Your cat is the typical "Traditional Persian Cat" similar to my feline queen cat "Matahari" posted in "P.O.C". You have definitely been scamed by the breeder but in hindsight be thankful of having a lovable pet. Having afforded a costly cat, you would definitely recover your money through your business or source of income. I myself paid an astronomical Rs 14000(U.S$ 350) by Indian standards for my traditional persian cat "Matahari" in 2007 in Mumbai. Today, i am absolutely pleased of my costly but excellent purchase as "{Matahari" turned out to be an excellent pet as well as breeder,although i just bred her once.

"Breeders" are ruthless,most are in the profession only for the money and rarely for the love of animals or pets.Be happy with your costly purchase, also wiser for the same.

Dear Annette -

That tail looks like the furs gorgeous women draped over their shoulders in F. Scott Fitzgerald's flapper era. What's more, you're an excellent parent if you have an 11-year-old chihuahua. Not sure, but think their average life expectancy is 8 years or so. Our vet told us once that very large and very small dogs are seldom known for their longevity. All four of our chi's died around age seven or eight.

This is off the subject of cats, but your address plunged me into a fit of nostalgia from which it will take me days to recover.

While there are lavish homes being built out there these days, I vividly remember those rows of little turn-of-the-century miners' houses, the hamburger joint on the corner, that unbelievable bakery that drew customers from from all over King County and - oh, I could sob -the road that went past the quarry, the one-lane bridge spannig the chasm over Green River, that wooded enclosure where sunlight never penetrated (I vaguely remember peacocks and other exotic birds traipsing around in the green gloom),and that place in the road, a hundred feet from the bridge, where you could pull over, get out of your car and fill 50 jugs with crystal-pure water that gushed from the pipe in that ferny grotto. I never knew its source -- it seems unlikely it was glacial melt, unless it came from high in the Cascades. But I'll never forget how delectable it was.

During my years in Puget Sound country, I had a neighbor who went to Mass and brought back every Sunday a glass gallon jug she kindly gave me. I finally amassed 70 jugs, 60 of which I managed to pack into my Corolla on my trek to Black Diamond every six months. Of the hundreds of jugs I carried home over the years, only one clouded up with some kind of bacterial contaminant. All the rest contained liquid heaven.

Not long ago there was a program on Sirius radio in which - as I recall - a couple of microbiologists discussed the perils of drinking tap water. They mentioned a possible link between chlorine & fluoride and the risk of kidney and bladder cancer. If the taste of tap water is any indication, I'm sure it's true.

Nowadays I now live a two-hour drive from Seattle, and the water here is befouled by mddlesome humans. I've tried chilling it in the refrigerator, but that only intensifies its gagsome flavor. Yes - you can buy water purification appartus, but it runs into many hundreds of dollars.

It breaks my heart that I couldn't take the jugs with me when I moved, and I envy you your proximity to that gift-from-God water supply. (If you've never tried the water, I'll believe you. When I once asked a lifelong resident of Washington D.C. if she knew where the Smithsonian was, she shrugged her hsoulders, and told me she'd never been there.)

Anyhow, enjoy your gorgeous kitty!