Person asks, “I want a beautiful cat that is affectionate and loving. What breed makes the best cat?”

I’m going to answer the questions in the title which are on the quora.com website. I like to do that from time to time because they do ask lots of questions, some of which are worth answering!

This will be short because I think I can summarise the answer without using many words.

Person asks, "I want a beautiful cat that is affectionate and loving. What breed makes the best cat?" Figuring out the answer to the questions.
Selecting the right kitten for you. Image: MikeB

There are probably between 70 and 100 cat breeds. Some are now defunct but let’s say around 80 active cat breeds. I actually have a slide show of 104 cat breeds if that interests you.

When selectively breeding their cats, registered purebred, pedigree cat breeders focus on the appearance of the animal to make sure that it matches up with the cat association’s breed standard – the formal guideline on appearance. That’s their primary focus.

The secondary focus is going to be ensuring that the kittens are socialised so that they fit nicely into their new owner’s home.

The character or personality of the kittens that they create with their breeding programs follow from the stud and the queen – the unsterilised male and female respectively. The personality of each kitten is largely inherited and then as they grow up, they develop their own personality through experiences.

And each individual cat has their own personality. You can’t say with certainty that each cat breed has a certain type of feline personality attached to it. In other words, it is tricky to label a breed with an overarching personality. This is about individual cats rather than a complete cat breed.

The cat’s personality and therefore their behaviour cuts across the cat breeds. It’s an umbrella characteristic.

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So, to answer the first part of the question in which the questioner wants to adopt an ‘affectionate’ cat, that person is going to have to meet individual cats of their chosen breed to find one which one they think is affectionate towards them. It is about feeling the chemistry.

And they will select a breed subjectively because beauty is in the eye of the beholder. It’s entirely subjective. Therefore, I can’t answer the question about beauty for this particular person because I do not know what pleases them aesthetically. The only person who knows that is them and therefore they’ve got to look at all the breeds and decide which breed pleases them aesthetically. Some people find ugly breeds beautiful. I get that.

When they’ve selected the top one or two cat breeds, they can then meet up with cat breeders and meet the kittens and the mother of those breeds. It is an almost essential step in adopting a cat in any case because you have to check out the breeder’s facilities and meet the kittens’ mom as it is her character and that of the father which is handed down.

With a bit of luck, one of those kittens will come up to them and jump on their lap. Or the adopter will ‘feel’ that their relationship with one of the kittens is ‘right’. That’s the affectionate one vis-à-vis the person and the one who wants to be with the person who asked this question. The kitten or cat chooses the adopter!

That’s the answer. More accurately, that’s my answer and like I said it’s concise.

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