“You’re getting a good deal when you go to the shelter,” Lisnik says.
#Kitty cat in teacup background from piano tiles 4 free#
At shelters, cats are already likely to be spayed or neutered, and sometimes the adoption cost even includes a free vet visit or two. While buying a teacup cat can set you back anywhere from $500 to $2,000, many shelters offer low or no-cost adoptions. “The majority of animals euthanized in shelters are cats by a large margin.”Īdopting a cat from a shelter not only potentially saves a life, it also saves you a lot of money. Cats are also more cautious by nature, which means they may strike potential adoptees as timid and undesirable. They’re stressful environments, where overcrowding can lead to illness and stress, she explains. “Shelters aren’t a great place for cats,” she says. “You’re not getting out of any of the responsibilities of owning a cat,” she says.Īs the director of cat protection and policy at The Humane Society, it’s perhaps no surprise that Lisnik is an advocate for adopting a cat from a shelter rather than purchasing one from a breeder. Normal-size cats are already well-suited to living in small spaces, Lisnik says, and reducing their size doesn’t reduce the amount of care they need. Dog lovers with limited mobility may also be excited about the prospect of owning a teacup-size pet, as well as those who can’t afford the large amounts of food and preventative medicines that a bigger dog may need.īut are there any benefits to owning a teacup cat? “I can’t think of one,” Brunt says. When it comes to dogs, some say breeding pups to be extra small may appeal to potential owners who live in condos or apartments with pet-size restrictions. “But if their body is not allowing them to exhibit those behaviors, I imagine it would be a big source of frustration.” Perceived Benefits of Owning a Teacup Cat
“They will have these instincts to run, jump, climb, and do all of the things a normal cat does,” Lisnik says. Regular exams are important to ensure teacup cats are as healthy as possible, Brunt says.įinally, Lisnik and Brunt say it is plausible that cats bred to be extra-small might also be extra-stressed, as their stature may limit their stamina and ability to act on predatory urges. Their smaller bones and joints also make them more predisposed to arthritis and injury. Teacup cats are also unable to regulate their body temperature as well as their regular-size peers, Brunt says. Regardless of pedigree, any cat bred to be teacup-size is more likely to suffer from oral and dental diseases. Making their kidneys even smaller could amplify that risk, she says. As a breed, Persians are also at an increased risk for developing polycystic kidney disease. Teacup-size Persians are also more likely to suffer from infections in the eye and nose, and jaw issues that affect their ability to properly chew food, Brunt says. “Those problems are even further exacerbated in a smaller cat,” Lisnik says.įor example, breeding a Persian cat’s snub nose to be even shorter can increase his risk of developing chronic respiratory issues, including asthma and breathing difficulties, she says. It could lead to genetic disorders and health concerns.” Health Risks for Teacup Catsĭo a Google search for “teacup cats for sale” and you’re likely to find a ton of breeders selling pint-size Persians.īut even at their normal size, the physical attributes that make the Persian breed of cats so cute can also make them more susceptible to certain health problems. “That’s one of our major concerns with breeding for purely physical attributes. Something is not quite working in the body,” says Katie Lisnik, director of cat protection and policy at The Humane Society of the United States.
“These cats were born runts for some reason. While some animals are naturally petite, others may be stunted in size because of health problems, disease, or undernourishment. But not all small cats are created equal. To make a cat that tiny typically involves mating an undersized male with an undersized female, she says. Some adult teacup cats weigh as little as 5 or 6 pounds, she says. Jane Brunt, a feline veterinarian at Cat Hospital at Towson in Baltimore, Maryland, and the executive director of The CATalyst Council, a group dedicated to promoting the health, welfare, and value of the companion cat. While most adult cats weigh around 9 to 10 pounds, teacup cats are bred to be about two-thirds that size, says Dr. Teacup cats are cats who have been bred to be as small as possible. Here’s what you need to know before spending big bucks on a tiny cat. But the breeding practices that go into creating such a small cat could lead to a host of health problems for the pet and a host of heartaches for the pet parent. Whether you call them teacup cats, dwarfs, or miniatures, there’s no denying the cuteness of these fun-size felines.
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