Puck and I got our Turkish Vans from a very good breeder. (I remember asking how she handled shipping and she said, “Well, you can come to Texas and get them, or you can come to Texas and get them.”). She also told us that when we got her kittens, we got her too. It’s something that most people don’t even think about, but having someone you can call and say “Why did he just spray the front door?” or “Should I be worried that he snores?” is priceless. With a pound animal, no one really knows the history, and no one is around to answer your questions and help you out. (For example, one of our Vans snores. So I call our breeder. Turns out some of them just do, including their father, who had a small fortune in tests run on him just to be sure.) Especially for a new cat owner, it’s really reassuring to know there’s someone to answer questions. This even expands to answering questions about cats not from her. She stayed up and on the phone with us until 1:30 in the morning talking us through our foster cat’s delivery-- because we didn’t know what the hell we were doing, and she did.
The cat fancy is strange. Many (many) breeders breed Persians, a cat which has been bred over the years with this wierd pushed-in nose. This is entirely for appearance and a lot of these cats have breathing/eating problems, problems giving birth, problems keeping themselves clean, etc. I’m not crazy about altering an animal through selective breeding to make it pretty-- to the detriment of it’s health. I can’t say what category I think these people are in. I don’t think there’s much of a profit in backyard breeding of cats. The genetics of their coloring is complicated, and breed features disappear rapidly when outcrossed.
On the issue of showing. . .one of the biggest complaints among our showing friends is people who insist on showing cats that don’t have the temperment for it. Some of them hate it, and to persist in showing them (because they have good form/color/etc), leads to the level of neuroses mentioned in this thread. Some cats really enjoy it. I can only speak for my own, but they love people. They’re comfortable being handled, immune to loud noises and strange people, and very well behaved. How many cats go willingly into their carrier, bounce around and play with toys at the vet, and then stand still while being weighed and examined? Mine do.
Actually, Lynn, I think it’s more accurate to say that there is such a glut of retired racers that the only greyhounds that the rescue people attempt to place are the well behaved, well socialized animals. Mind you, I agree that getting a rescue greyhound is a guarantee of a sweet animal, but it’s less the breed itself, and just the supply is so great that there’s room for a great deal of culling.
Malk, back to your OP, I think you’re right that most of the people who choose to get purebreds are doing it for reasons that have more to do with either snobbery or just image than a realistic understanding of the breed traits. Having said that, I’d like to add another voice to those who like purebreds. First, though, let me say I’m talking about buying from a reputable breeder, not a puppy mill, or even a home breeder who thinks she is a reputable breeder. When buying from a reputable breeder you get access to full pedigree health history, so you can usually feel confident of a healthy animal. You’ll also get breed specific traits that are quite literally catch-as-catch-can with mutts.
I’ve nothing against mutts, myself, and when I’m in a position to own a dog may get one, or will look for a resuce dog first. However I have ambitions of my own -showing and training, and for that I think I’d like to get involved with Otterhounds. A lovely ugly dog. Of course because of their habits I’ll need a lot of room for 'em. And they’ll help me get more exercise…
We’ve got three purebred cats–two Singapura boys and one Russian Blue girl. We got them for several reasons, all of which are working out well for us:
Temperament. We’d had a previous problem with a cat we’d had years ago–we got him too young, I think, and he had some serious behavioral issues including pooping in inappropriate places (usually hiding it somewhere) and flying into rages every once in awhile. Even so, we only had to give him away when the spouse developed a major allergy problem. We wanted it to work but it didn’t. With our three now, we knew what to expect (Russians are sweet, quiet, and loving; Singapuras are smart, busy, and like to hang out with their people) and there haven’t been any surprises.
Allergies. The spouse is allergic to cats, but he went through the treatments for years in order for us to have them. When we were ready to get them, we went to cat shows and visited breeders to hang around various breeds we liked to see how he reacted to them. The Russians and Singapuras were great; Abyssinians made him sneeze and get red eyes. (Weird, since Abys are very similar to Sings, coat-wise).
Support network. Since these were the first cats we’d have in like 10 years, we wanted the security of having the breeders available to answer questions.
Chance to socialize before they left home: With two of our cats we were able to visit them as tiny kittens and get them used to us before we were allowed to take them home (at 12-14 weeks). We met one of our Sings, Ozzy, when he was only 4 weeks old, and visited him two or three times after that.
I don’t like to think about this, but another nice thing is to know that if we ever had to give them up (not bloody likely–they’re family) the breeders would take them back and find them loving homes. Like I said, we never plan for this to happen, but it’s comforting to know it’s there anyway.
Of course because of their habits I’ll need a lot of room for 'em. And they’ll help me get more exercise…