Even if you’re a hardcore adoption advocate, you’ve probably spent time looking at photos of purebred cats and thinking, “Boy, is that cat gorgeous!” Maybe you’ve even daydreamed about buying one of your favorite pedigreed kitties and imagined what it might be like to come home and find that perfectly amazing cat waiting for you at the door. I know I have — and here are five breeds to which I’d have a hard time saying no.
1. Devon Rex
I’d never met a Devon Rex until one of my friends brought hers to a pet bloggers’ conference. As soon as I stroked that amazingly soft, wavy hair, looked into those huge eyes, and encountered his sweet and easygoing personality, I was smitten.
Devon Rexes love affection and attention and do best if they have another kitty friend, and I could give a Devon both. They also need play and intellectual stimulation. Hmmm … agility training, perhaps? That could be fun!
2. Japanese Bobtail
What’s not to love about the official cat of Japan and inspiration for the world-famous maneki neko? First of all, they’re chatty cats, which I absolutely love, but unlike Oriental breeds, their conversation is made up of chirps and trills and soft meows. They’re confident, affectionate and make good traveling companions. They do need experienced owners (like me) and they like to walk on a leash. A calico JBT would make me drool.
3. Russian Blue
I confess, the Russian Blue is my all-time favorite purebred kitty. I met one when I was in my mid-20s; she was sitting in a cage in a local bookstore, on loan from a local humane society that was trying to find her a forever home. And that fur? Oh my gosh!
If I hadn’t lived in a no-pets apartment I would have filed an adoption application that day. They’re sweet, gentle and affectionate cats, but they’re endearingly shy with strangers. I could just imagine those gorgeous green eyes looking up at me as she purred while I stroked her plush coat.
4. Somali
This beautiful cousin of the Abyssinian cat just stuns me when I see the intelligence in those gleaming eyes. They’re small cats, rarely weighing more than nine pounds, and they’re extremely trainable. My therapy cat fantasies could easily come true with a Somali. But they are very energetic cats and need a lot of playtime to stay entertained and keep destructive behavior at bay. I have to confess that since I’m a more mellow kind of person, I don’t know if my lifestyle would be entirely appropriate for a Somali — but I can still admire them from afar!
5. Turkish Van
I have a special place in my heart for orange cats, and the Turkish Van is a gorgeous creamsicle of a kitty. They’re curious, affectionate, agile and athletic — and they love to swim. I haven’t had a water-loving cat since my Purr Bear, a Maine Coon cross my family owned during my teenage years. I dig the fact that the Turkish Van can be sneaky, and I certainly know how to handle food-snagging cats; I do it every day with my Bella.
The good news if you love pedigreed cats but also want to rescue, there are plenty of purebred and purebred lookalike cats to be found in shelters. I’ve seen two Bengals, a Himalayan, a Persian and a snowshoe Siamese come through the shelter where I volunteer. If you have your heart set on a pedigreed cat, check out adoption listings on national sites such as Petfinder, Adopt-a-Pet and Petango; you never know what you’ll find.
About JaneA Kelley: Punk-rock cat mom, science nerd, animal shelter volunteer, and all-around geek with a passion for bad puns, intelligent conversation, and role-play adventure games. She gratefully and gracefully accepts her status as chief cat slave for her family of feline bloggers, who have been writing their cat advice column, Paws and Effect, since 2003. JaneA dreams of making a great living out of her love for cats.
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