Cat Breeds
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People Ask Me What My Favorite Breed of Cat is…
My answer is always the same… RESCUE! We have seen so many amazing cats on the streets! Below is a list of the breeds that I remember that stand out. I am sure there were probably others.
The various breeds and types we have seen and recognized include the following:
Turkish Van
Russian Blue
Siamese (Flame Point, Seal Point, Lilac Point, and Snowshoe)
Bombay
Main Coon
Norwegian Forest Cat
Max
Himalayan
Persian
Burmese
Calico
Scottish Fold
Angora
Orange Tabby
Tuxedo
Polydactyl
I get the impression that some people think getting a cat involves researching breeds, finding the “breed” that best fits their situation and then going out and finding a breeder that has this breed. This is not necessary. Did you see the list above? This list is compiled from cats we have rescued over the years. Most of these cats were just running loose on the streets or “living” in somebody’s backyard, or perhaps part of an unwanted litter of kittens. We have never shopped for a breed or purchased a cat or kitten from a breeder.
We have paid adoption fees at the Humane Society or other rescues a few times. When we first got started helping with rescues we began by fostering kittens that were to small to get adopted. Occasionally, we would fall in love with one or two and adopt them ourselves. The money we paid goes to helping to care of other rescues.
ALL of our cats have been rescues. They were all amazing, beautiful, and each had their own special personality. Now some of them like Oliver “special” would have to be in quotes, but we still love them all.
Theo was one of the cats in our neighborhood that settled into our backyard. We could tell the whole group had been “fixed” already since they had the ear tip slightly cropped. Since we were pretty full at the time our first option was to keep them well fed, watered, and protected as much as possible, while we tried to engage with them and get them more approachable and friendly. Hopefully, we would be able to get them friendly enough to be adoptable.
Unfortunately, one of our neighbors who clearly had trouble with cats set up some kind of trap. First one cat showed up with an injured foot, and then a few days later another of the cats showed up with the exact same injury on the exact same foot! This was no coincidence! We immediately set up a plan to capture them and at least get them inside and safe.
We were able to live trap 2 of the cats, but the other two were just too smart. My wife Sallie was able to get Simba to walk into a large dog cage on our patio while she was offering treats. Theo was the most difficult. Sallie was finally able to convince him to just walk in through our front door! He did this because he trusted her enough to do so. This was after several weeks of trying everything we could think of to capture him. For now they are part of the family since they are somewhat friendly, but not really “adoptable friendly”.
The takeaway here is that if you are interested in getting a cat or kitten you don’t need to find a breeder or go to a pet store. Check your neighborhood for free kittens or go to a local Humane Society or the local City/County Animal Care and Control. This route not only gets you a great new family member, but you also help to save at least 2 cat lives if not more. If you don’t see what you’re looking for on a visit, just go back the next week or two. Unfortunately, they will have a whole bunch of new cats to check out.
