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If you are wondering what is the right cat for you, this is the place to be. In this introductory forum we talk about topics such as breed vs. mix, size, age, grooming, breeders, shelters, rescues as well as requirements for exercise, space and care. No question is too silly here. This particular forum is for getting and giving helpful, nice advice. It is definitely not a forum for criticizing someone else's opinion, knowledge or advice. This forum is all about purring and learning.
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Leila
Waiting to- become a mother- again!
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 | | Purred: Wed Jun 3, '09 11:24am PST | |  | |  | | Also...regarding the cat overpopulation problem...it has almost nothing to do with purebred cats. The problem is with ferals, "loosely owned" cats, and people who just don't bother to get Fluffy and Tigger fixed. The purebred cat population in the U.S. is estimated at less than 5%; and most breeders nowadays sell cats that are already desexed, or refuse to hand over the pedigree until the new owner proves that the cat has been spayed/neutered. If you pay close to $1000 for a purebred cat, you're unlikely to let it roam the neighborhood in an intact state, risking cat fights, FIV, FeLV, and unwanted pregnancies by Mr. Tabby next door.
Cat overpopulation is a big topic on Catster. Many Catster members are vet techs or volunteers in shelters (and, I suspect, some actual vets as well). If these people say that there is a cat overpopulation problem, then it must be true. Certainly an obscene number of cats get euthanized every day at shelters (the same goes for Japan, which is still rather behind the times in that most shelters are kill-kill shelters--find Fluffy within three days, or she gets gassed to death).
However...there is a curious dearth of information regarding cat overpopulation and euthanization on the Internet. I'm referring to actual statistics here. I haven't spent hours researching this, but the single site that I've found that actually gave numerical statistics said that the spay/neuter movement in the U.S. only got moving in the 1970's, and that since then, the cat overpopulation situation has improved, and the number of euthanized cats has decreased.
What I want is facts. I'm willing to believe whatever is supported by actual data, but, as I have written above, there is a curious lack of such data available on the Internet. Cries about the fate of homeless/soon to be euthanized kitties are rampant, but we would like to know the actual numerical statistics regarding kitty overpopulation now and in the past. Not that we want to deny the veracity of these statistics--we are seriously concerned about this problem, but at the same time, we wonder if the situation might have actually improved since the past. Without numerical data, we are unable to judge the problem in a logical way.
Personally, I suspect that in the days before spay/neuter became the norm, when Fluffy had a litter, one or two kittens would be left behind, and in the dead of night, Daddy would put the other kittens in a sack and throw it in the nearest body of water. That was the solution to cat overpopulation in the "good old days." Now we have shelters that are filled to the gills with cats who need homes, but that's partly because Daddy is not so sanguine about killing kittens as in the past. (Check out Robert Lowell's biography; when he divorced Jean Stafford, he put their three red tabbies in a sack and drowned them in a lake. I have a personal reason for disliking Robert Lowell--he ruined the life of a friend of mine--but I think his way of disposing of the kittens was not so unusual for the time.)
Breeders--at the very least hobby breeders--are the smallest contributors to the cat overpopulation problem. Ferals, loosely owned cats, cats whose owners just never getting around to "fixing" Fluffy or Tigger--these kinds of cats are the ones who end up in shelters. What to do? Feral colonies have their proponents; TNR is about the only thing you can do for them. Loosely owned cats? If Fluffy comes to your door every day at mealtime, you should take the responsibility to desex her--and Tigger too. As for people who have kitties at home that they've never gotten around to fix (whether because of money problems or the idea that desexing a cat is "unnatural"), they should be educated and led to cheap spay/neuter options.
I continue to want actual statistics about cat overpopulation. I don't doubt that it exists, but I'm curious about how it was dealt with in the past, and things like the number of homeless cats in the States. As a conclusion, however, I can guarantee that the breeding of pedigreed cats has practically NO influence on cat overpopulation. Rather than criticizing breeders, a truly concerned cat lover should find ways to decrease feral colonies, convince people that loosely owned cats are potential fodder for shelters and should therefore take measures to make sure that that does not happen, and also--perhaps the most important point--convince people with limited economic means that they should and and can get their cats desexed cheaply and easily. |  |  | |  |
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Spike
Tubby tabby- LOVE!
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| | Purred: Wed Jun 3, '09 10:49pm PST | | | | | | Also--and this is way off topic--there's a curious lack of information regarding the history of cat food. We hear all the time that cats are "obligate carnivores," and that "in the wild" their dietary needs are met by a diet of rodents, but cats have been domesticated for thousands of years, and while some kitties still hunt and kill small animals and birds, let's face it, there are very few felines who live "in the wild" and subsist solely on living prey. Even ferals (at least the ones in cities) will search through garbage cans and eat whatever's there. I'm not saying that this is healthy, mind you, but rather than starve to death, cats will eat things like bread and rice--obviously, they haven't been informed that they are obligate carnivores.
Again, I did a rather half-hearted Internet search regarding the history of cat food, and didn't come up with much information. There's an interesting site out there regarding the history of dog kibble, which is related, but not much on the history of cat food. One thing I did learn, however, was that there was a period when cats were regularly fed horse meat (and you can bet that the meat came from horses who had died from illness or simple old age), but at some point, people started to consider feeding Mr. Ed to Fluffy to be disgusting (horses are noble creatures and all that), and this was one of the reasons why cat food was eventually developed (note that there are, to my knowledge, no horsemeat cat foods on the market).
In conclusion, I suspect that cats, who have lived with humans for thousands of years both as companion animals and as a convenient way to get rid of rodents, have been eating things like table scraps (which would include things like bread and vegetables) along with rodents and birds. The phrase "cats in the wild" just doesn't make sense to me, unless you're referring to a feral cat colony out in the middle of nowhere.
Does this mean that I am opposed to a raw diet, or to premium foods? Of course not. I have the feeling that cats are eating better now than ever before. But until I have some concrete data, I will continue to doubt that, until very recently, there were "cats in the wild" who were exclusively feeding on small animals. Cats are companion animals; aside from ferals and strays, how many cats haved lived "in the wild" for the past thousands of years?
Anyone with actual statistics or a concrete knowledge of the history of cat food is more than welcome to answer my queries. | | | | |
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♥- Suey- ♥
Loved
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| | Purred: Thu Jun 4, '09 8:50pm PST | | | | | | Hi Harvey 
The only stats I've seen that I am inclined to take seriously are from Best Friends Animal Society. They say that 20 years ago, 17 million animals were being killed in shelters, compared to 4 million today. Unfortunately, they didn't have a source for it, but from what I know of them, I am inclined to see it as relatively trustworthy. http://www.bestfriends.org/nomorehomelesspets/realistic.cfm | | | | |
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♥- Suey- ♥
Loved
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| | Purred: Thu Jun 4, '09 8:55pm PST | | | | | | I was having a look around the Best Friends site, and those stats are attributed to Animal Planet on another page. They also put US neutering rates at 65% for dogs and 85% for cats.
I would imagine that the increasing use of early spay/neuter has had an impact. No kitten or pup leaves my shelter before they've been snipped, which for cats is done when they've reached 1 kilogram (roughly 2 pounds). If those same kittens were being done at 6 months like they used to be, I'd imagine there would be a number of oops litters in there, as well as the litters from people who couldn't or wouldn't get them done. | | | | |
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koochi
play till you- cant play no- more!!! x |
| | Purred: Sat Jun 6, '09 1:59pm PST | | | | | | i think it is up to the owner as to what cat they get, if they want a cat that looks nice or if they want it for its temperment which is easier to assess in a pedigree, then let them get one. as with dog breeds every breed of cat has a different personality and temperment so if you want a lap cat then why not get a cat breed that likes sitting on your knee? there is nothing wrong with buying a pedigree cat if thats what you want. it is at the end of the day personal preference and as long as that cat is looked after and loved .i bought a high priced pedigree kitten because he suited my needs, ticked all the right boxes and looks lovely, i took ages finding the right breeder and i know my kitten was bred with love, my adult on the other hand is a rescue retired breeding queen and shes a pedigree.you can rescue pedigrees also, and these are alot cheaper. i also have had a rescued cat in the past that i found in my shed she only had a few years left in her ,boy did she have the best years of her life at my house. so folks get whatever cat suits your needs | | | | |
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