Dear Miss Behavin’:

My friend and I have been debating the best cat breeds to adopt. She thinks Maine Coons are perfect and I love Torties! Any thoughts on which breeds are the best to adopt?

That’s actually a pretty tricky question. Cats come in all sorts of breeds, and there is a wide variety available for adoption, whether through animal shelters, rescues, and breeders. Certain cat breeds may have specific physical characteristics and behavior; although each cat will have its own unique personality.

Depending on where you plan on adopting, the cats may be designated based on their specific breed or their common color pattern if breed identification is too difficult or ambiguous. Quite a few rescues are breed specific and may have more purebred cats for adoption than an animal shelter. However, a few common cat colorations that can be found in an animal shelter include tabbies, calicos, tortoiseshell, tuxedos, and a variety of seal and lynx points. There are plenty of personality stereotypes given to cats with these colorations. Some include that calicos and tortoiseshells tend to be sassier or have more attitude, while tabbies are generally more affectionate and social.

In terms of breed, here are some interesting facts about some of the most common cat breeds:

  • Maine Coon – one of the largest cat breeds, tends to be social, talkative in a chirping fashion, with a dog-like personality
  • Ragdoll – relatively calm and easy-going, especially with physical handling; similar to the Maine Coon they like to be close to their owners
  • Persian – flat faced, calm and quite dignified temperament
  • Bengal – very very chatty, tends to have something to say more often than not, regal colorations, friendly though may prefer to be the only cat in the home
  • Manx – has either a stub for a tail or is completely tailless due to a genetic mutation, can result in issues with the spine and lower body; social and prefers to stay close to its owners
  • Siamese – affectionately called Meezers, can be social but attach to a single owner, can suffer from depression and tend to be adopted in pairs
  • Russian Blue – reserved though friendly, likes to play games, good memory for faces, tend to have green eyes versus the copper eyed British Blue