I am not a breeder, they are clearly the most obvious choice for professional advice. I will share what I have learned having bought my first being totally naive, and my second being just quasi naive thanks to stalking this board for information more hours than I should admit too!
Although I coveted, and frankly still do, f1s, I have a small child and a teenager in the house. I felt because of the baby, an f2 would be a better choice. I also thought I wanted this big, dramatic cat, hence the breed choice. Since then, I have learned a few things. The first is how silly it was for me to even care about size. I know it sounds cliche, but these guys have such huge personalities, that becomes the driver for loving this breed. It seems this personality is not generation specific, just read some of the posts on the daily antics we share! That isn't to say each cat doesn't have their own thing going, of course they do, but it does seem there are generally differing levels of intensity between the generations.
My Nyah was a special case when we got her. She was not a fan of people, couldn't be touched, nothing. The breeder I got her from is wonderful, she represented Nyah just as she was and even discouraged me as a first time SV owner from buying her, but I am a sucker for the misfit. After much work, Nyah is just the best. She is still a bit quirky, like not wanting anyone but me or my husband to pet her. She will let our 15 year old, but not always. The baby? Forget it. Note the baby has never chased her, so that isn't the reason. Nyah can be very stubborn, she is a picky eater, and she is very smart. She is a door opener, a faucet turner oner, a food thief. She also fetches, sits on command and shakes. She is a talker, wow is she a talker. Her latest thing is a flushing toilet. She will sit in front of the toilet and howl until someone flushes it for her. I have caught her jiggling the handle and am getting very worried she is figuring out how to do it herself.
When we decided to add another, we determined a male would be a less risky match for Nyah, though she is spayed. I was not at all concerned about size, but had discovered an affinity for nonstandard colors. In my search, I reached out to a number of recommended breeders. I would have been willing to purchase the right kitten from any of them, but one day in my in box came an email with a little squirt of kitten and I was in love. He looked just like a baby werewolf, which may or may not be a desirable trait! He is a standard color as a dark smoke, but perhaps not all together "traditional". He is a lot of cat. He is simply crazy. He is intense and stubborn, he claims he speaks a foreign language and therefore doesn't understand what we are saying when telling him no. He has no fear or brakes, so he crashes a lot. He has destroyed the blinds in my room. He climbs screens (to be fair, Nyah does a pretty good spider cat impersonation on screens as well, and she did destroy my custom dining room drapes). I have fang marks in furniture, I have fang marks in my duvet cover. I have been told I can't get a new one until someone outgrows putting fang marks all over the place.
They are always with us. Always. I work from home a lot, and I have my little assistants with me. People listen for the inevitable bark / meow noise on con calls with me now! If I leave, they both put their little noises on the window and howl because I am going. When I get back, they run with poofy tails and purring like I have been gone years. There have also been moments of destruction that I believe is because they are upset no one is home with them. We have left for a weekend with a great pet sitter, but Nyah was sulky. They bond very intensely, they aren't ok with putting a bowl of food down and then leaving for a weekend! Also, the litter box must be clean. If not, Nyah will leave a little message right outside the box. Kovu has his steps backwards and digs first, then goes potty and leaves it all out there. Nyah will get disgusted on occasion and go cover it for him, muttering under her breath.
I love them, crazy and all. They have become so special to us, we have changed our lives to ensure they are ok. This means we stay home with them as much as possible, we don't expect much in the way of extended vacations! Our house is covered in baby toys and cat toys with a few chihuahua toys thrown in. We have cat trees and a cat wall. We have become full fledged crazy cat people. They aren't for the feint of heart, I truly understand what a lot of cat means now. I wouldn't recommend an early generation if you aren't willing to make the kind of changes and commitment these cats demand. But if you are willing? Wow what a treat they are, and I can't begin to explain how cool it is to have an animal so intensely bonded to you. Again, I am not a breeder, and i cant tell you just how different it would be with a later generation. This is merely an attempt explain what life is like with 2 f2s in a pretty long winded way!
