PERSIAN OR SIAMESE?
Q
My daughter wants a kitten and says she would like a pedigree. She is wavering between a Persian and a Siamese.Which breed would be best? Your Cat reader.
CELIA SAYS:
A
Wow, what a difficult choice! These are very different breeds!
Persians need daily grooming and Siamese can be very noisy. It will be worth your while doing some research before making up your mind which breed to choose.The International Cat Care website has important information about pedigree breeds and hereditary diseases.You can also find extensive information on Persians on the Your Cat website: https://www.yourcat.co.uk/typesof-cats/persian-cat-breed-information/ and also the Siamese: https://www. yourcat.co.uk/types-of-cats/siamese-catbreed-information/
I think your daughter should read all this too, if she is of a reading age. When your daughter has made up her mind, then you must find a reliable breeder. If you are in the UK, the Governing Council of the Cat Fancy (www.gccfcats.org) has really good details on how to choose a good breeder and their breeders follow a code of conduct (www.gccfcats.org/About-GCCF/ Breeder-Scheme)
Insist on visiting the breeder first and seeing for yourself that this is a single litter, with their mother kept indoors. Never buy online and unseen.Avoid anybody who claims to have kittens “always available,” or offers to deliver so you don’t see the home. A good breeder will want to check you out and you must be prepared to wait for the kitten to reach a suitable age.All this can be time consuming and expensive, but it will be worth it to get a healthy kitten from a good home, rather than a sick one from a kitten mill.
If you can’t afford the prices, you could always adopt an adult pedigree cat needing a home. Pedigree cat clubs (https://www.gccfcats.org/About-GCCF/ Club-Links) usually have a list of these and some of the bigger cat rescue charities like Cats Protection, Blue Cross, and Wood Green will occasionally have pedigreelooking cats (though usually without a written pedigree). Adopting, rather than buying a cat, will teach your daughter that cats are not just another commodity.