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What do you think? Any set notions? There's bound to be some personality characteristics that are prevalent in specific cat breeds but as far as your average domestic short hair, do you tend to judge them by color or markings?

Can You Judge A Cat By Its Color?

I've had all sorts over the years... I believe It's more down to type and breed.

Persians for eg are Incredibly slow and stupid. Where as I once had a Tabby that was capable of unpicking locks.

I've never owned a purebred cat so I don't really have a frame of reference to have an opinion on them. All of the cats I've ever had from childhood until now have always been your ordinary domestic short hair. I'm partial to tabbies because the ones I've had have always been such characters. Now, having said that, I had a solid black cat for 17 years that was incredibly loving & sweet & ruled the roost in his own classic passive/aggressive way.

If I went to an animal shelter today to adopt a cat, I'm not sure I'd judge it by its color. I think ultimately it would come down to how it responded to me and vice versa.

If I went to an animal shelter now I'd just take the oldest.... they are the one's who get over-looked.

This Tabby I had.... I swear he was a Lion crossed with a Greyhound. An Intelligence so frightening, I found myself hiding my credit cards when I went to bed just In case.

My Persian stares at walls.

Good choice, Oscar! That's how I got my orange tabby. She was on the "short timers" list at the animal shelter, meaning she was due to be euthanized within 3 days if not adopted. Everyone wants kittens and the older cats just can't compete. She wasn't old though, just about one year old but in terms of cuteness, she was past it kitten-wise. She's a ray of sunshine and I'm so glad we chose her!

The same goes for adult dogs as well!

Historically, I've rarely bought a kitten except for ' Squit ' a dear little long haired tabby.

I took the older one's from the RSPCA who are a kill shelter.

When I lived In Sussex, the Brighton RSPCA guys would bring me the one's who they had got attached to but no-body wanted. The trick was to place them with me for 6 weeks and then back to the shelter where they got a reprieve as a new Intake for another 12 weeks but more often than not the one's who had no chance of getting a home such as McVitie a deformed Maine **** who had epileptic fits, I'd end up keeping.

I had 14 at one stage but then I had a much much bigger house.

In Bristol, I do still take the odd casualty because It's more economical for them to give you free vets treatment If you're willing to nurse an animal back to health than them tending to It 24/7.

The worst case of neglect I ever saw was my Persian Peanut who was used as a breeding machine. It took me months to nurse her and even then she never fully recovered because she was so malnurished..... with her I took two pedigree Bengals who had also been used as breeding machines.... omg... never again... they were a heap of trouble and even attacked my dogs but I did get them re-homed with people who knew the breed.

It's great that you've done so much work for them, Oscar! The animal world owes you a lot! :-4

While I myself don't judge a cat by its' color, there are certainly a

lot out there who do, in particular the black cats. Our local shelter

last Friday had a promotion going on called "Black Cat Friday" and every

black cat was free to adopt. They are what I would call a low kill

shelter, but they always say black cats (and dogs) are the hardest to

adopt out. Of course people still go by those horrendous old superstitions

that black cats are bad luck.

I'm at my limit w/ 3 cats as it is, but I sure do wish I could adopt a lot more!

Black cats are my favorites and I've made a point of adopting them for many years now but there have been no similarities in any of their personalities. I do think orange tabbies tend to be strange though.

valerie;1411380 wrote: While I myself don't judge a cat by its' color, there are certainly a

lot out there who do, in particular the black cats. Our local shelter

last Friday had a promotion going on called "Black Cat Friday" and every

black cat was free to adopt. They are what I would call a low kill

shelter, but they always say black cats (and dogs) are the hardest to

adopt out. Of course people still go by those horrendous old superstitions

that black cats are bad luck.

I'm at my limit w/ 3 cats as it is, but I sure do wish I could adopt a lot more!


It's a co-Incidence you mentioning black cats Val because ' The Barking Army ' who raise the alerts to which cats and dogs are available for adoption put a post on Facebook only recently asking folk to ' Look twice' when they go to the shelters to chose a cat or dog because apparently black one's become Invisible to the eye and they get over-looked.

I put a lot of thought Into this question given the various types, colours and breed I have had over the years.... and I still believe It's down to type not colour. I found myself that the cat also depended on the level of abuse they had under-gone as mine were In the main rescue.

One I took ' Sinbin' was a huge brute of a black cat.... he arrived after rescue had performed surgery for broken ribs, broken jaw, ripped anus ( yep It makes you wonder eh ) and a head wound.... he arrived with metal rods and bolts sticking out of his jaw because his jaw had been shattered.... he needed a mountain of TLC but once he finally recovered, he became the most loving animal I knew... I decided to keep him and he ended up living to 22 years old before I had to let him go to sleep... the surgery made his face deformed and he used to frighten small children....

That poor little man. If he had been abused, I really hope karma is in play and the abuser gets it back tenfold.

SnoozeAgain;1411464 wrote: That poor little man. If he had been abused, I really hope karma is in play and the abuser gets it back tenfold.


It was estimated he was about 9 years old when he was found wandering the streets like that. So he had 13 good loving years from me and Peter. He really was an absolute sweetie. I got some pics of him somewhere I'll find tomorrow night... the jaw surgery did leave his face badly deformed and he dribbled food everywhere when he ate.... Yeah I hope Karma has knocked on the door of the arssewipe who did that to him.

This may Interest our cat people here:

Not the prettiest cat but the most affectionate: The Sphynx tops the polls when it comes to the friendliest feline | Mail Online

I have three cats...the only time I judge a cat by appearance is a Maine **** Cat. I have never seen one that WASN'T even-tempered & usually pretty friendly. (Mine swims, walks on a leash, rides in the car, and comes when called...but Maya is pretty weird.)