Why did you choose

[MrsH]

I've only ever had moggies and the same with other cat owners in my immediate circle. I'd simply never considered a pedigree, possibly because of cost but mainly because they'd never been on my "radar" as it were. Some of the pedigree cats out there do not appeal to me in terms of their looks, but Ragdolls, however, look gorgeous! I'd have one in a shot if I were looking for another cat.

[Luke]

Born into cats!
Had a blue persian girly here, bit of an old lass, when i was born..she was an ex breeding queen that my parents had from..i'm not sure where tbh! We then had numerous moggies to follow, usually aquired from farms or stables local to some deranged relative who shared the story of 'Oh you'll never guess theres these kittens up.." and then they would turn up.
Had a little siam girl for a brief period, she died very young..she had a finicky bond with a persian x we had, when she passed away the little siam girl just gave in..died in her sleep one day.
We didn't have cats for a while..then came Clementine,followed by Elsa, and then Bella.
We had a few cats of aquired pedigree or crosses who we took care of/fostered [apparently..i just remember them being there!] when growing up too.
I would love a siam,or colourpoint BSH or big Maine Coon. But really..i think I could only ever see myself with moggies, something about their robust take everything in their stride character that appeals too me

[CathyW]

my boys chose me, they where the only 2 left in the litter, and i fell in love with both of them

[Hreow]

I've been minder and feeder to a long line of moggies, rescues and strays. All loved, all characters and all well remembered. When my better half (who is a dog person) arranged for me to have a cat he wanted a kitten because they're playful (so are grown cats...) and had a preference for a male kitten. I've not actually had a cat from kittenhood before, so it seemed a good idea to get a kitten with a known past. Not that I would worry about a problem kitten, I've dealt with problem adults, but to not combine first kitten, first feline and problems. Not the best way of encouraging better half to like cats when he's suspicious to begin with. ^^

After a year of research into breeds, breeders and blood-lines, I'd found the perfect "donor" family and his nibs has been the perfect cat for both of us. Clever, playful and a softie. Clever enough to tell us and our different approaches apart and to hug my mum when she visits (which brings happy tears to her eyes, cat-person that she is). Playful enough to be a joy to be with and to go on adventures with, and soft enough to really feel a part of the family, not an aloof and exacting despot.

Next cat, when Rover decides that he's tired of us in thirty years or so, will be a grown cat, a rescue and a moggie. I will be too old to guarantee a good forever-home to a kitten by then, and will probably have the time to need a challenge of a cat that I can make a difference to. (And better half is now trained to deal with lap-sitting, slimy-nose rubs and cat-hair everywhere. )

[babycakes]

The first cats we had were dumped on our doorstep in a plastic bag, wrapped in a blanket. They were about a day old and they still had their eyes closed. I was twelve. one ginger and white (aptly named Ginge) and one tabby called Tiger (or baby). We nursed them, we fed them with pipettes of milk from the vet, we taught them to wee... and we could fit them both in one hand.
When Ginge was about 4 he was on the front step and a guy slipped his Irish wolfhounds lead and Ginge was mauled. It was touch and go and eventually we were allowed to bring him home Tiger wouldn't go near him and howled continually. Ginge died 2 days later of jaundice.
We took Fluffy, black and white long hair, out of next doors garden as they weren't looking after it. He was killed by an ice cream van whist chasing the plastic bit of the end of a ciggy packet (something dad taught him to do)
Along came Tinkerballs. A big tom with big pom poms!! I knocked on every house in the neighbourhood to see if he was lost in the end he stayed. He was shortened to Tinker when the pom poms came off!! He had a kink in his tail and wouldn't let you touch his back. He went out on bin nights and ripped everyone's bags open (as though he had never been fed) and spent the next day vomitting!! We found him curled up dead in next door's garden, had blood round his mouth, we think he was knocked over.
Tiger lived til he was 18, he had a tumour in his tummy which couldn't be operated on due to his age and he had kidney trouble too. He was my baby, he collapsed in the garden one day and we took him to be PTS and he died in my arms. I cried and cried and cried (and I'm crying now writing this cos I still miss him so much).
I got Denis whilst trawling rescue centres looking for THE cat. when I was told he was feral I knew not many people would want him and he snuggled into my top when I picked him up. I knew he was coming home. He was hard work to start with but wouldn't swap him at all

So always had moggies probably always will. If I was to have a pedigree it would be a British blue.

[Rosie]

Rosie (10 years) came to me when her foster mum had a foster dog coming in and asked whether I could look after Rosie for a couple of days - that was 10 years ago!

Alfie (1year) was part of a litter which were born to a friend of a friend's moggie. He was born grey and I had always wanted a grey cat and swore I would never have another unless it was grey (how shallow is that). Anyway I said I would have Alfie who is now jet black! Fate teaching me a lesson. I love him to bits no matter what colour he had turned out to be.

[Kay]

I have always had cats from being very young. They were always moggies but I always longed for a Persian. Eventually I got what I wanted after a very long wait and that has now grown to 11 Persians. They are so beautiful and laid back and I tend to prefer long coats.

[alexgirl73]

Well, where to start lol!

My love affair with cats started when I was about 11. My next door neighbours cat had kittens and my mum said I could have one . I chose a little grey, fluff ball and named him Smokey. I loved that little boy with a passion as he was all mine and my mum was paying lots of attention to my little brother (who was 2) and I felt a bit unloved at the time . Unfortunatley said brother found it great fun to torment the living daylights out of my poor baby, even to the point of shoving him into the hamster cage one day. So my mum rehomed him and I didn't get over that for a long time.

When I finally had a place of my own I decided to get a cat and a dog. I went to the local cat and dog home in Aberdeen and got Bonnie my dog first of all. She was a lovely mongrel and was my baby. We then got Jasper our first cat, a B&W moggie. The two of them got on like a house on fire......until we moved house! What happened I dont know, but suddenly they started fighting rather viciously (over territory I think) and as we lived in a top floor flat there was no way for them to escape from each other. We took the decision to rehome Jasper to a lovely lady who lived nearby and I used to go and visit him until the day he died 4 years later. Bonnie was then fine until I had Raechel. She was great with her as a baby, but when she started to walk, she growled and snarled at her, obviously not liking the fact that Raechel was now on the same level with her. Bonnie went to a neighbour of ours and we continued to see her on her walks . We decided no more cats or dogs for a while, and stuck with our pet rats for a couple of years.
Tigger our next cat, a ginger moggy, came to us by accident. A friend of our had got him as a 7 week old kitten, but when Tigger shredded his new leather jacket (after locking hiom in the kitchen with it all day ) he decided that he didn't want it, so we rescued him and brought him home to us. We got Winnie a few months later, but she never settled in a house with another cat, she was a rescue from a friend of a friend so she went to live in a house where she was the only cat and was spoiled rotten . Tigger was such lovely cat and the girls loved him. He used to sit on our veranda in our flat yipping at all the seagulls lol. When we moved to Telford we were living with my aunt for a few months and she was allergic to cats and refused to have him in the house so we got a friend to look after him while we moved down here and then planned to go back to Aberdeen to get him a few months later. Unfortunately the friend ended up taking a drugs overdose and ended up in hospital and we have no idea where Tigger went disappered to, the friends mum and dad emptied her flat and we never found out what they did with Tigger, whether he was rehomed or they took him with them I still miss my big ginger boy!
When we moved into our own place here we got Tia, our x spaniel. She suffered from sever seperation anxiety and despite our best efforts with a dog behaviourist etc she was not happy being left on her own for any time, so she was rehomed to a lovely lady in Birmingham who worked from home and keeps me up to date with her and send pics now and again, and Tia is very happy nowadays

Broxi came in to our family initially as a companion for Tia, to hopefully help her with her anxiety, and though they got on very well, it didn't have the desired effect. A friend of Roberts had said he had kittens and we went to look, he was justsoooo fluffy lol! When Tia went, we decided to get another cat and saw an advert for kittens. I really wanted another fluffy one, but Cooper was all over me when I went to see them, so home he came When I went to a friends to have him sexed she offered me an exotic of hers, but as I wanted a boy (she didn't have any ) she got one from a friend of hers, who turned out to be Teddie . You'd think a breeder would know the difference wouldn't you lol! And we all know Teddies story.

So in summing, I dont care whether a cat is pedigree or not, if it's the right one for you that's all that matters !! Saying that hubby does want a ragdoll some day

[TraceyR]

we got our first cats when my husband and I bought our first house together. We decided a resue cat was the way to go as we felt they needed lots of love. We said beforer we went into the house that we were only gettiong one and guess what! yep we came out with 2.

We had a tabby and a jet black one, it solved our naming problem anyway as we couldnt decide between Bilbo and frodo originally

Unfortunately Bilbo was hit by a car when he was 5 years old and dear Frodo had to be put down when he was 13.

We were catless for about 6 months before I decided i desperately wanted another - so did the kids! This time we decided we were going to get 2 cats and again headed for the Cats Protection league to give some love to an unwanted cat.

We finally found Tommy and paws who were 3 months old and the most beautiful tabbies. They are now 3 years old and very much a part of the family. Pedigree cats do look beautiful but I love my moggies

[Socks]

All my cats are mixed ^^

Socks is part..Jeeze I can't remember the name for it, but he's part show cat. ^^ That's all I know.

I like mixed cats better just because around here, everybody wants those fancy looking cats. I like the different patterns and stuff ^^