Why did you choose

[Kazz]

Why did you choose the breed of cat you have or why did you choose a Moggie.
Or why did you change from Moggie to pedigree or pedigree o Moggie???

[random]

I chose to have a meezer because I have wanted one since I was about 6 or 7! My Auntie had 2 girls and bred one of them, Sophie, but my mum wouldn't let us have a kitten as we had a rather dominant lad (moggy) at the time. Ever since then it has been my dream to have one of my own. I knew all about them from such an early age but later on my parents didn't feel that amount of money was appropriate to buy an animal.

I got my moggies because, plain and simply, i'm a sucker for a sob story! I would have had 4 meezers but the mogs 'needed' somewhere. Vitaani was being kept in a small dog crate as the woman who got her had another cat and a dog that didn't like her and she had her in this cage for 2 weeks. I was expecting a much bigger kitty when I went to get her, I had assumed the lady got her at 8 weeks as the norm so she must have been about 10 weeks, but in reality she looked to be about 6 weeks maximum to me, so the lady must have had her from about 4 weeks. :shock: :( She's turned out fine though, but she is a very small cat.

Tucker I got with his sister Nipper as a stray mum had decided to give birth in one of my friend's barns. She kept mum but was desperately seeking homes for these babies, the rest of the litter went to friends of hers too, but she hadn't a clue about cats before this event so I gave her a lot of advice and helped her with socialising the babies and weaning them. She'd never owned a cat before and now she dotes on her little girl, it's like it was fate, lovely!

[dandysmom]

Well, I grew up with a ginger moggy, but as a girl enjoyed a series of books about an husband and wife team of detectives who had a very clever Siamese; so when I was able to get a cat of my own. went for one. When he died, I got the Aby simply because I'd admired the kittens in the neighborhood pet shop (didn't know back then about backyard breeders and that pet shops weren't the ideal way to get a cat, but Sultan was healthy, well socialized and a very regal cat.) Then Misty, a blue torbie, adopted me. After Sultan died too young, I went for a Singapura simply because I'd read about them in Cats magazine and thought they were a lovely breed; then adopted Patches, a brindled tortie, because she needed a home. And a friend who knew Misty found Leia for me as she knew I'd like another blue torbie; they aren't what you call common.
So, it wasn't actually a decision to go from moggy to pedigreed and back to moggy; it was just sort of the way it happened. I love them both equally.

[sammy]

I've never had (or wanted) pedigree cats, although having now had experience of x-maine coons, that's what I would go for if I ever do go for pedigrees (maine coons that is!)...

Quite honestly though, I'm quite happy with moggies. I may be wrong, but I think on the whole they tend not to suffer so many illnesses, and I can't see why I should go for anything else if I'm not showing.

All our moggies have been rescue cats and all of them have actually chosen us - this is particularly true of Purdie who we recently homed from the RSPCA. We wanted a tabby, but she (black and white) leapt into my arms purring and that was it! Much as we'd have liked a tabby, Purdie is an absolute delight and I couldn't be happier that she chose us! :-D

[Grete]

Long answer :

I've had cats since I was about 7 in varying numbers up to 4 at a time. The first cat I fell in love with was a dainty tabby called Suki that I begged my parents to take on when her owners needed to rehome her as they were being posted abroad (I was an army brat).

Several years later we had moved away from the army and a very timid little girl started to creep in through the cat flap and take some of Suki's food. She was horribly thin and her coat was in an awful state and again I begged my parents to take her in so started the process of getting her to trust us. We wormed and gave her a flea treatment when she'd let us and she gained weight, turning into a gorgeous semi-longhaired tortoiseshell (I cleverly named her Tortie). She'd been beaten, her tail broken and also had a spinal fracture that had just been left to heal so it's no wonder she didn't want to trust us at first.

Then my mum got Bubbles the first and Squeak - the first cats we'd actually sought to get and they were just a bundle of mischief until Bubbles fell ill with Feline Leukaemia and had to be PTS to stop her suffering.

Suki and Tortie were by this time very elderly and the month after Bubbles went to the rainbow bridge, Suki went into Renal failure and was also eased from this world. Tortie followed her within the month - took her final sleep in a neighbours garden.

I wouldn't say they had all been great friends but they were affectionate with each other and were all comfortable being around one another.

I left home around this time and took in two beautiful boys from the RSPCA - Ollie was a long haired fluffball that was ginger and white and his brother Hardy was the same colour but short haired.

I got cat broody again and bought 2 kittens from an advert in a paper (something I won't do again but I didn't know any better at that point) and Camikazi (Cami) and Harlequin (Quinnie) joined my brood.

When I split with my boyfriend, I couldn't take them with me and as I mentioned before, I ran out of time before I got settled and could get them. Ollie and Hardy went to a good friend of mine and the two youngsters went to the RSPCA. I still think about them and wonder how their lives have been.

Squeak then came to me when my mum needed to rehome her and then along came Bubbles and I have already told you their stories :)

I desperately want another cat now as a companion to Bubbles and it will be a moggy again. Too many precious kitties need the love I have to give.

Wow, sorry, I didn't mean to write such a long post :roll:

I guess the short answer there is : Moggies ;)

[dandysmom]

What a good thread! It's so interesting to hear the stories of our cats and why/how we got them......

[Donna]

I wanted a cat, but never really looked into it. Didnt go for a pedigree because of the cost and also, as was new to cats, didnt know what breed I would want if it was a pedigree!!!

Glad I got the moggies and wouldnt change them for anything!

[borderdawn]

We always had a Cat, first one before I was born, always rescue moggies, my first real recolection was a deaf, white Cat from the then CPL 34yrs ago! Since then I have had moggies, Jessie from our Vets and Scooter from the CP, but decided about 15yrs ago Id like a long haired Cat aswell and visited a few shows, I LOVED the Persians, so I had Schnapps after around 6mths of searching. I then had a blue one, who was my sisters cat, due to her circumstances, she couldnt keep him, so we had him.

Next Cat was "Jazz" Burmese cross Persian, fabulous animal, from a very dodgy so-called breeder who I came into contact with whilst doing rescue (dogs) anyway he was wonderful. Sadly he got killed at 9yrs, and my first ever to get killed in an RTA.

His replacement was the magnificent "Darcy" another CP rescue, he was from a semi-feral mother and a probable feral male. Lovely lovely Cat but just couldnt keep him in, he was awful for screaming to get out. he would go across the main road to the golf course, some distance away, the road being a good few minutes walk from my house, which is off the smaller road, then that in turn leads to the busier road. He would just sit watching the hedges, and it was inevitable he would be hit, coming home one day he was. I couldnt face that again, it was dreadful.

Enter the British Shorthair. Laid back, pretty useless and a "cant be bovvered" attitude, very cuddly and simply wonderful! I cant want for anything else in a Cat, the fencing that couldnt confine Darcy is more than adequate, they never even put paws on it to attempt to jump, whereas Darcy was scaling a brick wall some 8ft or so high on our neighbours extension to get out.

The BSH are everything I want in a Cat, I cant see me with anything else now, except another rescue moggy.

[Darky]

I grew up with a moggy, a persian/tabby cross - she and her brother were the result of an unwanted litter from people who bred pedigree persians. No choice in the matter, I wasn't even supposed to have a cat, but I was blessed with her.

She had tabby/moggy kittens, so our cat Spike is a big tabby with a teensy bit of persian in his face.

When it came to actually choosing a cat, I just didn't care what kind it was, I just needed a cat to fill the loss of Tiger - I can never happily live without a cat close to me. I fell in love with a Devon Rex who was lovely, and the rescue place I went to tried to bond me with a load of cats before suddenly going - "Oh. None of these cats are suitable to go with a dog." Thanks for telling me that after making me hopeful, even though it was clearly written on the form we gave you and we mentioned it to you several times. Then again, this was the place that advertised kitten season like a day before I visited, claiming to have dozens of kittens, yet not a single one when I got there.

I was willing to pay £110 to rescue a kitten from there, or £85 for an adult cat. Bloody expensive, but there y'go.

But then my parents found a farm selling kittens for £20-30 (can't remember exactly) each, and as it would go towards their upkeep of the farm, they decided to reserve a kitten for me.

And so, I got Honey, my little black and white, semi-longhaired moggy. I personally think that moggies and purebred cats are fantastic alike, because they're all unique regardless of breed anyway.

[Kazz]

I'll add my story to this then.

When I was a girl my Dad rescued a lovely long haired cat who became as so gentle, I remember her being so nervous when she came she had had a litter of kittens and the chap was happily drowning them when Dad was cleaning the windows, the mother cat was calling and crying for them he'd locked her in a shed. Dad (hard man he is) broke and said he wanted a couple of kittens for his children and would the chap consider keeping two if Dad did his windows for free till he collected the kittens

The chap said Yeap no problem but there was only one left out of 7 kittens :( Dad went to look and there were 6bodies in a bucket and one in the chaps hand a ginger kitten the chap returned the ginger kitten to the Mother cat and she Dad said Purred like a train, he felt so sorry for her he took a bottle of milk and bits of the Sunday jointto supplement her food till the kitten was old enough, when the kit was about 5 weeks old the chap asked if he was taking the kitten as he wanted rid of the cat. Dad brought both home. Smokey as she became was an old cat we think now. She was spayed, and became the most loving cat ever, although she never came in the house. She just looked in the door the whole prospect scared the life out of her she lived happily in the shed, heating was set up for her. Her kitten a lovely ginger an dbit of white Tom called Tiger had no such worries everywhere was his domain His Mom died when he was 3 or 4 and Tiger died when he was about
6/7 (he just went to sleep and the following morning he was dead) My Dad said of a broken heart he missed his Mom. Never got another cat.
Tiger was obsessed with Dad's window leathers. :)

Left home and got Archie a black and white kitten he was run over and killed at about 9months. Then the vet phoned about resciue kittens and Oscar and Cleo came into my life for the next 24ish years.

So for me its moggies I do like Siamese and BSH's but can't see me with anything but Moggies.
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[MrsH]

I've only ever had moggies and the same with other cat owners in my immediate circle. I'd simply never considered a pedigree, possibly because of cost but mainly because they'd never been on my "radar" as it were. Some of the pedigree cats out there do not appeal to me in terms of their looks, but Ragdolls, however, look gorgeous! I'd have one in a shot if I were looking for another cat.

[Luke]

Born into cats!
Had a blue persian girly here, bit of an old lass, when i was born..she was an ex breeding queen that my parents had from..i'm not sure where tbh! We then had numerous moggies to follow, usually aquired from farms or stables local to some deranged relative who shared the story of 'Oh you'll never guess theres these kittens up.." and then they would turn up.
Had a little siam girl for a brief period, she died very young..she had a finicky bond with a persian x we had, when she passed away the little siam girl just gave in..died in her sleep one day.
We didn't have cats for a while..then came Clementine,followed by Elsa, and then Bella.
We had a few cats of aquired pedigree or crosses who we took care of/fostered [apparently..i just remember them being there!] when growing up too.
I would love a siam,or colourpoint BSH or big Maine Coon. But really..i think I could only ever see myself with moggies, something about their robust take everything in their stride character that appeals too me:)

[CathyW]

my boys chose me, they where the only 2 left in the litter, and i fell in love with both of them :)

[Hreow]

I've been minder and feeder to a long line of moggies, rescues and strays. All loved, all characters and all well remembered. When my better half (who is a dog person) arranged for me to have a cat he wanted a kitten because they're playful (so are grown cats...) and had a preference for a male kitten. I've not actually had a cat from kittenhood before, so it seemed a good idea to get a kitten with a known past. Not that I would worry about a problem kitten, I've dealt with problem adults, but to not combine first kitten, first feline and problems. Not the best way of encouraging better half to like cats when he's suspicious to begin with. ^^

After a year of research into breeds, breeders and blood-lines, I'd found the perfect "donor" family and his nibs has been the perfect cat for both of us. Clever, playful and a softie. Clever enough to tell us and our different approaches apart and to hug my mum when she visits (which brings happy tears to her eyes, cat-person that she is). Playful enough to be a joy to be with and to go on adventures with, and soft enough to really feel a part of the family, not an aloof and exacting despot.

Next cat, when Rover decides that he's tired of us in thirty years or so, will be a grown cat, a rescue and a moggie. I will be too old to guarantee a good forever-home to a kitten by then, and will probably have the time to need a challenge of a cat that I can make a difference to. (And better half is now trained to deal with lap-sitting, slimy-nose rubs and cat-hair everywhere. :D)

[babycakes]

The first cats we had were dumped on our doorstep in a plastic bag, wrapped in a blanket. They were about a day old and they still had their eyes closed. I was twelve. one ginger and white (aptly named Ginge) and one tabby called Tiger (or baby). We nursed them, we fed them with pipettes of milk from the vet, we taught them to wee... and we could fit them both in one hand. ;)
When Ginge was about 4 he was on the front step and a guy slipped his Irish wolfhounds lead and Ginge was mauled. It was touch and go and eventually we were allowed to bring him home Tiger wouldn't go near him and howled continually. Ginge died 2 days later of jaundice. :cry:
We took Fluffy, black and white long hair, out of next doors garden as they weren't looking after it. He was killed by an ice cream van whist chasing the plastic bit of the end of a ciggy packet (something dad taught him to do):(
Along came Tinkerballs. A big tom with big pom poms!! I knocked on every house in the neighbourhood to see if he was lost in the end he stayed. He was shortened to Tinker when the pom poms came off!! He had a kink in his tail and wouldn't let you touch his back. He went out on bin nights and ripped everyone's bags open (as though he had never been fed) and spent the next day vomitting!! We found him curled up dead in next door's garden, had blood round his mouth, we think he was knocked over. :(
Tiger lived til he was 18, he had a tumour in his tummy which couldn't be operated on due to his age and he had kidney trouble too. He was my baby, he collapsed in the garden one day and we took him to be PTS and he died in my arms. :cry: I cried and cried and cried (and I'm crying now writing this cos I still miss him so much).
I got Denis whilst trawling rescue centres looking for THE cat. when I was told he was feral I knew not many people would want him and he snuggled into my top when I picked him up. I knew he was coming home. :lol: He was hard work to start with but wouldn't swap him at all ;)

So always had moggies probably always will. If I was to have a pedigree it would be a British blue.

[Rosie]

Rosie (10 years) came to me when her foster mum had a foster dog coming in and asked whether I could look after Rosie for a couple of days - that was 10 years ago!

Alfie (1year) was part of a litter which were born to a friend of a friend's moggie. He was born grey and I had always wanted a grey cat and swore I would never have another unless it was grey (how shallow is that). Anyway I said I would have Alfie who is now jet black! Fate teaching me a lesson. I love him to bits no matter what colour he had turned out to be.

[Kay]

I have always had cats from being very young. They were always moggies but I always longed for a Persian. Eventually I got what I wanted after a very long wait and that has now grown to 11 Persians. They are so beautiful and laid back and I tend to prefer long coats.

[alexgirl73]

Well, where to start lol!

My love affair with cats started when I was about 11. My next door neighbours cat had kittens and my mum said I could have one:D . I chose a little grey, fluff ball and named him Smokey. I loved that little boy with a passion as he was all mine and my mum was paying lots of attention to my little brother (who was 2) and I felt a bit unloved at the time:( . Unfortunatley said brother found it great fun to torment the living daylights out of my poor baby, even to the point of shoving him into the hamster cage one day. So my mum rehomed him and I didn't get over that for a long time.

When I finally had a place of my own I decided to get a cat and a dog. I went to the local cat and dog home in Aberdeen and got Bonnie my dog first of all. She was a lovely mongrel and was my baby. We then got Jasper our first cat, a B&W moggie. The two of them got on like a house on fire......until we moved house! What happened I dont know, but suddenly they started fighting rather viciously (over territory I think) and as we lived in a top floor flat there was no way for them to escape from each other. We took the decision to rehome Jasper to a lovely lady who lived nearby and I used to go and visit him until the day he died 4 years later. Bonnie was then fine until I had Raechel. She was great with her as a baby, but when she started to walk, she growled and snarled at her, obviously not liking the fact that Raechel was now on the same level with her. Bonnie went to a neighbour of ours and we continued to see her on her walks:) . We decided no more cats or dogs for a while, and stuck with our pet rats for a couple of years.
Tigger our next cat, a ginger moggy, came to us by accident. A friend of our had got him as a 7 week old kitten, but when Tigger shredded his new leather jacket (after locking hiom in the kitchen with it all day:roll: ) he decided that he didn't want it, so we rescued him and brought him home to us. We got Winnie a few months later, but she never settled in a house with another cat, she was a rescue from a friend of a friend so she went to live in a house where she was the only cat and was spoiled rotten:lol: . Tigger was such lovely cat and the girls loved him. He used to sit on our veranda in our flat yipping at all the seagulls lol. When we moved to Telford we were living with my aunt for a few months and she was allergic to cats and refused to have him in the house so we got a friend to look after him while we moved down here and then planned to go back to Aberdeen to get him a few months later. Unfortunately the friend ended up taking a drugs overdose and ended up in hospital and we have no idea where Tigger went disappered to, the friends mum and dad emptied her flat and we never found out what they did with Tigger, whether he was rehomed or they took him with them:cry: I still miss my big ginger boy!
When we moved into our own place here we got Tia, our x spaniel. She suffered from sever seperation anxiety and despite our best efforts with a dog behaviourist etc she was not happy being left on her own for any time, so she was rehomed to a lovely lady in Birmingham who worked from home and keeps me up to date with her and send pics now and again, and Tia is very happy nowadays:)

Broxi came in to our family initially as a companion for Tia, to hopefully help her with her anxiety, and though they got on very well, it didn't have the desired effect. A friend of Roberts had said he had kittens and we went to look, he was justsoooo fluffy lol! When Tia went, we decided to get another cat and saw an advert for kittens. I really wanted another fluffy one, but Cooper was all over me when I went to see them, so home he came:lol: When I went to a friends to have him sexed she offered me an exotic of hers, but as I wanted a boy (she didn't have any ) she got one from a friend of hers, who turned out to be Teddie:roll: :roll: . You'd think a breeder would know the difference wouldn't you lol! And we all know Teddies story.

So in summing, I dont care whether a cat is pedigree or not, if it's the right one for you that's all that matters !! Saying that hubby does want a ragdoll some day:lol:

[TraceyR]

we got our first cats when my husband and I bought our first house together. We decided a resue cat was the way to go as we felt they needed lots of love. We said beforer we went into the house that we were only gettiong one and guess what! yep we came out with 2.

We had a tabby and a jet black one, it solved our naming problem anyway as we couldnt decide between Bilbo and frodo originally :D

Unfortunately Bilbo was hit by a car when he was 5 years old and dear Frodo had to be put down when he was 13.

We were catless for about 6 months before I decided i desperately wanted another - so did the kids! This time we decided we were going to get 2 cats and again headed for the Cats Protection league to give some love to an unwanted cat.

We finally found Tommy and paws who were 3 months old and the most beautiful tabbies. They are now 3 years old and very much a part of the family. Pedigree cats do look beautiful but I love my moggies :)

[Socks]

All my cats are mixed ^^

Socks is part..Jeeze I can't remember the name for it, but he's part show cat. ^^ That's all I know.

I like mixed cats better just because around here, everybody wants those fancy looking cats. I like the different patterns and stuff ^^