Читать книгу The Cat Handbook - Karen Leigh Davis - Страница 22

Many people who consider acquiring a cat as a companion wrestle with the question of whether they should adopt a homeless cat from a shelter or invest in a pedigreed animal whose temperament and appearance are more predictable. To some, this is a real ethical dilemma, given that there are so many unwanted cats destroyed each year simply because there aren’t enough homes to go around for all of them. For every purebred purchased, they reason, a homeless cat loses its chance to be adopted.

Regardless of whether you choose a purebred or a random-bred cat, you are still offering a good home to an animal that can become your valued companion. And aside from the expense of acquisition, the costs of caring for a random-bred versus a purebred cat are virtually the same as far as cat food, veterinary care, and routine vaccinations are concerned.

Ultimately, your choice depends on what you’re really looking for in a cat. Certainly, random-bred cats make just as good companions as purebred felines. Also, the so-called alley cat is much less expensive to acquire. But where mixed-breed cats are purely potluck, purebreds, on the other hand, have a recorded ancestry, called a pedigree. The advantage in knowing a cat’s family history means that certain health factors and other important qualities can be predicted with greater accuracy. In acquiring a kitten with papers, you’ll have a general idea about what he’s going to grow up to look like and about what kind of personality he will possess as an adult.

If your ultimate goal is to show cats, you’ll most certainly want a purebred to register and compete in championship classes. Keep in mind, however, that most major cat shows also have a special household pet category for exhibiting non-pedigreed, random-bred cats. In household pet classes, cats are judged according to their beauty, condition, and personality rather than a written breed standard. Typically, the associations that sponsor household pet divisions require that cats entered in this category be spayed or neutered.

Many cats exhibited in the house-hold pet category have heartwarming stories behind them about being rescued or adopted from shelters. And, no doubt, many seasoned cat show exhibitors got their start showing in this category, learning the rules of the trade along the way.