in article , kate at
wrote on 7/23/03 5:46 PM:

I really appreciate the replies! We actually do check petfinder quite
often, and are interested in getting a mixed breed, but I just
wondered if there is any breed I should search for as part of the mix.
I also check the shelters and petfinder quite often for cats. I have
tried to adopt one from a shelter but the woman told me that she
wasnted to put the cat in a household with another cat. I thought this
was stupid since she had already adopted its siblings out and she said
that the cat missed its siblings-duh. I also work at home all day so
my cats dont ever get lonely. Both of my previous cats (one from a
shelter , the other a siamese) died last year at age 13 and 14. They
never got along. The shelter kitty picked on the Siamese his whole
life although she was super sweet to us humans (I dont think this has
anything to do with breeds, just the way things came to be). When she
died of heart problems my Siamese was so much more relaxed and happy.
Unfortunately later we found out that he also had heart disease and he
died 9 months later.
I must actually disagree respectfully with a couple of statements
from all of the replies, though.
First, I think breed does matter. I grew up with siamese and mut
cats, and I have always found that siamese had very distinct
personality traits that I liked. I always found them to be very deep
and intelligent. All of my american short hairs were smart, too, but
there was just a difference I cant explain. I have been looking for
cats at the shelters and havent found one I quite connect with.
I do think dogs retain their breed characteristics for the most part
as well. I think a herding dog will always be restless if not given
tasks and a lot of excercise. Its in their blood. I am not at all
interested in appearance, I am looking for personality and that's it.
I also find that sometimes kittens do not socialize well with their
owners of another kitten is adopted with it. When I was growing up, my
family adopted two brothers. They only played among themselves and
didnt have much interest in bonding with humans. When one of the
brothers was killed by a neighbors dog, the remaining brother became
completely wild. He hunted for all of his food, never wanted to come
inside, and never socialized with humans until he was much older (he
then became a lap cat).
These are just my experiences, but I am still really interested in
hearing all of your opinions, so this is by no means intended to be
antagonistic, just my 2 cents...

Well, I have a black cat my brother found as a stray at around 6 months. He
had to move so I took her in. Completely Siamese in behaviour. She has the
elegant ears and face and certainly the voice of a Siamese. She snorts
through her nose in disgust if I chatise her. If she were colored correctly,
you'd think she was a purebred. She's just a moggie with Siamese in her
blood and one like her can be found at a shelter. Or there are also Siamese
rescues. I guess there wouldn't be purebred rescues if people really got
what they thought they were getting. One other point, I can guarantee that
whatever cat you get will not match the cat you remember. They all have too
distinct a personality for that and wanting too much of a duplicate can be
very disappointing. That's just a caution, not to say that is what you are
after but sometimes we do that in our hearts. As for your two brothers, I
can guarantee too, that that is pretty unusual behaviour. You've only to
read all the anecdotes over the newsgroups to see that. Check out the 3 year
update posted the other day. Or look at MaryL's Holly and Duffy. Or my Sugar
and Grant that I got off a farm that are siblings. They are fantastic cats
and complete love bugs dependent on me for loving. They are all different.

karen