If you are looking for a pedigree cat, but you are not overly concerned about pedigree papers, it is worth checking your local cat shelter, animal pound or a purebred rescue association.

Regardless of how much they cost, even pedigree cats can end up homeless for various reasons - unclaimed strays, owner died or unable to keep them, breeder closed down. In one case in the 1990s, a "breeder" abandoned his or her entire breeding stock of Persians near the New Forest; a Longhair rescue specialist put out a radio appeal asking how many cats had been dumped just so she could be sure she had rescued all of them.

Pedigree rescue groups and shelters often work together, but sometimes numbers are such that pedigree cats are homed from shelters. It is always worth checking your local shelter - you may also be saving the cat's life.

The cats pictured in this gallery all ended up at a cat rescue shelter, most of them in Essex. A few were claimed, but most were rehomed, often with help from specialist rescue societies.  Some are purebred, some are "part-pedigree" (have a pedigree parent or grandparent) and some are lookalikes found in the ordinary moggy population.

I haven't always had my camera with me. In addition to those pictured, I've come across the following at cat shelters: Siamese, Tonkinese, Burmese, Birmans, Longhair Devon Rex variant and British Shorthairs. Some were being held there pending collection by a specialist rescue group, others were homed from the shelter, often to people referred there by a specialist group.

As well as purebreds (some with papers) there have been Birman lookalikes (apart from lacking white mitts) , Abyssinian-types, Somali-types and platinum Tonkinese-pattern kittens (born to a moggy mother), perfectly marked Silver Tabby Shorthairs and unusual cream ticked tabby/bright red ticked tabby shorthairs.