Cat Breeds-Cat Secrets Revealed

The number of cat breeds that you can choose from will be between 35-50, depending on the country you live in and which cats are accepted as breeds by the different registration authorities. However, the number of breeds in the UK is greatly in excess of 50 because, in the case of the Persian, for example, every color is regarded as a breed.

In the US, the breed is Persian, and the colors are simply varieties of it. A brief discussion of the way domestic cats are classified will perhaps be both interesting and helpful to the newcomer to purebred cats, who is sometimes rather mystified by the apparent complexity of the subject.

The most basic division of the breeds is into groups based on coat length. There are thus longhairs and shorthairs. The longhairs comprise two quite distinct types. Therre are those of Persian origin, which have profuse coats, and those of foreigh origin. This latter term is used to describe the physical type. In essence, they have the confromation of a Siamese cat, whereas the Persian is a more stocky and solidly built feline. The shorthairs are likewise divisible into the European types, with cobby powerful bodies and round heads, and the foreigns. The latter, again, are most readily appreciated as being of the Siamese type - from which a number were developed. They have lithe bodies and a wedge-shpaed head. Cats thus, have thress main basic ancestral stocks, with two subdivisions:

European Shorthairs of stocky type. The coat is thick, glossy, and short. Persian cats have dense woolly fur, but originally there were two types: those with woolly fur and those with a much more silky texture. The latter are today exemplified by the Turkish breeds.

By interbreeding with these basic stocks, all present-day domestic cats have been produced. When a major mutation is transferred from one breed to another, or if it is an independent or new mutation, this will result in a new breed. For instance, a longhaired Siamese is called a Balinese, while a longhaired Abyssinian is a Somali. when the Persian was crossed with the Siamese, the result became known as a Himalayan. This latter breed is now regarded as purely a color variant of the Persian in most US registrations.

New breeds are constantly in the making. In order to be accepted as such, they must fulfill certain criteria as laid down by the various cat registration associations. Some of the latter, are very particular about breed qualification.