I've had more bad experiences with vet staff than I care to admit. This vet wasn't my regular, but is a new vet that the regular hired to help out. His business is growing at an alarming rate. I'm so annoyed that I am pretty close to checking out other options. I have a name of one recommended by a friend with cats and she's very particular, so I might give that a try.

And yes, back on topic, we are talking to the neighbor of a friend who has an unneutered male, very pretty fluffy moggy, who is definitely a clean housecat. that would be preferable for all sorts of reasons, not least of which being the disease issue but also for getting to assess his temperament and such.

I haven't read the whole thread yet sorry..........

But i have to comment....just because the parent(s) have super temperents..it does not mean that the young will.

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Always in my head, always in my heart..i'll miss you forever. You should be here with me. Mummy. xxx

Interesting. I thought with dog breeding temperament was a consideration, so I assumed the same would hold true with cats. My bad. So, I should be more concerned with physical attributes and such? And of course lack of diseases in the tom (she's clean)?

Personally I think temperament is paramount - if the cats are grotty I wouldn't consider breeding them - no, good temperament isn't guarenteed but it blooming well helps if mum and dad are nice. A lot of cat temperament is how they are brought up but if mum is a grotty moo then the kittens are more likely to be a grotty moo. Nice mum, more likely for the kittens to copy her behaviour and be nice themselves. I wouldn't mate my birman to a horrid, aggressive or overly scared cat. GO for temperament as a large consideration in my book.

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Nice parents isn't a guarantee of nice kittens, that's true - but like spid says, some behaviour does seem to run in the family. Whether it's "nature or nurture", ie whether they're genetically predisposed to being friendly/mean or learn it from watching mum, I don't know. But I know I wouldn't breed from an aggressive cat just like I wouldn't breed from one with a genetic illness.

Having said that, the last litter of kittens I had started doing things that their mum hasn't done since she was a kitten and therefore they hadn't seen her do - such as taking a flying leap onto your shoulder to chew your hair, or sucking their own tails when they're bored (which they too grew out of). None of my other adult cats do those things. And I know they're not unique things and that many other cats and kittens do them, but the similarity to momma-cat was really striking.

dagny0823 - I would take everything into account, personality as well as phsyical attributes and health. Your neighbour's cat sounds like a good option as he's not been able to go outside and have his way with every girl in the neighbourhood and catch anything nasty! Saikou raises a good point though, he might decide to act more like a man once he realises what he's been missing - eg spraying in the house, becoming a bit more aggressive etc.