Thanks for all the responses guys. Like I said, I was 99% in favor of adopting a rescued cat as opposed to buying from a pet store. And that was before I realized just how bad they were!
We checked out the SPCA in Mong Kok, but they really didn't have many cats to choose from. Since we were in the area, we also looked at the cats at the pet stores... Some of them were really nice actually, and if they weren't charging $3000+ for a domestic shorthair, we might have adopted this one beautiful orange tabby from one store!
One store had this tiny little white kitten in a cage, it didn't look like it was old enough to be away from its mother... When I approached him, I thought I saw him meowing, but couldn't hear due to the noise.. As I got closer, I noticed that he was hissing at me! A kitten less than 3 months old, and it is already hissing at people! I can't imagine what is being done to the poor thing.
Anyway, the folks at the MK SPCA mentioned that the location in Wan Chai has many more cats, so we went there. In the end, we adopted these two beautiful cats, aged around 5 months old. One was a rescued stray, and one was abandoned by his family (the reason said that they "couldn't get along" with it.. WTF?).
These are two of the most loving, affectionate cats I have ever seen, especially the boy (we named him Jett, since he is absolutely jet-black - even his whiskers are black! I also call him Baby J). Once you pet him long enough, he looks for somewhere to suckle, just like a baby.. Usually he will tuck his head into a blanket, and start kneading and suckling... At first I thought it might be due to stress, but he has really settled in since then, and he only does it when he's really happy. To think that some family abandoned him because they "couldn't get along" with him.. that just blows me away. This is the gentlest kitten I have ever seen...
The girl, named Zoe, is a bit more nervous since she grew up in the mean streets of Hong Kong. But she is starting to cope just fine. She also LOVES to be pet, and will stop whatever it is she is doing to cuddle you. She is also VERY vocal, always meowing to us to show her content, or when she is upset about something (usually when Jett tries to play with her).
It's been 2 days since we had them both (we got Zoe first, but Jett had to stay behind to be neutered) and they didn't really get along at first.. Jett wants nothing more than to be play-buddies with Zoe, but she isn't quite down with it yet. I think she is still nervous about her new surroundings, and will eventually warm up to him. You can tell that she is getting more and more used to him by the hour it seems. Usually when we are around, and they are both calm, they get along just fine.
SPCA was good to deal with; when we adopted, they told us how to take care of them, in a VERY detailed way (I thought she would never stop talking! ). One thing I found peculiar was that when they called us back after Jett's operation, they called my number. When I answered, the person on the other end said "Can you speak Cantonese?" in what I thought was perfectly fine English. I said "Only a little, please hold" and went to give the phone to my wife.. By the time I got to her, the person on the other end had already hung up. Since their number didn't show up on caller ID, we didn't know who it was, so poor Jett had to spend an extra day there
Other than that, SPCA was great to deal with, and I hope more people consider adopting from them. So many of these poor cats are abandoned by their families - I thought most of them would be strays. How anyone could "not get along" with Jett, I will never understand for the rest of my life.. Oh well... We have him now!