That is my feeling as well.

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Lauren

Don't Shop Adopt! - Stop Puppy Farming

Battery Farmed Dogs Campaign (Puppy Farming)

So where is the gene for temperament? Which is dominant and which is recessive out of good and bad? My whole point is that it isn't as simple as black or white fur. Personality traits are at least polygenic at their simplest.

Who said it was a simple inheritance ?

I was making the point that it is possible to alter years of breeding with the wrong choice of cat in one generation, due to bad genetics, a fact which you said was unlikely in the case of puppy breeders.

I would think personality/temperament is almost definitely polygenic.
The mix defines the personality to some extent and the environment shapes it, is my opinion.

I think that personality/temperament is something which breeders should take account of in their breeding animals and not assume that they can sort it out with their own stamp on the kittens.

I feel that in general, in most established breeds, cats are of good temperament and it is not an issue as far as most breeders are concerned. Even if the stud or dam is a bit feisty, the problem gets ironed out as there are enough with "good" genes to lessen the impact.
However in any breed that loses its focus and will breed anything as long as it meets breed standard or it has the wow factor, then that may be a different matter.

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Lauren

Don't Shop Adopt! - Stop Puppy Farming

Battery Farmed Dogs Campaign (Puppy Farming)

My kittens never mixed with their father but both the silver shaded kittens inherited his habit of padding their paws, purring and sucking their foreleg at the same time. He is 17 months old now and still does it and both kittens are 5 months and still do it.

It's not a learned behaviour as they did not witness him doing it, the other kittens don't do it and mother doesn't do it. Therefore to me it points to some facets of a cats personality and behaviour being genetic......

I obviously didn't explain it properly. It is extremely simple with a recessive gene which causes a health fault - two beings both carrying a recessive gene means a 1 in 4 chance of that problem manifesting itself. What doesn't seem reasonable is that the same can be said of the whole genetic soup which will determines personality tendencies. That's what they are, tendencies ready to be moulded one way or the other by the environment.

oh dear god that man is vile and cruel its a pity it wasnt him one of his tigers mauled instead of the keeper

imo nurture only plays a part in a cats or any animals temperament, breeding from animals with sound dispositions is vital.

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"If the wolf is to survive, the wolf haters must be outnumbered. They must be outshouted, out financed, and out voted. Their narrow and biased attitude must be outweighed by an attitude based on an understanding of natural processes."
L David Mech

We have doomed the Wolf not for what it is, but for what we have deliberately and mistakenly perceived it to be..the mythologized epitome of a savage, ruthless killer..which is, in reality no more than a reflexed images of ourself." -Farley Mowat