Hey! Cats Have Breeds, Too

Cynthia B. Whitney
Reprinted With Permission

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At a recent pet-related event, I overheard something that was both interesting and disturbing. A woman was admiring another person’s dog and made the comment that she also had a dog at home. The person with the dog asked, “What breed do you have?” Later, I commented to someone that I had cats at home. They retorted with “What color is your cat?” I thought about it awhile, and realized these are the commonly asked questions concerning dog and cat ownership.

Okay, folks, soapbox time. Why would you assume a person’s pet dog is a purebred, recognizable breed, and not a pet cat? Keep in mind the terms “Heinz 57” and “mutt” come from referring to dogs. The fact is more cats are kept as pets in this country than dogs. Statistics show that almost 75 million cats are kept as pets. There are an estimated 59 million pet dogs. In 1999 the Cat Fanciers’ Association (CFA), the world’s largest cat registry (akin to AKC) registered over 55,000 pedigreed cats. There are a number of other registries, and, yes, I grant you that the majority of pet cats in this country are not purebred, and are not registered.

But, we do have breeds. Actually, we have 39 recognized breeds for registration as of the show season beginning May 1, 2001, according to CFA. Other registries, such as The International Cat Association (TICA) allow 58 breeds, including many new, manmade breeds. Okay, so we don’t have the 148 breeds recognized by the AKC, but you should understand that you would no sooner mistake a Siamese cat for a Maine Coon cat than you would an Italian Greyhound for a Bernese Mountain Dog.

Cats can have extremely different body types, like the long sleek body and wedge shaped head of the Oriental Shorthair, or the muscular, heavy-boned Norwegian Forest Cat. Coat lengths and appearance vary such as the soft, fluffy longhair of a Persian, or the marcelled short coat of a Cornish Rex. Don’t like fur? There’s the Sphynx for you then. Like curly ears, folded ears, large, stand up ears? Then try an American Curl, Scottish Fold, or Devon Rex, respectively.

And, yes, cats come in numerous colors. Many breeds come in calico (that is only a color pattern, not a breed), white, black, red (orange), blue (gray), cream, chocolate, lavender, silver, sable, cinnamon, and combinations of these colors. Cats can be solid colors, bi-colors, or tri-colors. They can have stripes and spots (mackerel tabby), or swirls and stripes (classic tabby), spots, patches, and mittens. They can be smokey, shaded, or ticked.

Some of the newer, experimental breeds are even more unique. Now we have the Munchkin, with the Dachshund legs, Pixie-Bobs, and Selkirk Rex. The Bengal, which has the blood of a wild Asian cat in it, is now accepted for showing in TICA. Most of the new breeds still suffer from controversy about whether they are a legitimate “purebred” feline, but bask in popularity with the pet-buying world.

So, there are many cat breeds of diverse size, shape, color, markings and personality. There are dog breeds of many sizes, shape, color, markings and personality. Both deserve recognition. Both make wonderful pets. There, I feel better. Off soapbox.