~*~ My LaPerms + other cats               ~*~

My LaPerm cats, originating from the female LaPerm that I purchased from Linda Koehl, are very submissive in nature, they are gentle and sensitive.  This is generally true of all of the LaPerms that have come from my breeding program.  It is more pronounced in some, and somewhat less apparent in others.  This description may sound like a LaPerm would be a perfect companion to your existing cat, but in my opinion, that is more likely to not be true at all

What I have found, is that even without any assertive action on the part of a cat of a different breed, it is often the case, that the LaPerm apparently still feels unsure, or even threatened, and a common demonstration of this by the LaPerm, is marking.  The LaPerms that come from my line, never openly assert themselves, and they are very unlikely to take an offensive position.  They are defensive, and they cower, back down, or flee when confronted by a confident or assertive cat, and they will growl or hiss defensively, not offensively.  The only way that LaPerms seem to assert themselves is by marking their bed, marking your bed, marking your favorite chair, or marking you.  It would seem to be the only way that they cling to something, in a fearful environment where another cat lives.  There need not be any aggressive, assertive, or dominant behavior by the other cat, this can apparently be presumed by the LaPerm, and acted on in this indirect, yet overt way.  Also, some cat breeds mark in the litter box.  The existing cat may be doing that, exerting dominance over the LaPerm in a less obvious way.  Sometimes the LaPerm will 'go', right outside the box, rather than in it.  This is not a lack of litter training, this is marking.

When I was connected with Linda, and my purchase of Nicolette, my LaPerm, made possible, I already had an existing rescue cat.  This was a 7 yr old small submissive spayed female, and I couldn’t imagine there would be any problems.  My 3 yr old new LaPerm, marked my bed under the covers, and cowered there.  This continued until I removed the rescue cat.  I put the rescue cat in a room (she marked too, on the place where I would often sit on the sofa), and I found her a nice new home.  *(The rescue cat is an example of what I don't want to happen to a Blest by God LaPerm - more information about this cat below.)

Once I had begun breeding, and had done so for a year or more, I brought some cats of another breed into my home, and introduced my LaPerms to them.  When I did so, I had multiple examples of what I described above take place.  I thought that the solution would be to raise up LaPerm babies with the non-LaPerm cats, and that way the LaPerm babies would know the other cats since birth, and surely there would not be any problems.  As the LaPerm kittens that I kept grew, there started to be some problems with fear and marking, even though the young LaPerms had always known the other cats.  I thought that spaying / neutering would take care of this, but I found that this was not usually the case.  I also noted that some of the more dominant non-LaPerm cats, acted differently toward these LaPerm kittens that they had always known, once the LaPerms matured.  I even discovered that a few of the LaPerm kittens that I thought were quite active and playful, were not actually that way at all when they were put with older, mellow adults.  The high activity level was apparently a ‘front’, and was defensive in nature toward the other cats, including other young LaPerms.  Those particular kittens were placed in homes where they are the only pet, and my descriptions of those kittens requested such.

As of the start of 2020, none of my LaPerms have been placed in homes with other cats, with the exception of several kittens that have gone to homes with adult cats that are Blest by God LaPerms.  In those several cases, the adult LaPerm and kitten LaPerm got along immediately, and bonded quickly.

Because of my findings as described above, I do not recommend a LaPerm from my breeding program be placed with any other cat except a LaPerm.

I feel very strongly about this, and I feel that it is in the best interest of my LaPerms to request that they not be placed with other non-LaPerm cats.  If a LaPerm is placed locally in a home that has another non-LaPerm cat(s), and if a return privilege is offered, it can be assumed that the deposit will be retained at a minimum should the kitten be returned, and there could be substantial damage to the LaPerm, resulting in an even lower refund amount.  Non-LaPerm cats can react to the fear exhibited by the LaPerm, and bite when they have never exhibited that sort of aggression before.  Bite wounds can be concealed and may only become apparent if and when infected.  Putting an assertive cat together with a submissive LaPerm can result in different sorts of unintended consequences.

In addition, if a LaPerm is shipped to a home that has another non-LaPerm cat, a health guarantee will not be offered, because the presence of another cat(s) can compromise the immune system of a young LaPerm due to stress.  A variety of health issues can result from that.

If you have an existing cat, thank you for considering what I have said here.

I do not have marking going on in my home, by the cats that are my pets, or my pets / breeding cats.  It has taken me a great amount of time and much accommodation to learn about this subject, and to accomplish the comfort necessary among my cats, such that they don't mark.  I sought and have received God's wisdom continually through my learning process, asking Him to show me who was marking and due to whom, if that was the case, and then asking Him what to do.  It is God who gives me guidance, and I continually look to Him to teach me.  LaPerms from my line simply cannot exist with certain other cats without anxiety - it cannot be trained out of them in my experience.  I am blessed with a home that is ample in size, with rooms that provide comfort and safety for the cats that need and want that.  Several rooms have glass doors, such that the cats can see each other, yet feel safe and secure.
 

 

*The rescue cat was a 4 year old long coated Munchkin, likely a Minuet.  The family that relinquished her provided information about her to the shelter, which was kind of them to do.  There were other cats and dogs in the home, she was agressed, and she marked.  This female cat was beautiful.  I knew that she must've been a kitten of high value.  I thought at the time, over a decade ago, that she was likely over $1000 as a kitten.  The family that relinquished her was from a very affluent area of Seattle.  By the time I purchased her, she was fearful and timid.  There was no way to tell her that she was safe now....  What eventually helped her, was a home where her owner was home all day every day - she was never alone.