A Cat for a Small Apartment
by Marilyn Leisure
(Ashland, Ohio USA)
I would like to adopt a teacup cat. I am a grandma, living alone in an apartment building for elderly. I would like to have a teacup cat to keep me company. I think this size cat would be perfect for me as I have a small apartment. Are these cats expensive? Is there a place that I could adopt one that would not charge a lot of money?
Marilyn
ANSWER: Hi Marilyn and thanks for asking… I’ll attempt to, at least partially, answer your question on the basis that you are looking for a cat for a small apartment (a wider subject).
Breeders of teacup cats are rare as far as I can see and they are more or less only available in the USA (someone will correct me on that I am sure!).
Pocket sized cats are almost always Persian cats as it seems that a mutation occurred in purebred breeding of these cats that produced a smaller cat. These smaller cats have formed the foundation for teacup cats and the breeding of them is relatively recent (in contrast to the dog world where miniature dogs have been around for a long time)- hence their scarcity.
I feature a teacup cup breeder (Pocket Kittys) on the page where this article will be published so I would contact them first and ask. I really think that the lady who runs Pocket Kittys will provide you with good and realistic advice.
By my standards they are expensive. I think the prices are similar to those of high quality purebred cats in the USA meaning from say about $1000 upwards depending on the type of cat your are buying.
I am sure you have read the information on the Pocket Kitty’s website. There is a link at the top of the teacup cats page to this site. And she provides some useful warnings about dealing with people running scams asking for money to be sent through escrow services or Western union. Watch for those.
A question that interests me (and the reason why I changed the title – hope you don’t mind), is whether a small cat is any better than a normal sized cat in a small apartment.
I am not sure it is as it might be that the defining criterion is not size but levels of activity. What I am saying is that the most suitable type of cat for a small apartment (and therefore a full-time indoor cat) is a passive cat that is “part of the furniture” and which has low levels of inquisitiveness etc.
I really believe that if a cat is to be kept indoors in a small apartment it needs to be mentally adapted as well as possible to that type of lifestyle, which to be totally honest is unnatural. This is more important I feel than the size of the cat.
Such a cat is the Persian and they are cheaper and you are likely to be able to find one in a rescue center. If you go this route I would adopt the traditional Persian as they are healthier and you clearly don’t want to go to a vet more than you have to (they can be a bit greedy).
In fact, you may be lucky and find a smaller than average Persian cat that is not a teacup cat but fits the bill.
So, in my view (and it is only my view) a small cat for a small apartment may not be the complete answer. Although I see the logic.
I hope this helps. A cat can be a great companion to elderly people and the lifestyle of elderly people allows them the time to better care for their cat.
I am thinking of a cat rescue center in the UK who more or less insist on re-homing with older people. I made a page about Persian cat rescue in the USA, which may help.

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