Which do you prefer?
Please note that what follows is not intended as a criticism or dig at anyone. I'm merely looking at something which, as a cat rescuer, puzzles me a little.
People who want a cat or a kitten fall into one of three groups.
They just want a cat or a kitten.
They want a boy cat or kitten.
They want a girl cat or kitten.
It's the second and third groups which puzzle me. I've been a cat owner for over 60 years (if a 3 year old can own a cat that is) and there isn't really much difference between them, certainly not once they've neutered/spayed. I currently have four adult cats, two of each sex, plus 3 male kitten-cats and two female kitten-cats.
Aoife and Max and both big black cats who like people but aren't terribly fond of other cats.
Aelfric and Fifi look completely different but are very wary of people they don't know and both are fine with the kittens and other cats.
I can't say that over the years I haven't noticed any difference between cats on the basis of sex because I have. However, it's statistically a very small difference. Shall we say that there's a 53% chance that a neutered male is going to be more placid and even tempered than a female? Because that's really about it.
Here's a real statistic I can throw at you. Over the year the population of our cat rescue has been around 65% female to 35% male. In other words, female cats are more likely, on this small sample, to need a new home than male cats. It might be completely different for another rescue, I don't know.
All of which proves precisely nothing. I just thought I'd mention it. If you're thinking of coming to me for a cat, please don't feel embarrassed about expressing a preference. Recently I was asked if we had a long haired tortoiseshell female kitten. I suggested he might be better off approaching a breeder (the first time I've ever done that) than a rescue.
No comments:
Post a Comment