Identifying a Cat breed

gerrowadat

Hi,

I had a small tabby-ish cat appear, without microchip, outside my house about 6 months ago. I've since taken her in, and she's now part of the family.

One thing people have remarked to me is that she appears to be not your average 'moggy' - she's very quiet, has a fantastic temprament, very intelligent, and has a multi-layered coat like a Russian blue. Her face is also quite exotic. She's also tiny for her age, and probably isn't getitng any bigger.

Any boardsies good on identifying breeds? I know she's definitely not pure-bred, but wanted to get an idea if this was even an answerable question first :-)

anniehoo

Any pics you could show us?

gerrowadat

This shows the head-shape and some of the strange/unusual coat -- she's got a finer 'second' coat, longer then the regular coat, which is very soft.



Also has spots on her belly. They don't show up very well here though, the white overcoat covers them a little.

anniehoo

Oh shes a stunner! I think shes just a grey tabby though.Im not great on my cat breeds though so deffo open to correction. V pretty.

canonball5

gerrowadat wrote: »

Hi,

I had a small tabby-ish cat appear, without microchip, outside my house about 6 months ago. I've since taken her in, and she's now part of the family.

One thing people have remarked to me is that she appears to be not your average 'moggy' - she's very quiet, has a fantastic temprament, very intelligent, and has a multi-layered coat like a Russian blue. Her face is also quite exotic. She's also tiny for her age, and probably isn't getitng any bigger.

Any boardsies good on identifying breeds? I know she's definitely not pure-bred, but wanted to get an idea if this was even an answerable question first :-)

She looks to be a mix of breeds to me.Have you taken her to the vet yet??I'm sure he would have a better idea plus she needs to be wormed if u have not done this already.She's lovely by the way.

gerrowadat

canonball5 wrote: »

She looks to be a mix of breeds to me.Have you taken her to the vet yet??I'm sure he would have a better idea plus she needs to be wormed if u have not done this already.She's lovely by the way.

Yep, she's been to the Vet, neutered and chipped and wormed and the whole thing. The vet could only tell how old she was from her teeth, she's tiny (still only weighs less than 3kg). They put grey tabby, but they figured there was a mix in there.

Just idly wondering, since a number of people have said it and the cattery I've boarded her at swears blind she could be half russian blue (but of course it's impossible to know, being a stray).

Rochester

She is a stunning cat no matter what breed she is.

The Sweeper

Hmmm how familiar looking...

Below is Sasquatch, my blue burmese cross - his mother was a blue burmese, his father some rambling moggy. He's pretty small too, quite compact and butty. Your kitty could have a purebreed in her somewhere - or she could just be a very beautiful moggy. I've seen some moggies who are quite simply the most stunning looking cats you'll ever see.

Rochester

Wow, another stunner. The Burmese blue colour is really special. Looking at my snow shy ginger mogs here and he just is so unglamourous. He comes into his own though in the sunlight.

Shanao

Looks like she's got a bit of burmilla in her to me(a cross between a burmese and a chinchilla persian). Any idea how old she is?

gerrowadat

Shanao wrote: »

Looks like she's got a bit of burmilla in her to me(a cross between a burmese and a chinchilla persian). Any idea how old she is?

She came to me in may, and had a full set of teeth, so we reckoned she was about 6 months then, so just over a year. The teeth were what we went off for age, since she was tiny and still is, although she's grown a bit.

Rockery Woman

She is beautiful.

Impossible to figure out what breed she is though. But you are lucky to own such a beautiful cat.

gerrowadat

Thanks for the comments, folks :-)

I guess she'll have to continue being a happy coincidence :-)

Zapperzy

Just wanted to add that she is a beautiful cat! The Sweeper's cat is gorgeous as well!

falabo

looks like a BURMESE to me. very rare in Ireland AFAIK ... they are stunning cats ...

The Sweeper

She's not a burmese. Burmese are solid coloured and their nose is the same colour as they are. They come in solid colours without the tabby markings the OP's cat has.

angelfire9

On the last visit to the vet we were told our seriously spoilt moggy is most probably a British Bombay

He certainly has alot of the characteristics

Bombay’s are “heat-seekers”, they simply love to be warm. You’ll often find your Bombay sleeping in sunlight or next to heaters when its cold. Bombay’s often tend to sleep on their owners when lying down for the warmth.

Source:http://mybombaycat.com/bombay-cat-characteristics-and-personality/

mymo

OP we had a very similar looking cat up until 2 years ago, when he died suddenly. The only pic I can find on this computer is this:

It doesn't show him very well, but he did look exactly like your cat, his underside was a peachy cream colour and spotty, he had faint stripes and patterns in his coat, and had the longer hairs as you described.
He was just a moggie, his brother is Ginger(we have him) and I believe the other two in the litter were gray tabby and ginger and white.
Sometimes Moggies can be the most gorgeous cats.:D

The Sweeper

angelfire9, absolutely no offence meant, but I find it bizarre that your vet would tell you that your moggy is probably a purebreed. Why would they do that??

I don't get it. The British Bombay (and the American Bombay) are close relatives of the Burmese, but they're hardly a widespread breed. For your cat to be a British Bombay, some British Bombay breeder in Ireland would have had to have either an escapee, or a registered kitten sale that a new owner then turned over to a pound or shelter (actually I have no idea where you got your cat - where did you get your cat?)

Let's face it, backyard breeders go big into backyard moneyspinners - birmans, ragdolls, siamese, maine coons - nobody with a BYB mentality is going to go into 'solid black cats' as a moneyspinner, and the only person who would indiscriminately release kittens instead of selling them with papers and so on, is a BYB.

It's nothing against you - your cat is gorgeous. I just baulk at the vet suggesting your cat is anything other than a beautiful moggy - sometimes I feel cat breeding is heading in the direction of the designer dog breeds, and wonder how long it'll be before the BYBs are churning out 'Maine Dolls' at the rate of 16 kittens per year per queen...

The Sweeper

A note on tabbies, in case anybody is interested.

The tabby pattern, characterised by the ‘M’ on the forehead, the distinctive spectacles and often the paler muzzle, is basically a naturally occurring default for cat coat patterns. There are tabby markings in many of the cat breeds, and it’s a commonly occurring pattern in feral colonies because, when breeding indiscriminately, cats often produce tabby kittens.

There are four distinct tabby patterns: mackerel (lots of close together vertical stripes), classic (broad stripes and dashes), spotted (a variety used in the creation of the Bengal cat lineage and other domestic ‘wild type’ cats like the Ocicat) and ticked – Sasquatch has a ticked pattern, as seen in the picture I posted above, and visible in coats like Burmillas and Abyssinians.

Depending on the colour of your cat, a tabby can look like more than ‘just a tabby’. Base coat colours include brown, grey, silver and black – and black smoke tabbies can be really unusual looking.

I have pretty much six tabbies living with me here – one classic grey tabby, a silver tabby with a spotted coat, a grey ticked tabby, two spotted brown tabbies and a tabby and white. In my experience, the spotted coats can often indicate oriental cat heritage – Siamese, Burmese, so on. It’s also interesting that oriental types can often throw allergies to their vaccinations, and both of my brown spotted tabbies are highly allergic to vaccinations and will subsequently never be getting their boosters.

Actually - left to right: brown spotted tabby, grey ticked tabby, classic grey tabby, silver spotted tabby, brown spotted tabby, and in the front is the tabby and white.



Tabbies. Lots of people come to my house and ask me if they’re a breed – possibly because there are so many of them in one place. They’re just moggies. :-)

mymo

Hey sweeper, you're missing a black smoke, going for the full set?

Just to add, beautiful cats, I love the look on the second from the right, trouble if ever I saw it;)

The Sweeper

I've two more for the full set actually - black smoke and I forgot about ginger.

As you can see, however, I have a harmonious cat household, and they aren't all related or from the same litter, so I've been extremely lucky to have no personality clashes. Every cat I add I risk that mix...

Hence the last addition was the dog...

mymo

Here's my ginger tabby, but no you can't have him:p
He has to be the purriest cat in the world.
I know what you mean, we got a rescue cat 18months back and they still aren't close like he was with his brother, but are friendly enough.
Cat really are amazing and come in such a wide variety of colours, shapes and sizes.
My uncle found a kitten that has grown into the most gorgeous fluffy back cat, with a mane like a lion and a kink in her tail at the tip. Everyone thinks she's a posh pedigree, but we think her mum was a tabby that was hanging around a few months back.

kittyo

The Sweeper wrote: »

A note on tabbies, in case anybody is interested.

The tabby pattern, characterised by the ‘M’ on the forehead, the distinctive spectacles and often the paler muzzle, is basically a naturally occurring default for cat coat patterns. There are tabby markings in many of the cat breeds, and it’s a commonly occurring pattern in feral colonies because, when breeding indiscriminately, cats often produce tabby kittens.

There are four distinct tabby patterns: mackerel (lots of close together vertical stripes), classic (broad stripes and dashes), spotted (a variety used in the creation of the Bengal cat lineage and other domestic ‘wild type’ cats like the Ocicat) and ticked – Sasquatch has a ticked pattern, as seen in the picture I posted above, and visible in coats like Burmillas and Abyssinians.

Depending on the colour of your cat, a tabby can look like more than ‘just a tabby’. Base coat colours include brown, grey, silver and black – and black smoke tabbies can be really unusual looking.

I have pretty much six tabbies living with me here – one classic grey tabby, a silver tabby with a spotted coat, a grey ticked tabby, two spotted brown tabbies and a tabby and white. In my experience, the spotted coats can often indicate oriental cat heritage – Siamese, Burmese, so on. It’s also interesting that oriental types can often throw allergies to their vaccinations, and both of my brown spotted tabbies are highly allergic to vaccinations and will subsequently never be getting their boosters.

Actually - left to right: brown spotted tabby, grey ticked tabby, classic grey tabby, silver spotted tabby, brown spotted tabby, and in the front is the tabby and white.



Tabbies. Lots of people come to my house and ask me if they’re a breed – possibly because there are so many of them in one place. They’re just moggies. :-)

Hi Sweeper - out of interest - what happens when your oriental tabbies have an allergic reaction to their boosters. I'm just interested as my tabbie recently got very sick after his booster this year and I am dreading next year.

Thanks,
Cathy

angelfire9

The Sweeper wrote: »

angelfire9, absolutely no offence meant, but I find it bizarre that your vet would tell you that your moggy is probably a purebreed. Why would they do that??

I don't get it. The British Bombay (and the American Bombay) are close relatives of the Burmese, but they're hardly a widespread breed. For your cat to be a British Bombay, some British Bombay breeder in Ireland would have had to have either an escapee, or a registered kitten sale that a new owner then turned over to a pound or shelter (actually I have no idea where you got your cat - where did you get your cat?)

Let's face it, backyard breeders go big into backyard moneyspinners - birmans, ragdolls, siamese, maine coons - nobody with a BYB mentality is going to go into 'solid black cats' as a moneyspinner, and the only person who would indiscriminately release kittens instead of selling them with papers and so on, is a BYB.

It's nothing against you - your cat is gorgeous. I just baulk at the vet suggesting your cat is anything other than a beautiful moggy - sometimes I feel cat breeding is heading in the direction of the designer dog breeds, and wonder how long it'll be before the BYBs are churning out 'Maine Dolls' at the rate of 16 kittens per year per queen...

My cat was a rescue and while normally I would totally agree with you the lady I rescued it from by coincidence had a neighbour 5/d doors down who had 4 pure bred bombays that are registered and showed (?sp) my one is not pure bred he has a white spot but me thinks that maybe daddy did a little wandering

On the other hand it could be that the vet was just out of college and over enthusiastic

Don't care either way our moggy is a bit loopy but we still love him :rolleyes:
I

The Sweeper

Aha, I seeeeeeeeeee... Could well have been a roaming stud (though you'd hope a breeder wouldn't let their stud roam, but hey).

To answer the earlier question about the reactions to vaccinations - my two brown spotted tabbies are the only of my cats who are related - they're litter mates, brother and sister.

They've both had all three of their kitten injections, but the reactions got worse each time. It's basically a high fever, which manifests in lethargy, hunching and huddling, pain when touched or moved - enough to cause them to bite or scratch. A cat's temperature should sit in the range 100.5 - 102.5F. Hahn had a fever of 104.5 after his third shot - so never again.

When I give those brown spotted tabbies a vaccination, we have to go back to the vet 12-18 hours later for two injections - an anti-inflammatory painkiller and an anti-histamine. That's ridiculous carry on altogether - so they remain unboosted. Some of the vets argued with me when I said my kittens weren't right, saying that a lot of cats get a bit zonked for 24 hours after their jabs. I cracked it and insisted they be looked at - you should have seen how apologetic the vet was when she took Hahn's temperature and realised he had - in her words - 'a screaming fever'.

kittyo, if your cat is an outdoor, roaming cat, it has more chance of exposure to the diseases that vaccinations protect from. Additionally, if you don't vaccinate, you will not be able to kennel your cat in an emergency because catteries will not take a cat whose vaccinations are not up to date.

However I get around these things by not letting my cats roam, and by hiring a petsitter who comes to the house daily and feeds my cats while I'm away.

There are four schools of thought on vaccines:

1) None at all due to herd immunity - IMO a sure fire way to leave your cat open to disease.
2) Kitten shots for full immunity for life with no boosters required - what I'd do with a reactive cat.
3) Kitten shots and then a booster every three years - probably what I'd do with non-reactive outdoor cats.
4) Kitten shots and a booster annually - which in my heart of hearts I feel is excessive.

Speak to your vet about your cat's reaction - the chlamydia element of the vaccine can knock a lot of cats for six. Don't allow your vet to 'vaccinate and see' - it's not fair on your cat (my vet persuaded me to do with the third round of kitten vaccines, just so they'd have their full immunity, and because they weren't convinced the reaction was legitimate - and look at poor Hahn.) See if you can get the different vaccinations stripped out into single doses - e.g. just FIV, or just FeLV, or just chlamydia - and try them in single doses if your vet will do that with you. It's likely to cost more, but it's still a better idea than vaccinating with the combination.

kittyo

Thank you Sweeper - great info. Will discuss options with Vet when my little fella is due next year.

Apologies for dragging the thread off topic.

OP - your cat is a beauty purebreed or not