Lucy is looking for her new family

[Arianwen]

I think I just accidentally deleted a post!!

Helios would fly out of a shelter here because he is such an unusual colour - he would move faster than either a Siamese looking cat or even a pure bred.

[Arianwen]

Originally Posted by Arianwen

I think I just accidentally deleted a post!!

Helios would fly out of a shelter here because he is such an unusual colour - he would move faster than either a Siamese looking cat or even a pure bred.

Meant to add, what you call orange tabbies (and tabbies in general) get rehomes much faster than pure blacks or black and white combos - I don't understand this at all.

[dt8thd]

Originally Posted by jadis

I keep getting comments that Daphne has a mean looking face and that torties are mean. She is not mean at all, and I'm thinking about saying something like "I may be a tortie but I don't have any "tortietude" or something like that.

I'm sure it's disheartening to get comments like that; I know it would bug me. My tortie Autumn was a feral only 4 1/2 months ago, and she's such an affectionate, people loving cat--not aggressive or mean at all! But, obviously, some people have preconceived ideas about torties, so as much as I don't like the idea of labelling her as "not your typical tortie" with the implication being that torties are inherently difficult cats, I think it's probably a good idea to specifically address the stereotype if people keep going out of their way to comment on it.

[jadis]

Arianwen, orange cats go fast here too, along with siamese looking and long haired cats. Bonnie has been with us longer than any other siamese. The only thing I can think is that people are put off by her slightly older age. I was saying 3-5, but now I'm just saying young adult.

dt8thd, the cat in your avatar is very cute. I have had 3 torties and none of them were mean, it's crazy how ideas like that get started. The one I have now is an exceptionally sweet cat.

[3furbabies]

She's gorgeous!!! I agree that it mostly has to do with looks. When I adopted my first cat Sophie, one of her cage mates was a black and white kitten with bad markings but was so sweet. Kittens came and go but she was there from the time she was 8 weeks to 4.5 months because she wasn't considered pretty. Two weeks later I adopted her.

At shelters here any cat with blue eyes is either labelled a Siamese, ragdoll, Balinese, etc even though they arnt even close to purebred. It's marketing and it works .


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[Venusworld21]

Yep, it's all marketing. A friend of mine who does rescue told me to advertise Helios as a Russian Blue. I didn't, but if we were going back to the shelter for adoption, I might have.

Around here orange tabbys are pretty highly sought after (I have a waiting list of people I know who want one, if I get in any fosters matching that description). "Siamese" marked cats are very popular. After that would be gray (like helios) white (solid white), long haired cats, calicos, "patchy" colors (black and white, gray and white, orange and white), tabbys, torties and then solid black. Age and sex matter to some people.

[Carmel]

It sort of sounds like it should be straight forward writing an adoption page, but after reading this I see it's really important how you market them. Venusworld21, you had some great insight here, thank you for sharing! Guidelines like that should probably made a sticky in this area of the forum, it's valuable insight.

I'm surprised that orange cats are sought after... they seem like a fairly common color, don't they? Wouldn't pointed markings be the most popular? I notice at the cat sanctuary (of 700 cats) there's probably only 10-20 pointed ones, of those I'd imagine most ended up there because of behavioral traits hindering adoption. Of course the poor black beauties are always dead last.

[Venusworld21]

They are somewhat common, but they are also most sought after, in my experience. EVERYONE in my life knows I foster, but the only cats I have people lining up to adopt are orange tabbys. I have 4 people on the list looking for them. I have two people on the list besides that....one just wants a female (she found me after the females in my most recent litter were adopted) and the other one doesn't want a cat until spring (he adopted one from my last litter and will want to get her a playmate then). It's almost bizarre how much people (at least here) love the orange stripey ones.

[dt8thd]

Originally Posted by jadis

dt8thd, the cat in your avatar is very cute. I have had 3 torties and none of them were mean, it's crazy how ideas like that get started. The one I have now is an exceptionally sweet cat.

Thank you. That's Miss Autumn, the previously feral tortie. Incidentally, when I googled "tortoiseshell cat" this article was the 3rd result from the top:

People believe tortoiseshell cats are "aloof" and "intolerant," study finds

And, yet, the cats wouldn't care if you looked like the "Elephant Man".

Venus: I did mention to my aunt that Helios was looking for a home, but she doesn't think now is the right time for her to get a new cat. Hopefully he finds a good home soon.

[jadis]

Yeah, the flip side of the "torties are mean" idea is that alot of people also say orange cats are nicer and more affectionate.