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LAKE ELSINORE ---- It's not a dog; it's a cat that acts like a dog. Confused? Don't be. It's a "puppykat," a new breed of cat developed by Lake Elsinore resident Dawn Houston.

Houston says she stumbled across the puppykat seven years ago, when two wild cats she had rescued mated. Their offspring were very puppylike, she said, so she gave them the new moniker and began breeding more of them.

Three years ago, she said, she began breeding them full time.

Houston, who said she has rescued animals most of her life, has big plans for the puppykat.

Already, she has registered the breed with the Rare and Exotic Feline Registry.

And she plans to continue to breed and sell puppykats ---- she guesses she has already sold more than 40 of them in the last seven years for between $275 and $675 ---- so that she can raise enough money to fund future cat-rescue efforts. Those efforts include plans for responsible breeding education programs and plans to get lax breeding regulations changed.

The puppykat, Houston said, has become popular with people who like their pets to have certain traits more commonly found in dogs. Like their canine counterparts, puppykats are more social, curious and playful, she said. They'll even come when you call.

Their physical traits ---- mainly their folded ears and shorter tails ---- are also doglike.

"A lot of people that would have never gotten a cat are now open to owning a cat," Houston said.

Kent Broussard bought two cats from Houston about a year ago. One of them was a Manx, the other was a puppykat.

He said that, while the Manx is standoffish and tends be content on its own, the puppykat craves the attention of humans and is much more playful.

"She just has to be around people," the Laguna Beach resident said. "She loves being petted. She's a little sweetie.

"She definitely follows you in the other room like a puppy. That's a perfect name."

While the results may be adorable and Houston may have found a market for the puppykat, her breeding hasn't been received positively by everybody.

Breeders and cat lovers from across the country have sent dozens of e-mails and letters criticizing her for mixing the Scottish fold, Manx and polydactyl breeds, something they consider dangerous to the health of the cats.

But Houston asserts she's being responsible.

She takes great care to make sure the cats she uses in breeding don't carry the same dominant genes, she said, thus eliminating potential dangerous genetic threats to the cats.

Plus, she isn't doing what many breeders do, Houston said, in overbreeding their cats by inbreeding or by making individual cats have too many litters. Those can each have detrimental effects on generations and generations of cats, she said.

"If you do it wrong, it could be traumatic," Houston said.

Houston also shot back at the animal rights organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, whose members have heavily criticized her the last several weeks after reading a news report about her breeding. They have sent dozens of e-mails and letters, she said, many of which have been less than pleasant.

PETA researcher Dan Paden said that his organization was contacted by more than 100 people who complained that, through her breeding, Houston is contributing to the overpopulation of cats.

The organization issued an action alert through its Web site, he said, asking people to contact Houston and ask her to stop the breeding. It also urged them to ask her to donate the money she has made through selling puppykats to spaying and neutering programs.

The alert calls Houston's plan of breeding puppykats in an effort to help rescue other cats the "most dim-witted idea ever." It states that breeders like Houston "have created a tremendous overpopulation problem that forces animal shelters across the nation to put millions of dogs and cats to death every year."

Paden said PETA has never before issued an action alert for a breeder like Houston.

"No one before has ever proposed that purposefully breeding animals is a good way to help fight the overpopulation crisis," he said. "It's unique in its irony. It's unique in our response."

But Houston said that those who have accused her of contributing to the overpopulation problem don't know what they're talking about.

There will always be people out there, she said, who prefer to buy cats from professional breeders instead of shelters. That market will always exist, she said.

More importantly, Houston said, every cat she sells is spayed or neutered before it is released to its new owner.

All the fuss raised over her puppykat breeding is much ado about nothing, she said.

"I know what I'm doing," Houston said.

Verrrry Interesting!  Is there a picture of the kittypuppy (or whatever it's name).  I'm serious, but knowing this crowd like I do  8) I'm sure I'll get a morphed image of some kind.  Lay it on me guys!    :D  Hey PR, did you ever get your coffee?

Yes there was a picture. It looked like a a normal yellow tabby cat with ears that drooped down.

I'ld have to go searching for it to find it again.

Incase the picture don't show.......

http://www.nctimes.com/content/articles/2006/03/20/news/californian/31906192121.jpg

That was DW that provided the picture. Surprising huh? 

They say that it is just in the way it acts. I had a pure white Manx that was long tailed. It acted more like a dog than a cat. It would answer to its name but not to no one calling kitty kitty. He followed me around like a dog would. His favorite food was tomatoes. I called him Monkey because of his attitude. He would growl at and sometimes attack strangers that would come around if I wasn't there.

 ;) Ooooppps ..... ! Thanks DeeDubya! And PR, "Monkey" sure sounds unique!  How long did you have him?

Blessings~

I had him for about 5 years. He lived through an infection with 106+ temp and a house fire. Then finally was killed by a neighbor that hated both cats and dogs. This neighbor threw some poisoned bate into my back yard. It killed him and made all my dogs sick. He did it to some other neighbors also. He did do some jail time for it.

:D  I want one, but I want the opposite, a puppy-kitty - more dog than cat. I was thinking about a cross let's say between a German Shepherd and a Mountain Lion. WOW! - that would make a great guard puppy-kitty! AND, it could do the job from a tree or the top of the house. One would simply have to clean the bones of trespassers out of the yard once or twice a week.  ;D




(Small Print: am I in trouble yet?)

I thought of you Brother when I first started this thread. I thought you'ld like it.

You're already covered sister.

 ;)

Seems as if that might be a good idea for anyone who feels they have been attacked.  :)

As I'm sure everyone is!  :)

Amen.

Nope, your not in trouble. By the way, I want one as well.

AMEN sister!!

Nope.

 ;) ;)

You mean...like this?

(http://www.einfach-eve.de/html/quatschufun/Images/Hatzen-Kund.jpg)

Cute.

But how about this?

(http://www.worth1000.com/entries/119000/119331UbDY_w.jpg)

Hello Willowbirch,

 ;D  Cool pictures! I think that you're headed in the right direction, but I was really thinking more about something in the range of 300 pounds and teeth about the size of an alligator. I wouldn't want my guard puppy-kitty to be beaten up by anything while on duty.  ;D

I have an idea that Dreamweaver will now bring out his graphics program and show us the perfect guard puppy-kitty.   ;D

I'm not sure how ferocious it is but I found one that can see anything that comes at it.


(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v311/randers/MultiFaceCat.jpg)

Yikes!! :o  You wouldn't have much company with that thing guarding your house.

That might be a good thing sometimes.


 :D :D :D

 ;D   ;D   ;D   ROFL!  - Just the number of eyes would scare me off. It would be feet don't fail me now! The one below is close, but he might even run off seeing all those eyes.  ;D

This is my guard dog. I have to guard him.

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v311/randers/Naptime1.jpg)

So you guard the gaurd dog...................... ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

Yep. He tends to run and hide when confronted  unless he thinks the grandkids are in danger. Then he suddenly becomes the bravest creature on earth and won't back down to anyone except me. He protects them without hesitation. I have to put him in the bedroom if anyone else comes over while the grandkids are here.

Sounds like a brave dog............ ;)

Well brother, I have things I still need to get done at Church. Then I need to meet Lizzie, for lunch. ;D ;D ;D

Take care brother.