What do you look for when purchasing a cat?

Which features rank highest on your list of requirements and nice to haves?

I don't know how you screen for this (possibly gender?) but there is a wide variation in bird slaughtering propensity.  Even if you don't care about the welfare of the birds, owning a bird-hungry cat is a massive PITA.

What Wang said. But also, given the black ones are hardest to rehome because people are idiots, I’d lean towards one of those. Plus they’re insanely cool little panther gods. And make you feel a bit witchy-like.

What Wang said on both counts.  Otherwise, the one that's been at the shelter the longest.

But also, given the black ones are hardest to rehome because people are idiots

I've always wanted a black cat! I'd name it Gigi after the cat in Kiki's Delivery Service.

They've always been given away or turned up. Don't think I would ever buy one, there are so many in rescue places. Having said that, I don't know how insane they are about vetting with cats, have only ever dealt with them for dogs. I suspect many people who buy pups and kittens try the animal centres first. They keep themselves in business for sure.

Most contributors on ROF are at an age where there is a high probability a kitten would live longer. 

 

Unless you like the idea of your cat feasting on your decaying corpse, rescue centres it is then.

What is this purchasing of a cat thing? Don't think we have ever done purchasing in my family. Cat just decided to move in or was a kitten from someone we knew.

I must confess to rather liking the looks of a tabby.  There's something in that variegated grey/brown and stripey coat that harks back to the distant past, when the ancestors of modern moggies stole soft-footed out of the Egyptian desert towards the granaries  that stored the surplus of agriculture, and the rodents they attracted.   

evicts protesting tabby off laptop

I adore white cats. My mum had a white cat who was deaf, she said it’s really common in white ones. 
 

My little white cat got skin cancer and had her ears chopped off so she looked like a little otter. Vet told me in summer they should have factor fifty on the tips of their ears. 

We had a deaf cat. Put a bell round its neck and it didn't stand a chance of catching any birds. It got run over sadly.

Yes, very sad. Didn't hear the vehicle approaching, maybe?

Or those cute little kittens who come up to your table in Italy. Aww. It's hungry. Give it a bit of pasta. Then they hiss at you and turn to reveal half their face is missing and they shit on your doormat. Don't feed cats on holiday. Cat mafia.

Two of ours were rehomes one is a purchase. We wanted mini leopards for their crackers personalities and haven’t been disappointed! They’re very chatty, obstinate, opinionated and loving in different ways.