The long and the short of it !

[Roughquest]

I purchsed a kitten last august, I saw his parents which were both half persian and had wonderful long haired coats, my question is I am worried he wont be a long haired cat now, he is 8 months old and although his coat is really silky and slightly fluffy will he just be a shorthaired cat ? Will he 'grow' into his coat ?

Roughquest

[maggie01]

Can't really answer the queston but if you love him does it really matter? I don't mean to sound flippant!

[Roughquest]

That doesnt help. I was merely asking a question of curiosity, I paid �70 for him ! So I am expecting some sort of length in his coat to develop.

Thanks anyway.

RQ

[lankeela]

Surely this depends on what the other 'halves' of his parents were. If they were both short coated (probably the local moggie) then he will have inherited half of his genes from each parent, which will in turn have inherited half their genes from their parents. Therefore only two quarters of his breeding are long coated and two quarters short coated. In other words 50/50 whether he has a long coat.

I would have thought by this age it would have grown to the length it will be as an adult.

More fool you for paying this sort of money for what is essentialy a mongrel cat - there are hundreds of kittens needing homes for free that you could have had.

[drgnrdr]

I will agree with both responses, he is 50/50 and depending on which genes are recessive and which are dominant that will decide what your cat will look like. I would think his hair should be in by now, unless someone can get on here and say different. Your expectation may not meet the price you paid for a mix breed cat, or what you all call "moggies"?, if I wanted a long hair cat I would have made sure to get a cat with both parents are long hair to be some what sure. But I do believe you would've had to pay for that breeding.

caveat emptor.. but I'm sure he's lovely all the same...

[Roughquest]

Thank you for all your answers - he is a lovely cat and I was merely asking a question.

Lankeela - I never posted a question for my persona to be judged by you. For your information I purchased a kitten from the Blue Cross last year and he was poisoned 6 weeks later.....he cost me �55, plus �30 for vaccinations and another �105 pounds for vets fees to try and get him over the posion...to which it was too late, that broke my heart. So think again before you post such a hurtful comment, I can assure you I am no fool my dear. As for getting 'animals' for free, i would pay any price if I liked the animal, getting an animal for free is adding insult to injury. Actually buying a pet makes most people think twice about purchasing one in the long run for their children etc especially at Xmas time as you know there is enough cruelty in the world.

[lankeela]

Sorry I do not agree that buying a pet makes people more responsible - you only have to look at the amount of pedigree dogs (and cats) in rescue centres. Also a lot of people who buy pedigree dogs try to make money from them by breeding from them without knowing what is involved and without bothering to do such things as health checks.

As drgnrdr said you should have gone for a purebred if you wanted a cat just for its long coat.

[Roughquest]

Get off your soap box my dear. You are totally straying from the point in question my original posting. You need to vent your concerns on another post and get it off your chest...