It's that time of the year again when I've been thinking about introducing a kitten into the animal family.

Having scouted around on a few appropriate websites I have thought about having a part or cross pedigree kitten, something that appeals to me for looks rather than it's "pedigree".    I've responded by email or whatever way the website allows and the response has been unbelivably poor!  Why do people advertise if they don't respond to enquirers?  

I had a lovely Birman X boy lined up and just wanted to make sure that his temperament would be bombproof enough to cope with the initial shock of 4 Munsters, his breeder basically told me to forget it!   I'm trying to be honest here but it looks like I might have to be scant with the truth!   And prices!   £90 for moggie kittens!

So if anyone knows of any good looking kittens raised in a "doggy" environment preferably, please let me know!  I am quite a nice person - honest! :D

Christine 

We have a siamese who we are considering breeding from in the next year, so a while yet!
She lives with 2 staffies and a lurcher, and is fab and obviously if she has kittens hers will be living there too.  Siamese are definitely an acquired taste as she can be a real pain in the arse at times :)

I LOVE Siamese they are so wonderfully wicked.
                                                       Anne

Wicked is one way of describing Chula!  I can think of much worse too! :D

Hi Rachel what type of siamese is yours? Ours is a 10 year old chocolate point, so lovely, but at times sooooo annoyingly noisy! Hoping to get another 1 this christmas, but it's been a real pig trying to find a litter!

I'm in no rush but would this be a Siamese lad you had lined up for her?  One of the ads I answered was for a x bred Siamese who was pure black but had some of the Siamese's refinements, she was gorgeous.....of course no answer from the advertiser by email or phone!

No wonder people get fed up when enquiring to breeders about pups and get no response, then trundle along to the nearest "pet" breeder, I'm beginning to know how they feel!

I got a kitten this year from a friend.  She is fantastic.  She was brought up with 6 dogs, well handled and looks beautiful :-D  She shows no fear of the dogs - in fact the dogs show her fear :-D

How about a local rescue?  If you get one young enough, don't they get used to dogs?  I rescued two a few years ago at 12 months old.  They had never seen a dog before and we had 4 then.  They fitted in really well. 

Helen

You'd be very lucky if you found a cat rescue that would let you have a cat knowing you had dogs.  We have two cats that we got from a rescue centre a couple of years ago now, but we had to omit the fact that we had a dog (we had tried every rescue in the area and none would allow a cat to come to a house with a dog - or in the vicinity of a main road or where there were foxes!!!!!)  Our cats seem very happy and get on quite well with the dog.

With regard to a cross bred kitten, I think that as with puppies, unless you can see papers they could be anything.  I once had a beautiful cat - completely black but I would have sworn she had a lot of siamese in her - but she was just a normal moggie.  One of the cats I have now is very unusual - he is black from a distance, chocolate brown close up with 'almost' tabby markings that disappear depending on how the light catches him, but underneath his dark fur is completely white!  Each hair must be white with a black/brown tip.

Fiona

Sounds like you have a 'smoke' cat then :) Its the other end of the chinchilla spectrum :)  Chinchillas have dark tips to white hairs (cream version is cameo) Shaded silvers are the middle colour :)

Many pet pedigree cats are allowed out and manage to breed with the local moggies before they're neutered ;)

Just had a thought LilyM, it might be worth looking in the cat fanciers magazines, Cat world and Our Cats, they have show reports and adverts for kittens - mostly pedigree but accidents happen in the best cat households ;) and they will have a rehome/rescue list too. You never know, you might find something unusual :D

Good luck

Thanks Dill,

A moan may have paid off :D as I have had a lovely lady contact me with a litter of Manx x British Shorthairs and they do have "aaahhhh" factor!

Christine

Ohh the kitten sounds lovely Lily Munster; I have seen/know a Burmese x British Shorthair and he is the most "scrumcious" cat I have ever seen (apart from my own of course)

Oh he's called "Christopher" because as a kitten he was always off to "explore" new lands ;)
ie Christopher Columbus. :)

Karen

I got one of my cats at cat rescue hewas found with his brother who is also white and sister who was blue laying next to the mother at the side of the road :( anyway we picked him as he was the first to walk up to us hes 17 this year still like a kitten
hes just starting to look a little thin now its a shame when they get old .but hey hes 17 and had a great life on our quite road .
You could try a rescue theres loads of kittens about at the moment

Well Karen,

These kittens are absolutely scrumptious, lovely chunky bone and the sweetest of expressions and a breeder who obviously cares so much about her cats too.

I've got my eye on 2 of them at the moment, a female with a tail and the only tailess one in the litter - Robbie - who's a "Rumpy" and could seemingly be registered as a Manx & looks to be of a good type for showing!

Christine

Karen, I can email piccies of them if you want!   Be prepared to go "aahhh"

Lily do I detect a hint of 'I might try my hand at showing moggies too'? :-) 

Stacey x x x

Ah well Stacey,

You know my motto "Never say never"!  ;)   Successful dogs and then successful cats!!!!  ;)  ;)  ;)

Thanks Dill, that's interesting - I didn't realise there was a breed like that.  i will have to do a search now and find out some more info.

Fiona

Thats ok Alexanders - I used to show cats and also had a few litters of ped kittens :D

Try this link

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/GCCF_CATS/

There's info on the different cat breeds and colours and should have links to breed websites  :)

Sorry Lily, if we breed from her it will be with another Siamese.  If you could send me a pic of the kittens you're looking at that would be great :D

Well alot can happen in 48 hours.

I've had a kitten booked, had it unbooked, found this litter of Manx x Shorthairs, liked one kitten from the litter to discover she was on first refusal to someone else who wants her!   So no kitten again!   HOWEVER, I have found a 17 week old Siamese X kitten, fully innoculated and used to dogs (An added bonus) so she has been booked by me.   She's jet black and not as "pointy" as a Siamese but has more refinement than a moggy.   Now a name!  I like Trinkit, which no-one else does, Liquorice is another suggestion.   Any ideas?

Christine

Kara? - term of endearment and Turkish for black :D

M.

I LOVE Liquorice LilyM.  It is how she will look when she's fully grown.  Very elegant and very glossy black fur :D  Lucky you :D

Trnkit is a fantastic name for a cat. Be bold! :D

When we were picking Chula's name, I looked up traditional siamese and Thai names for ideas.  There are some really lovely ones, I think if you go on babynamenetwork.com you might get some good idead :)

Lorelei,

Not only do you have a fantastic choice in dogs (Your 2nd pick in your top 10!!!) but this is the name I'm going with.  The family who have the kitten at the moment, say that Trinkit suits her right down to the ground.  Inspiration came to me on a dog walk and the twist at the end with it being spelt 'kit' instead of 'ket'!!!

Have to think of something flash now if she gets shown!!

Dill,

With your experience of cats, how do I find out about getting an affix with the GCCF etc.   I'm thinking about buying in a pedigree cat when the one I want is ever born!!!!

Thanks

Christine

LilyM,

If you look on the GCCF site you will find loads of information on buying a kitten, considering breeding and the standards of points for the different cat breeds.  When I looked I couldn't find any info on prefixes/affixes but they may be on one of the Pdf files and I haven't any patience with them so I usually don't bother with them.  If you can't find anything on the web site they can send you information by snail mail/e-mail.  If you are considering buying a kitten with a view to breeding then be absolultely sure to see a current (clear) LEUKAEMIA test certificate for both parents.  No stud cat owner would allow you to take your queen to her stud cat without a clear test certificate and you won't get a clear kitten without clear parents.

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/GCCF_CATS/index.htm

Dill

Thanks  Dill,

I had a look at the site yesterday although I couldn't find an affix form I did find the prices and the fact you have to be a member of a GCCF recognised club to be able to have an affix (Prefix).   I have emailed the GCCF hopefully I'll have a reply today.

Christine

Lily,

Many of the breed clubs will require you to be a member of their club for a year before backing you for an Affix, so if you're keen on a particular breed, join your club now!!

The administrative affixes for the GCCF are used reasonably widely - there are various for each year, depending on variety of cat - and don't seem to be looked down on quite as they are in the dog world.

Marina