What are some good short haired indoor cat breeds?
Okay so, I'm allowed to get a kitten but it has to be short haired and able to be a completely indoor cat. Anyone know any good breeds?
My step dad wont let us get one from a shelter :/ We've already tried. It has to be from a breeder.
I live in Australia if that helps any, and the price doesn't matter
Public Comments
1. Domestic short hair. They're inexpensive - you can find one at your local shelter for usually under $100 that comes already spayed or neutered, possibly microchipped, dewormed and with at least their first set of vaccines depending on the age. It's a hardy little breed that comes in every colour imaginable. There's no set personality for them, but usually a well-raised kitten who is socialized properly right from the beginning will be a sweet-natured pet.EDIT: Calico is a colour, not a breed.
Look into the Siamese. A well-bred Siamese is playful and good-natured. The biggest draw for me with these guys is life expectancy - while many purebreds have a shorter life expectancy than domestics, Siamese are known for going into their late teens and early 20s. Whatever breed you decide on, make sure you do your research and go to a reputable breeder. A reputable breeder will offer you a health guarantee and have you sign a contract. The contract requires at LEAST spay/neuter, and will often include restrictions such as the cat being kept indoors and not being declawed. They should both be showing their cats and screening them against diseases common to that breed.
2. Try the american curl. They're cute, short haired and can be kept indoors. Don't under any circumstances get a Bengal cat or a savannah. They are beautiful and have wonderous colors on their coat, but they like to always roam around and when kept indoors will go mad! I once had a bengal who was kept indoors and ran away because he wanted to be outdoors, and now lives with the neighbor down the block, who lets him come and go :(
3. A shorty haired calico they are cute and love to cuddle but the downside is they can be expensive ranging from $200-$340
4. Any cat can (and should be) completely indoors. Any number of short haired breeds it all depends on what you are looking for in a cat. Research the various breeds and see which is right for you. Hope your step dad is prepared to pay $600-800+ for the pedigree cat he wants.
Add: Calico is a color not a breed. Noting expensive about them, you could go pick up a dozen from free to good home adds or at the local shelter for the shelter adoption fee they are very common.
5. First I will suggest that you visit a cat show, which will give you a chance to meet a lot of breeds in person and talk to breeders and owners of those cats. There are show calendars on the websites of TICA, CFA and ACFA.
Now I will push my own fave breed: Siamese! they're great family cats since they're very people-oriented and loving AND very playful, active and athletic.. They love and need human attention and will follow you around and want to be involved in everything. And they're fine with being an indoor cat if they have places to climb and jump and run inside and you play with them every day. Mine love wand toys. They can be very vocal and they have a very unusual voice that some people compare to a human baby.
Real Siamese have very short single coats (no undercoat) that lie flat against their body. So they don't shed as much as the average domestic cat, either, (Of course there is no cat that doesn't shed at all except those that are totally hairless.)
There are 2 basic types of Siamese and the above info applies to both. Same distant ancestors, same kind of personality, but different looks -- one is really just a more extreme version of the other.
> -the modern type which is the current breed standard, the result of many years of selective breeding for very elongated, slender, fine boned cats with "tubular" bodies, triangular heads and big ears,.and very very short coats .
> the older type of Siamese, which are now shown as the "Thai" in TICA. These are how the Siamese used to look in the late 19th - early 20th century, and how a large percent of them looked up through the 1960s. They're more long-bodied, & long legged than the average Western cat but less extreme than the modern type Siamese or Oriental. They have heads that are a more moderate version with rounded cheek bones but then a pointed muzzle. They also have short to very short coats with no undercoat, but not quite as "painted on" looking as the modern style. .
CFA Siamese breed profile http://www.cfa.org/Client/breedSiamese.aspx
TICA Siamese breed intro http://www.tica.org/public/breeds/si/intro.php
TICA Thai (this = the older type of Siamese) http://www.tica.org/public/breeds/th/intro.php
Breeders list from the National Siamese Cat Club (this is the modern wedgie type meezers) http://www.nationalsiamese.com/listings.htm
Breeders list from the breed club PREOSSIA (Prestwick-Beresford Old Style Siamese Breed Preservation Society). and of course this is the older type meezers. http://home.comcast.net/~bevjoe3/preossia/brdlist.html
If you like the body type of the modern Siamese but want a cat in other colours/ patterns, check out the Oriental.
Burmese are also very people-oriented, sweet cats, similar to Siamese but not quite so much on overdrive, LOL. And Tonkinese are a mix between Burmese and Siamese.
Another wonderful old breed is Abyssinian. they are playful and energetic like Siamese but tend not to be as loud. They somehow manage to be both stunning and extremely cute.
If you like a more laid back, calm cat with a more robust, cobby build, consider British Shorthair, Exotic Shorthair, or Chartreux.
You can look up on the TICA and CFA sites for more info on these and other breeds. There is a site FBRL that has breeder listings that is a good place to start looking. But for Siamese I really do recommend you use one of the breeder lists above because there are some listed on FBRL that I really would NOT recommend and rather than name names I will just say go through the NSCC or PREOSSIA.
6. And your step dad is going to pay the minimum $600 to buy a pedigreed kitten and then another $300 or so to get it altered, up to date on shots, etc?
ANY breed can - and should - stay indoors. When you buy a cat from a breeder you sign a contract stating that the cat will not be allowed to free roam.
What's with your snotty step dad? I'm sure he's far from purebred.
