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Anonymous
Hey /an/ I wanna get a cat. Whats a good breed to get for a first time at owner?

My friend has this all grey cat that's always nice and seems pretty chill, what breeds that? (Not necessarily the one I wan)
>> Anonymous
>>333315
never

pet stores are a bunch of emo kiddie high schoolers who like to touch their no-no spots on the kittehs
>> Anonymous
>>333300
Get any fucking cat, it doesn't fucking matter
>> Anonymous
>>333315

Shelter.

Or find one outside.

There are a lot of kittens in the world. The principles of supply and demand has made kittens free in many markets.
>> Anonymous
don't buy from a pet store ever

fuck, just don't buy a cat period or you'll be a huge faggot
>> Weirded
>>333315

No, you should not get any kind of pets from pet stores, especially cats and dogs. They all come from puppy/kitten mills that mass-produce dogs and cats that live in awfule conditions with barely enough food and water, no vet care etc...

I would recommend getting your new pet from a local animal rescue or shelter, or a reputable breeder of the breed you want. But first, do your research and make sure you can handle the responsability of a cat. Research the different breeds, temperments, traits etc... Once you've done all the homework involved, go to the local animal shelter or a reputable breeder (not a backyard breeder, please).
>> Anonymous
>>333315

It depends on the pet store. I've worked in both a "big box" chain pet store and a tiny mom and pop pet store.

At the mom and pop store, we would take in kittens from random-ass people, vaccinate them, deworm them, and sell them. It was really no different than adopting an animal from the local shelter. We usually only had domestic shorthairs or longhairs, though (code word for feline "mutts")

The major chain that I worked for absolutely had kitten and puppy mill animals. They had all sorts of health problems.

Honestly, even though some pet stores are like the one where I worked, it's probably better to not take the chance. Go adopt a cat from the shelter.
>> Anonymous
I got one of my cats from a pet store (not intentionally looking for a pet, I just fell in love with her). I got my other cat from a shelter. The one from the pet store had no problems whatsoever. The one from the shelter started off with many health problems and needed to undergo emergency surgery days after we got him for an intestinal problem. On top of that, he had some eye problem and a respiratory infection so we were having to put ointment and eye drops in his eyes. He's healthy now, though.
>> Anonymous
Adopt from a shelter and don't worry about breed. Get a cat that appears friendly and playful with clear eyes and nose. If you're going to be out a lot and are planning on a kitten it wouldn't hurt to get 2, they will keep eachother company. Shelter cats need <3. A lot of times the shelter will include a neutering/spay/check up when you get it from them.
>> Anonymous
This is the reason why I love /an/ : most people have common sense and are compassionate and will tell you to adopt from a shelter.
All of you with sound advice should feel proud of yourselves.
>> Anonymous
Maine Coon. You can find them at shelters pretty easily. I found my orange one at the first shelter I visited. 3 year old poor fucker bawwing at me in his own cat way. I said fuck the stupid kittens and took him home. He turned out to be the most intelligent, playful, vocal, and entertaining cat I've had.

You should consider the adults at the shelters too. You can get lucky and get a badass cat.
>> Anonymous
To add onto what people have already said, breeds with cats don't matter NEARLY as much as dog breeds. Dog breeds are so different that different breeds of dog are like different animals, because they've been bred for hundreds of different duties. What's the duty of a cat? Either catch mice or sit around looking awesome. Any cat breed can do either depending on how it's raised. So cats have never been bred to have different personalities, just different looks.

That's not saying that cats DON'T have different personalities. It's just that you can't pick one breed of cat and have a good inclination about how its personality will be. (Though I've heard Siamese cats can be jerks) Anyway, as long as you raise the cat in a nice, calm environment, I'm sure that no matter the cat's initial personality, it will become calm and friendly.

Also, I know that my mom knew a guy who was going to have to pay to get a cat from a shelter. Quite a bit of money, too, like $100. All I'm saying is that you should check before you go to a shelter whether or not you'll have to pay for anything to get the cat.

If the shelter charges money, you could either get one from there or check the paper's classifieds, since they usually have a place where people advertise "FREE CATS" for people who want them.
>> Anonymous
READ THIS FIRST BEFORE YOU BUY, GET 2 CATS, NOT JUST 1, THIS IS SO THEY DONT GET BORED, AND DECIDE TO RUN AWAY / GO EXPLORING AND GET LOST.

Sorry for caps, but i want to make sure you read this. Bored kitty = Sad kitty :(

Personally, when i was chosing my cat, i was only going for a black and whtie one, my brother was going for a ginger one, I found one black and white cat all by himself, But my brother found about 5 kittens with 1 black and white, 1 ginger, So we got them. Even though i feel sad for letting all the other cats that wern't pick die (seems cruel when i put it that way), I love both my cats for there personality's are awesome, My black and white cat is the curious george kind (last year he took on a fking dog!...Dog won......

But we got a $4000 operation to keep him alive ( he just needed to screws inside his legs, joing to his hips, hes perfectly normal now, apart from the fact he sets off metal detecters, that completley fucked up our chance of moving to america). But i luv him all the same <3

Ginger cat , he's awesome too, The kind of hunter kind of cat. O how many birds he kills... and leaves the dead assholes under my bed...

But i luv him too,

All in all, Breed doesn't matter. My opinion. All cats have fun personalities, Some dont like to be picked up, You should respect that, I mean, Not all men like to wank, right?.

cat loves you == you loving the cat.
>> Anonymous
>>333586

100 bucks for a shelter cat isn't too bad, since most shelters I've been to have the cat spayed/neutered, micro chipped, and they give you a free vet visit on top of that.

Check to see what you're getting from the shelter for the cost of the animal, because honestly, you'd probably pay about $100 for any one of the services I listed above.
>> Anonymous
I'm sick of people thinking that EVERY pet store is AWFUL and mistreats all their animals or gets them from crappy places.

Most Petsmarts that I know of work with the local shelters to home both cats and dogs. Where their other small animals come from, I don't know. But I know that if you go to Petsmart and get a dog or a cat, you're most likely getting it from your local shelter.

The pet store I work at is independently owned, and like another person in this thread mentioned, getting a cat from us is NO different than getting one from the shelter. We take them in from anyone and anywhere, as long as they look mostly healthy and aren't eaten up by fleas anything. We take them to the vet, get them dewormed, vaccinated, and tested for feline leukemia, and there ya go. We're lucky if we make 5 or 10 bucks off of any kittens we sell. And we don't even sell dogs.

The only thing you shouldn't buy from a pet store is any kind of trendy puppy that they're asking 1000 bucks for. Cause that probably did come from a puppy mill.

tldr: Get a goddamn cat from the pet store. They're not all evil. If in doubt, ask where it came from (DUH)