How can I determine my cat breed?
（I’m getting confused with quite a range of cat breeds found on the net, and I often tried to figure out my cat shape and compared it with the list on the website, but I’m still not very sure. Mines looks like a mixture of more than one or maybe two types of breeds. Sometimes it looks like Persian, sometimes it looks like Siamese, and sometimes like others. Are there any specific ways in determining the cat breeds? How do all of you doing it?）
Answer ：
Unlike with dogs, where a significant percentage are some sort of breed or an identifiable mix of two breeds, only about 3% of cats are purebred. So your cat is not likely to be an actual breed. But all cats show some characteristics which you will find in one breed or another. If you are comparing your cat to a Siamese (whichis a skinny shorthaired cat) or a Persian/Himalayan (which is a fluffy fat faced cat – at least the show quality ones) then I am assuming you are drawing your comparison based on the coat color. Your cat is probably a colorpoint – dark on the extremities, light on the body. The gene for this coat color does come from the Orient, and so your cat (from way back when) does share some common ancestry with the purebred cats which sport this coat color and pattern in show halls today. But your cat is likely a domestic longhair (DLH) if it has long hair, or a domestic shorthair (DSH) if it has short hair. You might be interested to know that in the cat fancy regular cats with no pedigrees whatsoever may be shown. They must be spayed or neutered. But they can be any size, shape, or color! They compete in the household pet class, and are judged on their overall health and appearance, and individual unique beauty.
You also migh tbe interested in knowing that there are some breeds which have evolved entirely naturally, and where you can still take a kitty who visibly meets the show standard off of the street and show it as a cat of the breed. I breed Turkish Vans, and they are one such breed. My first cat was an actual import from Turkey, and she was successfully shown with no identifiable pedigree whatsoever, because the Turkish Van is a natural breed.
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