“Pedigree or Moggie? – They All Deserve Forever Loving Homes” was written by me and was published on this site on September 4th. At that time we were adamant about purchasing or adopting Oriental Shorthair, Siamese or Rex Kittens. I also stated that I love all cats and that all cats are beautiful. Some people basically disagreed that I love all cats since I was being rather choosey about the type of kittens that we were looking for.
It’s no secret that I am absolutely gaga over these breeds. Since I have been owned by several of these breeds, I am familiar with their temperaments, personalities and some of the health issues that are potentially present in the breeds. But since we have an almost 15 year old Oriental shorthair named Sir Hubble Pinkerton, we also suspected that pedigreed kittens might be much easier for him to bond with. Perhaps that isn’t true – we shall see.
So we weren’t looking for a moggie – not in our wildest dreams. We had been calling breeders, reaching out to breeder friends to find out if there were by any chance some kittens that weren’t perfect – not show types, but those with those unwanted flaws such as a kinked tail, cross eyes or the “wrong” color. In fact we still have feelers out for such a kitten that deserves a permanent loving home. We ain’t snobs – a pedigreed kitten doesn’t have to be perfect; it just has to purr a lot!
The other day I decided that we needed to make a necessary change in Sir Hubble Pinkerton’s diet. Not only was he getting bored with his hum-drum “Fancy Feast Chunky Chicken”; a moist cat food that he once went bonkers over, couldn’t get enough of, however the food contained additives that are not necessarily healthy. One of these additives is carrageenan; a seaweed derivative used as a food additive. However it is an ingredient which has become quite controversial.
Although it is edible seaweed, according to Dr. Jean Hofve, noted feline veterinarian and an expert in feline nutrition,
“it contains lots of trace minerals and is supposedly nutritious; industrially-produced carrageenan is a highly processed ingredient that is extracted using alkaline solvents” (littlebigcat)
Dr. Hofve posed an interesting question: “[Since] The feline stomach environment is extremely acidic; could this make carrageenan especially dangerous for them compared to humans?” Could carrageenan be a factor in IBD, food intolerance, and the skyrocketing rates of cancer and diabetes in cats?” Sir Hubble has IBD – and we were becoming highly concerned that additive might indeed exacerbate his tummy problems and cause pancreatitis attacks. But I digress . . . .
My husband and I went to our local Petco to buy a brand of cat food that’s devoid of carrageenan, grain and meat by-products which I discovered after extensive research. We bought the food and being naturally curious ambled over to the feline adoption area. And there he was – a little ball of black fluff, with patches of white under his neck, and on his belly. And was he ever talkative and friendly – reaching out to us through the bars of his cage. And after a staff person put him in our arms – for us it was a done-deal since we were both smitten with Poe, and it appeared he agreed wholeheartedly.
But Petco was not the adoption agency so we had to call the shelter, Angels have Whiskers to be sure he was available. After a rather lengthy phone call interview with Cherie Stockholm, the shelter owner, she decided that we were very suitable adopters, and within two hours we were taking Poe home, safely ensconced in a carrier.
He is amazing! He chirps, he snuggles, he kisses, he fetches – he adores us and we adore him right back. He will be in isolation in our bedroom for the next 10 days, but that’s ok- we get to spend a great deal of time playing and loving on him. He is a happy kitten – and we are new happy pawrents to an adorable, intelligent, insatiably curious kitten. But just so you know, we are still looking for that imperfect pedigreed kitten to keep Sir Hubble and Edgar Allen Poe company.
Are you stunned by our change of heart? Do you think Sir Hubble will accept him?
Please comment on Facebook to spread the word. Please click “Also post on Facebook”. Thanks:
I had a similar black kitten steal my heart many years ago, Theta. My kids probably remember her, though she was a senior citizen by the time , Drew came along. She and my most precious and VERY affectionate cats I grew up with, Candy and Debbie, were females. We had more females than males over the years and my mom always had females So my experience is that there are affectionate cats of both genders and why ignore half of the possible kitten population because of bias against females. It’s like being biased towards Oriental and Rex cats. You stepped outside the breed box, why not consider a girl?
He is such a sweetie- and we will slowly be transitioning him to raw in the near future- but very slowly. He gets no supermarket foods and will stop all dry food also slowly. Nothing quick about doing anything for him..
He is very impatient to get out of his “prison” where he gets played with several times a day. So far his favorite is the feathers on a wand- he is an amazing jumper. He also LOVES drinking water from the sink as long as there is a small stream of water flowing. He is not keen on drinking from his water bowl where he gets bottled water.. SIGH. But I bet he will love the water fountain once we get it put together. We are totally in love with this little guy. His purr is amazing.