If the "look" of a particular breed (or even the "temperament") is what is
wanted, all the potential adopter needs to do is to visit a local shelter or
look at www.petfinder.com.  It is virtually impossible to tell many of those
cats from purebreds.  For that matter, there are rescue groups for almost
every breed, and they actively seek people to adopt.

MaryL

Various groups cite widely divergent estimates concerning the number of pets
that are euthanized each year.  Even the Humane Society itself gives
different citations (depending on the person being quoted).  Based on my
experience with our local animal shelter, I am very dubious about the
figures quoted in the source you cited.  Kill shelters almost *always* are
forced to euthanize substantially more animals than they are able to adopt
out.  This source (Great Lakes Radio Consortium -- which I admit I am not
familiar with) estimates that 6 million cats and dogs are euthanized each
year:   http://tinyurl.com/6b262.  Here is another link that refers to 6
million per year:   This source (Department of Agriculture) estimates 4
million cats per year and half that number for dogs:
http://tinyurl.com/5dh5j.  And this source (also quoting a HSUS
representative) estimates a euthanasia rate of 8 million cats and dogs per
year:  http://tinyurl.com/6xxba.  Countless other sites are available, most
quoting higher figures than the site you listed.

MaryL

I agree with you entirely. And our CPL (Cats Protection League) here in the
UK do exactly the same thing - catch wild cats in humane cages, neuter them,
and then return them to the wild.

One good friend of mine works in a Steel Mill - Caparo Merchant Bar - there
is a litter of feral  kittens there which have been repeated over five
years. Finally last autumn with our help the local CPL managed to capture
three - including the ever breeding mother - and neuter her. The kittens had
a relatively good life for feral cats - a warm furnace open to them 24/7 -
and all year round. All the guys brought food for them and shared their
lunches with them also - so they hunted, but when times were hard they had
some backup. But on the other hand, they were not "homed" = which
essentially means no-one was prepared to pay their vets bills - which is the
big difference between homed and unhomed cats

Interesting that so far no one on this group has identified that
*essentially* this is the big difference between homed and not homed cats.
Being prepared to pick up the vets bills. Essential part of responsible and
loving pet ownership.
And that is what lets most people down - is it lack of money? Lack of
confidence to find a vet and use him? Fear of costs? Lack of experience
thereof? Medical smalltalk?

They get a cat - and that is it.

Personally I have pro quals in A&P - and though *we*  differ from cats -
essentially we work the same (liver is liver, kidneys is kidneys etc) so I
have always been pretty confidant - but also open to learning where my vet
is expert.

. Who is to judge here? Cats : wild, warm (very - 24/7 furnace going =
smart cats), adapting to their environment, well fed through bored workers
who want a distraction in their lunchtime, but mainly those who love the
kittens and cats and want to interact with them. Yes, big steel working
guys, but this doesn't disassociate them from being soft cat loving guys
either - and they are not.

How do we breach this crazy dynamic between free cats - doing their own
thing (i.e I let my cats out, they have to have the real world, and I keep
my cats in - that's because I love them too much to let them out - or more
realistically because they don't have the space, or the time, or the
commitment to make compromises in their living conditions for their cats.

I have.

There have been a few times when I viewed a house or flat and thought it
ideal. For me.  But not for my cats. And I have never, once ever, chosen to
move somewhere which was not he best I could do for my cats.

But were they unhappy?

Well that's is an arguable point. Should cats be free to make their own
decisions about their lives, or not? Are we really that capable of being "in
control" of them and should we???

This is a point of which I do feel very, at times, indecisive about. My
adoration of my cats wants me to protect them, but my love of their inherent
freedoms makes me want to let them roam.

What do I do?
I spend about ?2K each time I move on a bloody good cat run - with views,
and entertainment for them. But hey - I don't have kids - nor would I want
one - and so it is my thing to do the best by my cats that I can do.

An answer, one woman, three cats!.... usually taking all the bed space...

Sam

"Designer Pets" this is a bit of a biased way to start what we hope will be
a reasonable debate. There is no such thing as a DESIGNER ANYTHING in the
pet world.

Dear Mary L,

I don't and cant disagree with anything you say. I know having fostered for
the biggest cat welfare org in the Uk what we are up against. But I still
maintain that the vast majority of pedigree cat owners are total cat
enthusiasts - IMHO. And I can tell you for a fact - that through 20+ years
of owning cats as an adult, plus another 16 on top of that with my parents -
none of our cats were ever able to breed willy-nilly around the environment.
Ever. They were all neutered at six months or just before.

I was brought up (raised in USA talk) to respect and adhere to cat and dog
fecundity and realistic outcomes.

If one opposed breeding any cats at all - as you suggest. Then where are we
cat lovers supposed to get our kittens from exactly? And do you not realise
that the attitude you propose: and I quote =  "actually oppose breeding of
*any* cats (purebred or not).  ". Is the dissolution of all cats, non-bred,
half bred and consciously bred? What you are proposing is the abolition of
cats. Cat holocaust.

I think that is a scandal. cats have rights, rights to propagate, to be
cared for  to live. And to be wild, where they are sustainable, in peace.

Fro gods sake woman - cats have to breed or we would live in a world without
cats.

Get it?

The whole point is how to make the whole thing rational. And the sooner we
realise that our concept of rational is not the same as a cats concept of
rational - and try to draw some reasonable and compassionate conclusions
from that.... is the day we even begin to understand cats.

Samantha - learning from her cats everyday.