CAT BREEDS

Cat Breeds : Terms - Cat Breeds: New, Rare and Unrecognised - Cat Breeds - Shorthairs -Cat Breeds: Semi-Longhairs - Cat Breeds : Longhairs - Cat Breed List - Cat Breeding & Genetics

Cat Pedigree - Research Your Cat's Pedigree Online

In this section you will find imformation on many well-know and popular, and some new and rare cat breeds. Each breed has a brief information section on the breeds origin, a description of the breed, an outline of the breeds temperament and the colours accepted within the breed. Pictures of each breed is supplied where possible and links to more information, specific breeders and the relevant breed society.

Each breed has its merits and things to be aware of - some will require extra work such as grooming to keep them at their best - others may suffer from breed-related disorders. It is important to do as much research as you can on a breed before deciding what is the best one for you. A purebred cat is an expensive outlay, but well worth it if you have your heart set upon a certain breed. Also, don't forget that as a rule, part-breed or cross-breed cats - know as domestic shorthairs or longhairs - are a great alternative to a pure breed cat.

General Cat Breed Links The International Cat Association (TICA) The Australian Cat Federation: "We promote the welfare of all cats, the responsible breeding  and showing of the recognised breeds of cats, and the showing of desexed domestic cats."

Cat Breed Terminology.

Descriptions in italics are described somewhere else in the terminology guide.

Coat Colour, Type and Markings:

Agouti - coat pattern with each hair banded with two or three different colours.

By Martin Bahmann (Own work) [http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html">GFDL, CC-BY-SA-3.0 or CC-BY-SA-2.5-2.0-1.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Albino - true albinos have no colour pigment in the skin or hair resulting in a pure-white cat with pink eyes.

Awn hairs - middle-coat.

Bi-colour - a white cat with solid patches of another colour that covers one half to one third of its body, with some white on the face.

Brindled - hairs of a different colour, usually white, in a solid-coloured part of a cats coat.

Calico - American term for a tortiseshell-and-white cat.

Cameo - a white or silver coat that is subtly tipped with red, cream or tortiseshell.

Chinchilla - white coat with the lightest black tipping upon each hair.

Colourpoint - longhaired cat of Persian origin with Himalayan coat pattern.

Dilute - a term to describe a paler version of a dominant coat colour.

Dominant - the base colour of a breed - usually black or brown. Genetically, a dominant colour is one that over-rides another and more likely to be expressed in the carrier's offspring.

Down hairs - closest to the skin, soft and thin. Undercoat.

Guard hairs - longest and thickest hairs forming the outer coat.

Himalayan - dark points upon the ears, face, legs and tail of an otherwise pale-coated cat. The American term for the Colourpoint breed.

Mask - facial markings.

Parti-colour - one or more colours or patterns on a white coat.

Rex - a curled or crinkled coat.

               Short Rex Coat

Sonja Pauen- via Wikimedia Commons

               Long Rex Coat

Emmi-Julia Pulkk- via Wikimedia Commons

Self - a solid-coloured cat with no markings or shading.

Smoke - dark shading on 30-60 % of a cat's coat with near-white at the base.

Solid - pure colour with no markings or shading.

Tabby - stripes, blothes, spots or ticked markings designed to act as camoflage in the wild.

              Ocicat - Spotted Tabby

Ticked - agouti-type coat or markings.

Tipped - coat with colour at the tip of the hair shaft and the rest of the hair being pale.

Torbie - tortiseshell-tabby.

Tortie - another name for tortiseshell.

Tortiseshell - coat colour with a mixture of black, chocolate and cinnamon, usually brindled, but often with patches of solid colour. This is a colour based upon the X chromosome and needs two X chromosomes in order to occur, so almost always occurs in females. Male cats with Klinefelter's syndrome or resulting from two fused embryos in the womb can have this colour but are almost always sterile. The male variant of this colour is usually ginger.

Wikipedia article on Tortoiseshell cats.

Tortoiseshell-and-white - coat colour consisting of tortoiseshell with patches of solid white.

Tri-colour - another name for tortiseshell or tortiseshell-and-white.

Van - coat pattern with a white body, a coloured tail and coloured patches on the head.

 

Vibrissae - whiskers. Enlarged and toughened hairs used as sensorary organs.

Body Area, Type and Shape Terminology:

Applehead - flattened head shape - as in the traditional Siamese.

Cobby - short-legged and sturdy.

Noseleather - the leather-like nose area.

Peke-faced - short-nosed, wrinkled, flat face.

Points - ears, tail, face and legs.

Ruff - longer fur around a cat's neck.

Cat Eye Colour and Shape Terminology:

Almond - almond shaped

      
Almond shaped eyes

Oriental - slanted inwards towards the nose, most common in oriental type cats such as the siamese.

          Oriental (slanted eyes)

Photo Credit : Suniltg at ml.wikipedia

Round - round eyes, commonly found in breeds such as the British shorthair and the Korat.

   Round eyes of the Korat

Cat Ear Shape and Feature Terminology:

Tufted - Ears with a small tuft of fur protruding past the tip.