Content
- The physical characteristics of the cat
- Ear shape
- coat type
- muzzle shape
- Group I
- Group II
- Group III
- Group IV
- Group V
If you are one of those people with a passion for cats, you may have already noticed that most families that take a cat home usually pick it up on the street or in shelters. There are a variety of cats that are abandoned as soon as they are born and, therefore, adopting a pet in this situation is a very noble and loving act. This has led to an increasing choice of adoption rather than purchase when choosing a new friend.
After some time with your pussy, when it is already an adult and begins to assume the physical characteristics that it will carry for the rest of its life, you may start to wonder about the origin of your partner. It is normal to be curious about the breed of an animal or want to know the differences between existing groups so as not to confuse them.
If you are curious, keep reading this PeritoAnimal article to find out how to know what breed your cat is.
The physical characteristics of the cat
Often, when we adopt a cat at an adoption center or take it out of the street to care for, we don't know much about its past and, therefore, it becomes difficult to know clearly what its breed is.
Talking to the vet is always a good idea. He will surely know more breeds of cats than you and will be able to discover some clues about the origin of your pussy from the physical characteristics. Most domestic cats are descended from the Egyptian Mau and your little friend is likely to be a mix of that breed with some other, so please be patient.
If you can't tell right away what breed your cat is, take a good look at its features and physiognomy, noticing the following items:
Ear shape
Pay attention to the length and shape of your feline's ears. When they are large and have elongated features, your kitten is more likely to be an oriental breed. Small, flat, triangular-shaped ears usually indicate Persian ancestry.
In the case of small ears with thick strands turned inwards, it is most likely the American with short fur.
coat type
The length, thickness and color of your pet's coat can also help to indicate its origin. The Siamese, for example, tend to have a shorter coat, with a soft and light texture, with stronger shades at the ends.
If your pussy doesn't have any fur, it probably belongs to the Sphynx breed. Now, if it's really furry and has a really chubby tail, it's more likely that it's a Persian or Himalayan.
Some breeds are separated between long and short fur, as is the case of the Selkirk Rex and the Kurilean Bobtail, this can also help to indicate the origin of your feline.
Keeping an eye on your cat's colors and types of stains is another valuable tip. There are some patterns, such as Tabby (cats striped like a tiger in which the colors form an “m” on the forehead) or Pointed (cats with striped or scrawled fur, in which the colors appear on the extremities of the body, such as the paws, muzzle or ears) that can clarify a lot. The Pointed Pattern is more common in breeds like the Bengal, for example. But, Tabby, you'll find it more easily in the European Cat.
muzzle shape
If your pussy's snout forms the inverted “v” and has a flatter shape, we can eliminate many breeds and it's probably a Persian, or Himalayan, or Exotic Cat.
Most cat breeds have a more rounded, medium-sized snout shape like the European Cat. If this is your case, we can eliminate both breeds that contain a “v” shape, and those that have a small triangular snout, which is more common in oriental breeds.
After taking a good look at your feline's physical characteristics, look for pictures of pussies similar to it in our breed image galleries here at PeritoAnimal, maybe you'll end up noticing some specific trait that you missed, helping in the search results. Also take a look at the cat groups and breeds established by fiFe (Fédération Internationale Féline). We list one by one so you can identify which one fits your pussy best.
Group I
Category one belongs to the Persian and exotic cats and its main feature is small ears and dense coat. These cats can be medium or large in size. The breeds that make up this category are:
- Holy of Burma
- Persian cat
- ragdoll cat
- exotic cat
- Turkish Van
Group II
In the second group, we find cats from semi-long coat, usually accompanied by thick tail. Pussies in this category can have large or small ears, depending on the breed, and can also reach large or medium size.
- Long-haired American Curl
- American Shorthair Curl
- Long-haired LaPerm
- Short-haired LaPerm
- Maine Coon
- Turkish Angora
- siberian cat
- Cat Neva Masquerade
- Norwegian Forest Cat
Group III
The cats belonging to the third group have as main characteristics the short and fine hair, large ears and apparent and strong muscular structure. The tail can be thin or thick, as well as long.
- English shorthair cat
- longhaired english cat
- Bengal
- Burmilla
- Cymric cat
- Manx
- Burmese cat
- Chartreux
- Egyptian bad
- Kurilean longhaired bobtail
- Kurilean short-haired bobtail
- european cat
- Korat
- Ocicat cat
- Singapore cat
- snowshoe
- sokoke cat
- longhaired selkirk rex
- Shorthaired Selkirk Rex
Group IV
This category is for Siamese and Oriental cats.Some of these breeds are even known for having a fur so fine that it blends into the skin or not even get to have them, like the Abyssinian Cat or the Cornish Rex. However, one of the main characteristics of this group is the elongated posture, small ears and thick or thin tail.
- abyssinian cat
- Balinese
- Cornish Rex
- Devon Rex
- sphynx
- German Rex
- Japanese bobtail
- longhaired oriental cat
- Oriental shorthair cat
- Peterbald
- Russian blue cat
- Siamese
- Somali
- Thai cat
- Donskoy
Group V
This group is intended for cat breeds that are not recognized according to FIFe.
- American shorthair bobtail
- American longhair bobtail
- american shorthair cat
- American Wirehair Cat
- longhaired asian cat
- shorthair asian cat
- australian mix
- Bombay
- Bohemian Rex
- Lykoi
- mekong bobtail
- Nebelung
- Ragamuffin
- Tiffanie cat
- Longhaired Tonkinese
- Shorthaired Tonkinese
- Unrecognized longhair
- Unrecognized short hair
