Kitten Selection

Dino and I have been discussing what type of kitten we would like to get... I thought I would go ahead and start posting notes and research to help us decide....

First of all, I am not usually into splotches, etc... But I think the Bengal spots (shown here) are kinda kewl.

One other thing we haven't really decided yet... On one hand, we would like our kitty to be an indoor/outdoor cat.. but do to Punky having Feline Leukemia, and that it can be transmitted cat-2-cat... We think that the neighborhood cats (you remember those scroungy ones that always got into fights with him?) probably have it. If so, letting our kitties outside would make them at high risk for leukemia.... The other option is indoor only. If they are going to be indoor only, we are debating getting two from different litters and not having them fixed. Partially because Dino felt bad that Shady seemed to want kitties and couldn't have them. But, realistically, if we are going to purchase Exotic cats, we might as well let them breed and get ourselves a litter down the road :)

Wikipedia has an article about List of Cat Breeds.

Starting with the Bengal above, they are bred to be friendly yet look wild (specifically like an Asian Leopard). The Savannah cat is characterized as a dog in a cat's body. The Serengeti is an attempt to make a cat that looks like the Savannah without using recently wild cat breeds. The Toyger is meant to look like a Tiger. The Cheetoh (to the right) is to look like a Cheetah and is known to be "extremely large size".



Chausie are combinations of domestic cat (usually Abyssinian) with Jungle Cat (or Swamp Lynx).

Surprisingly, with almost no fur and no whiskers, the Sphynx cat is worse for allergy sufferers than normal longer-haired cats, because it does not deposit its fur onto furniture and clothing.

Munchkin Cats are short-legged... Looking around, it appears to be a spontaneous mutation, but there also seems to be a breed based on it.

The Habari cats also look like leopards...


If I had more land, I would prefer something like the one to the left here... but I don't think that is going to happen for awhile.






Here's a snippet from the Austin Zoo:

Wild Cats -- A variety of wild cats have been turned over to the zoo for a number of Tigers are the most purchased cat followed by Cougars, Bobcats and Lions. The Austin zoo is contacted 6 to 10 times each year by an unhappy wild cat keeper.

Many varieties of house cats are large and beautiful. A Maine Coon cat is a very large, durable house cat. This breed of cat has a reputation of being good with children.

Although some breeds of cats have distinguishing colors, many different kinds of cats can have a tabby coloring. In fact, different tabbies are actually similar to the wild cats in their coloring. The classic tabby has dark markings in the form of swirls, sometimes making a bulls eye on the cat's sides. Mackerel tabbies resemble little tigers. There is also a spotted tabby, which resemble a tiny Ocelot. A Lynx Point cat will
have tabby markings on the face, ears, legs and tail. If your favorite is the black panther, there are a large variety of black cats from which to choose.

Many of these cats are homeless and truly need the care and love of a guardian. An adopted cat quickly becomes attached to its new owner. House cats are much easier to care for and much less expensive. Best of all, a grown domestic cat will never look at your friends as a potential meal.

To be continued....