Cats Protection is one of the UK's premier cat rescue organisations entirely based on foster caring. And they are able to tell us that there has been a surge in the purchase of purebred cats over moggies. I normally refer to "adopting" cats but you have to purchase a purebred cat. Obviously it's an adoption as well but it is also a big and quite expensive purchase which might amount to several thousand pounds and more.
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| Taylor Swift and her Ragdoll Benjamin Button. She is the world's biggest influencer and has enormous powers to change the attitudes of today's young and old alike. Image: her Instagram pages. |
And according to Cats Protection, on their website, based upon a report from the charity Cats and Their Stats, 45% of all cats acquired between March 2023 and March 2024 in the UK were pedigree or purebred cats at 715,000 while non-purebred cats i.e. moggies amounted to 685,000. The remainder they say are made up with "cross-breed cats". I believe that's a reference to hybrid cats such as the wildcat hybrids.
They tell us that this is the first time that pedigree cats have overtaken moggies and it's a "complete reversal from three years ago when an estimated 715,000 moggy cats and 490,000 pedigrees were purchased respectively (51% and 35%).
They suggest that the surge in purchasing a purebred cats may be due to the influence of social media with many celebrities flaunting their latest acquisitions. My mind immediately turns to Taylor Swift and her beautiful cats which are, as I recall, a Ragdoll cat and two Scottish Fold cats (see below). She influences many millions of people. It would not surprise me if she alone had changed the attitudes of people wishing to adopt a cat.
I have always argued - and this is entirely my opinion - that high-profile celebrities like Taylor Swift have a duty to adopt healthy cats and the Scottish Fold is not a healthy cat. I believe that she is doing the public a disservice although I don't want to criticise her. There is a big argument that the Scottish Fold should not have been created as a purebred cat in the first place because of its inherited health problems (it is 'torture breeding').
Cats Protection wisely tell us - and of course I agree - that either the influencers and celebrities are unaware of the hidden health risks of some breeds with extreme characteristics and/or the buying public is often unaware of the health risks of some breeds with extreme characteristics. Or they don't care! 😎😉
It's important that the purchasing public of purebred cats to their homework. Some cat breeds are healthier than others. And with an inherently unhealthy fancy cat you take on the expense of veterinary treatments. And you take on the expense of pet healthcare. I'm talking here of what can be the heavy expense of looking after a purebred cat which should be budgeted in when considering adopting a purebred cat. There has been a high number of abandonments of purebred cats to shelters post-Covid.
A good example about inherited diseases will be a recent infographic I created on the extreme-bred Persian cat with the flat-face. This contemporary Persian cat has, as I recall, 14 inherited diseases. Or at least potential inherited diseases. It's important that each person who wants to adopt a purebred cat does their homework and this website has a lot of articles on the inherited diseases of purebred cats which can be accessed and found using the search facility at the side of the page.
Taylor Swift's cats:
Taylor Swift has three famous cats:
- Meredith Grey – a Scottish Fold, named after the character from Grey's Anatomy.
- Olivia Benson – another Scottish Fold, named after the character from Law & Order: SVU.
- Benjamin Button – a Ragdoll cat, whom she adopted after filming the ME! music video in 2019.
Her cats are often featured in her social media posts and have become quite well-known among her fans!
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