You are looking for a questionnaire or a quiz which points you in the right direction as to the kind of cat breed that is suited to you and your lifestyle? They don’t work. I am going to be very, very boring and say that it is pretty pointless to try and decide on a suitable cat breed through a quiz. Yes, I am taking an entirely different approach to this question, an approach which I believe is the correct one. Adopting a cat cannot be reduced to a quiz in my honest opinion.
The process of adopting a cat is impossible to put into a quiz. It is far too subtle. It is based on emotion and feelings. You can’t convert the subtlety of emotions into a hard and fast quiz for a quick fix answer.
Difficulties in making a cat breed selecting quiz work
People want a quick, slick black-and-white answer as to the kind of cat breed which will suit their personality and lifestyle. I say that you cannot create such a quiz because it won’t work accurately. There are too many variables on the human side and subtle character variables for cats.
In respect of humans and their personalities and lifestyles, there are thousands of different variables. So many that you cannot include them in a quiz. In respect of domestic cats, both purebred and random-bred, it is a mistake to think that each cat breed has their own particular and specific personality. They just don’t. The people who create purebred cats focus on the appearance of the cat. The cat’s personality is going to be the personality of a domestic cat either purebred or random-bred. I know that this goes against what you might read on the Internet but cat breeders like to market their cat breeds by claiming that they have specific personalities across the entire breed. It doesn’t quite work like that.
It is very rare that cat breeders try and selectively breed for a certain personality. The Ragdoll is one of the few where they ostensibly try and breed a cat which is very pliable and placid. To be clear, what distinguishes the cat breeds is their appearance not their personality.
If you wanted to target one cat breed which might best fit all situations in the modern world it would be the Ragdoll as they are beautiful looking cats and the only cat created to have a certain character.
Between domestic cat breeds there are some variables in terms of talkativeness. Some cats are quieter than others but even that is quite a fine difference. The Siamese is quite noisy when they talk for instance. But the biggest difference is between individual cats and it doesn’t matter whether they are part of a single cat breed whether you are talking about cats across all the breeds.
Left alone all day?
The differences are between individual cats and therefore a quiz doesn’t work. You might think that some cats are more able to accept being alone all day than others and therefore they will be more suited to a busy person who is out a lot. On that topic, there are no cats that are suited to being alone all day. The same applies to dogs by the way. It is said that dogs should not be left alone for more than four hours at any one time. Domestic cats should not be left alone all day while their owner is out of work in my honest opinion.
RELATED: Why do dogs howl when left alone?
Quizzes that I have used don’t work
I have tried cat breed selector quizzes and they don’t work. Somebody has spent a very long time trying to build a quiz using some fancy software but the result is inaccurate. I wouldn’t trust them. One quiz that I saw simply led you to registering on the website. It didn’t even produce an answer.
Proposal
The best thing to select a cat is to put aside the idea of buying a purebred cat and go down to your local rescue centre and meet the cats. Get to know them a little bit and their personalities. And let a rescue cat choose you. Focus on the individual cat’s attitude and let your gut feelings take you in the right decision. Please don’t be concerned with appearance so much but focus much more on whether you think you can connect emotionally with an individual cat that you think you should adopt. In this way you will adopt a cat who is a lifelong companion who brings you much pleasure and vice versa. It will be a relationship which is very strongly mutually beneficial.
Want to adopt a purebred cat?
If you are bent on adopting a purebred cat then I would look at photographs of all the purebred cats and select the one that you prefer on the basis of their appearance. Another issue which is rarely mentioned is that there is a difference between the breeds in terms of inherited health problems. This should affect your selection process. Please click on the link below to investigate these differences. Also this link takes you to inherited health issues.
RELATED: Pictures of cat breeds – see them all and decide on appearance and health.
When people describe the character of the various purebred cats, they are exaggerating the differences. When you have found a cat breed which you like the look of, I would then make contact with a couple of breeders and visit them to interact with the cats and kittens after checking out health issues. Then you can decide which individual cat you want to select in the same way that you would select a rescue cat as mentioned above.
Interact with the mother of the kittens as well. Check out their relationship. And see whether one of the kittens selects you. Ask questions. Remember that cat breeders inbreed their cats. This is another phrase for selective breeding. All purebred cats are inbred. This is why they have more genetic the inherited diseases than non-purebred cats. In general, they have shorter life spans than non-purebred cats. This is a factor to build into your decision-making.
RELATED: Cats that live the longest?
It has been said thousands of times but when you adopt a rescue cat you often save a life because many rescue cats are euthanised at shelters. When you adopt a purebred cat, they are a cat which has been created and put into the world where there are too many domestic cats already arguably. When you save the life of a cat and live with that cat it forms the bedrock of the relationship upon which you can build a wonderful bond.
Disagree with me and want a cat breed selector?
If after all that I have said (repetitively and boringly) you disagree with me and want some sort of cat breed selector to help you then I have one below. But as I state, at best, it provides a guideline based upon conventional viewpoints. I tend to take an unconventional viewpoint as you have no doubt noticed.
