Jade with me. Jade and Sam were somewhat agreeable unless Sam was in heat. Jade never seemed to bother with that nonsense, though. At length, my sister moved out from the apartment and I ended up leaving for the military. At that time, there was nowhere for me to take Jade, so she was taken to a shelter. I really miss her
During my time in the military I was, of course, not allowed to have any pets. So fast forward 4 years and I move in with my mom while attending a local school. My mom loves cats but my stepfather keeps bringing home wounded animals or strays. In their house when I moved in: 1 parrot and 4 dogs. Thanks to my stepfather always falling in love with strays, and thanks to their neighborhood being full of strays, by the time I left a couple years later (off and on, moving here and there), they now have 7 house cats!
This brings me to now. I live in the Philippines with my wife, who has--to my knowledge--never had a cat that wasn't distantly related to the Oriental breed. This is because of the street cats all being that breed, it seems. Actually, this is exactly how I found TCS, as I was curious to see what breed the street cat might be. I searched Google and found a post here that described Pusakal as a distant relative of the Oriental.
My wife really loves flat-faced Persians and she always talks about wanting to breed them to sell to her friends. I always reign in her passions and try to explain things like certified breeding programs, the cost of breeding under any circumstances and the type of lifestyle the cats might need in order to be healthy. Usually I win the arguments because I have the money to buy or not buy a cat... but lately I'm looking into how we can be "ethical breeders" without having a pedigree, because it's incredibly difficult to get pedigree cats in the Philippines in the first place and second it's even more difficult to become a certified breeder. I have recently become more serious about my search for knowledge and what constitutes ethical breeding and how we can best care for our cats/kittens in the future and how to check for legitimate pet owners and find the necessary tools to keep our cats healthy.
And that's a pretty long story about me and my wife and our cats. We have a 7 month old cat which was sold to us as a "pure doll-faced Persian" (and she's gorgeous!) and another 7 month old female sold to us as a "Persian/Himalayan". We just picked up a 1 month old "Persian/Siamese" and we have another Persian (beautiful gray tabby with white belly) on reserve. I told my wife after this, we're going to save our money and buy a properly cared for, certified cat so she can start her own journey of understanding.
In the mean time, our Mimi (the "pure" Persian) is whining, so I ought to go care for her.
Thanks for your time!
I am a TCS newbie but not a cat newbie. I'm 34 and I've had cats for the majority of my life. Over the years I changed from a kid who just wanted a cat to a husband who is trying to sway my wife from the idea of being a (typical, at least) backyard breeder.
A little about me and my wife that might explain the above: I grew up in the USA where it's easy to find sheltered cats, or even that stray cats can have different appearances. I had and always have had a wide variety of options when it comes to having a cat without spending too much outside of health costs. My first was aptly named "Kitty" and while he was of an unknown breed, we loved to speculate that he was a Russian Blue Persian. Kitty became a loving outdoor cat that eventually had to be put down at 13 years of age due to liver failure.
My next cat was adopted from a local pet store. This cat's name was Miko and was claimed to be a Siamese Persian by the store. We paid $25 for the adoption and was given medical records. We actually had Miko for several years while Kitty was still alive. Miko was an indoor cat, as was my sister's can, a Tortie long hair she named Golden Eyes...because of her golden eyes. At length, these two cats also became outdoor cats. After about 10 years, Miko stopped showing up but Golden Eyes went with my sister when she moved out of the house. GE eventually passed of natural causes.
My sister picked up another cat named Sam, the offspring of her boyfriends' parents cats. Sam was a crazy female and was never fixed. At the same time, I had a roommate and we came across a pair of kittens that we loved so we picked them up and gave them the names Jasper (male) and Jade (female, my cat). Jasper was raised to attack feet and Jade really liked to try to milk from humans. A few months after we picked up the cats, I moved in with my sister, bringing Jade with me. Jade and Sam were somewhat agreeable unless Sam was in heat. Jade never seemed to bother with that nonsense, though. At length, my sister moved out from the apartment and I ended up leaving for the military. At that time, there was nowhere for me to take Jade, so she was taken to a shelter. I really miss her
During my time in the military I was, of course, not allowed to have any pets. So fast forward 4 years and I move in with my mom while attending a local school. My mom loves cats but my stepfather keeps bringing home wounded animals or strays. In their house when I moved in: 1 parrot and 4 dogs. Thanks to my stepfather always falling in love with strays, and thanks to their neighborhood being full of strays, by the time I left a couple years later (off and on, moving here and there), they now have 7 house cats!
This brings me to now. I live in the Philippines with my wife, who has--to my knowledge--never had a cat that wasn't distantly related to the Oriental breed. This is because of the street cats all being that breed, it seems. Actually, this is exactly how I found TCS, as I was curious to see what breed the street cat might be. I searched Google and found a post here that described Pusakal as a distant relative of the Oriental.
My wife really loves flat-faced Persians and she always talks about wanting to breed them to sell to her friends. I always reign in her passions and try to explain things like certified breeding programs, the cost of breeding under any circumstances and the type of lifestyle the cats might need in order to be healthy. Usually I win the arguments because I have the money to buy or not buy a cat... but lately I'm looking into how we can be "ethical breeders" without having a pedigree, because it's incredibly difficult to get pedigree cats in the Philippines in the first place and second it's even more difficult to become a certified breeder. I have recently become more serious about my search for knowledge and what constitutes ethical breeding and how we can best care for our cats/kittens in the future and how to check for legitimate pet owners and find the necessary tools to keep our cats healthy.
And that's a pretty long story about me and my wife and our cats. We have a 7 month old cat which was sold to us as a "pure doll-faced Persian" (and she's gorgeous!) and another 7 month old female sold to us as a "Persian/Himalayan". We just picked up a 1 month old "Persian/Siamese" and we have another Persian (beautiful gray tabby with white belly) on reserve. I told my wife after this, we're going to save our money and buy a properly cared for, certified cat so she can start her own journey of understanding.
In the mean time, our Mimi (the "pure" Persian) is whining, so I ought to go care for her.
Thanks for your time!
