Probably a lot of you are already familiar with this, but I thought I'd post here in case any of you aren't...

"Kitten Lady" is a young lady who basically devotes her life to saving kittens in need (special needs, abandoned etc). She's become kind of a celebrity advocate, she was on one of the "My Cat From Hell" episodes (which is one of my all-time favorite episodes):

https://www.animalplanet.com/tv-shows/m ... in-the-car

Now she has very popular facebook and Instagram sites, as well as a really awesome youtube channel, where she basically documents all of her rescues, and ultimate re-homing adventures.

One of her current ones, "Hank" is a particularly neat story. She (yea, *she*) was brought into a pet store at like 5 days old, and they called in Kitten Lady who took over and is busy raising Hank (along with another full litter of kittens as well as her own cats). She documents the process and progress of her kitten rescues, and in doing so not only teaches a lot of people about this stuff, but also by the time the kittens are ready for a forever home they are all pretty much celebrity cats, with people lining up to adopt them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGnR9MFLmPA

Another really cool story is her raising a partially paralyzed cat "Chloe", who she raised and made famous. She raised her, got her lots of medical treatment, and found her seemingly a really good home.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VL4_nMNVBf0

It's cool stuff, I really enjoy keeping up with her escapades. Only downside? She really *hates* the whole idea of pure-bred cats. Hates, hates, hates!

Kinda understandable given her profession, but still she is just needlessly alienating a lot of would-be allies to her cause. Anyway... for those of you not familiar, enjoy. Then come back and discuss

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The little monsters 3

Wow. Thanks Brian. I wasn't aware of her. You've gotten me sucked in now amd I can't stop watching.
Chloe was amazing!

Thank you for posting this Brian, I wasn't familiar with this. Too bad the hate of pure bred cats gets tangled up in the whole shelter/adoption debate. The reason so many cats end up in shelters is caused by a throwaway attitude people have towards animals these days. Paying for a pet is not a bad thing in my opinion but a commitment you make towards an animal. Any animal, not purebreds per se. Something you get for free gets thrown away a lot easier if it isn't fulfilling expectations.

The answer lies in educating people and raising awareness about the commitment you make towards a pet and the responsibilities that go with it, That's what these shows do and i love them for it.

Responsible breeding isn't a bad thing. Owners of purebred pets are among the most dedicated and responsible pet owners I know. Forums like these have taught me so much about attitude towards pets and animals in general that I wish there was a wider audience that could profit from this knowledge. This is why I do hope the two sides can join forces some day.

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Linus & Rascal

Instagram: @snow_bengal_brothers #snow_bengal_brothers

Not sure how one, so intent on saving kitties, has time for all of that. My friend barely has time to take care of her cats and feed and give the medications, much less post videos. Plus she posts hundreds of items for auction every single month to raise money to care for her 200 cats.

I'm not a huge fan of purebred cats either. It seems bad to purposely breed cats when there are so many other cats needing a home. I would NEVER purchase a purebred cat (thankfully, Raiden was free). I know they are beautiful, but they are just a CAT! Mostly. LOL

And I still do not understand how Instagram works, period! There must be something.

My opinion is that there really doesn’t need to be a debate between breed vs adopt. It’s not an either/or thing and it would be a tragedy if we lost the ability to do one or the other. There’s always going to be a need for adoption, but of course the harder you push that, the more morons will adopt and the more need for rehoming will occur.

Breeders improve or at least keep lineages alive of extraordinary cats, including rare breeds. The world is definitely a better place for those efforts imo, and while breeders and buyers may not necessarily be participating in a solution to the cat overpopulation problem, they are not part of the problem either. How many members of this forum have also been cat shelter adopters? Virtually all of us. And I dare say that we contribute way way less to more cats getting conceived out in the wild and less rehoming than the rest of the cat owning population.

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The little monsters 3

All of my cats throughout the years have been strays that became family members or adopted through the local animal shelter -- except for Raiden. His owner wanted to re-home him but could not find any of his friends to take him. I was the guinea pig. LOL. There is nothing more beautiful than a purebred cat. And I am thankful that we have them and breeders to continue the lineage. However, when I see a breeder who just continuously breeds her queens without giving them a proper rest between litters because she wants the kittens, even though she has other queens who are put through the same regime, it really bothers me. TICA does not have any rules as to the # of litters a queen can produce per year. They recommend two, but then you have to deal with a female in heat a few times a year who does not get to get pregnant.

There are so many bengal breeders out there so there are thousands of cats being added to the breed annually. There are breeders who are unable to find homes for all their kittens and they are still trying to find homes for their 8 month olds. If the .... darn, even a thesaurus isn't helping me here -- desire to own a bengal is dwindling, then some breeders need to cut back on the litters. I find very few who end up with a waiting list for their next litter. And many have to drop their price just to find homes for their cats -- or they tend to not investigate the potential owners just to get the cat out so they have room for more.

Many bengal breeders have stopped breeding bengals and have turned to Savannah's. They sell for more money and they have early generations available. Once that market is glutted, who knows. I don't follow other breeds, unfortunately.

I just know there are hundreds of thousands of cats euthanized because they never find homes -- through no fault of their own. Rescues and shelters can't take them all in. So sad. I just love kitties and I can't bear to even see the strays in my neighborhood (who are at least fed by neighbors) because they have no one to love them.

I come from the rescue side of things, and this is a common attitude. Given what rescuers deal with as far as dumped pets, it's understandable. A particular purebred becomes fashionable, and then people realize they can't handle the animal and they dump it. There's actually a parrot crisis going on right now, with too many stranded birds and not enough people to take care of them.

Another really cool and extremely moving story... "Baby Badger".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snstmPvmFjg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93K6dNl2irM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zx-SAvK54AQ

There are updates as to how this turned out for Badger on Facebook and Instagram now

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The little monsters 3

I got to meet both Hannah and Andrew at an event in Chicago in May. They are as adorable and sweet in person as they are on the Internet. The Catcade is pretty awesome here and it was great to listen to their passion. Plus, Andrew gave us some GREAT tips about photographing furry nutjobs. His new book 'Cats on Catnip' is hilarious. And his Bengal is gorgeous.

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The little monsters 3