This program will determine the breed of your cat and dog

Sometimes a furry pet doesn’t come into your home from a well-known nursery. And the owner has a logical question: a purebred animal or “nobleman” has become a new tenant and family member.

There are few ways to determine a cat's breed. They are all quite relative. Only an experienced felinologist can give a final verdict.

Yorkshire cat

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Is it possible to draw conclusions so simply based on one sign? In no case! In addition to one main characteristic, there are also other characteristics of appearance that an animal must meet in order to be classified as a particular breed. In addition, the problem of defining a breed is that there are closely related breeds that are very similar to each other (for example, the British and the Scots), and also that often external characteristics do not indicate genetic belonging to a particular breed. Let's give examples.

1. A cat with a dense undercoat and ears close to the head can be classified as a Scottish Fold. But he may not have Scottish folds in his family, because the mutation of folded ears periodically occurs spontaneously in nature. Ears can also fold due to injury.
2. Once, at an international cat exhibition, a seemingly British cat was presented - huge in size, with plush fur and other chic characteristics, but, in fact, he was a cross between two completely different breeds that had nothing in common with the British. That is, in fact, he was not British.
3. There are bobtail cats - with short tails. They are born this way; no one specially docks their tails. However, a simple street cat could have part of its tail chopped off or bitten off. As a result, a person who does not understand breeds may think that the cat is a bobtail.

There are dozens of such examples. What conclusion follows from this? The conclusion is this: it is impossible to determine the breed of a cat from a photo online or even in person based solely on appearance. We can only say that the cat’s phenotype corresponds to a certain breed. This principle is valid for already established breeds. Among them are the following:

• Scottish (Scottish Straight, Scottish Fold, Highland Straight and Highland Fold);
• British;
• Siberian;
• Norwegian;
• Abyssinian;
• Siamese;
• Maine Coon;
• sphinx;
• ragdoll;
• and other cat breeds recognized by international felinological systems.

You can look at what representatives of these and other breeds look like and decide for yourself that your cat looks like one of them.

VIEW ALL BREEDS

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With the genotype of a cat, things are more complicated, and it, as we remember, is the second no less important criterion for assignment to a particular breed. Now you will understand how to find out the breed of a kitten, cat or cat so that this knowledge is based on the genotype.

To determine the breed, you need a document about the origin of the animal, confirming the breed of its ancestors in the next 4-5 generations. Such a document is a metric or pedigree registered through a felinological club (sometimes documents are forged, which can be verified by contacting the club). A veterinary passport cannot be accepted as a document confirming the breed. It is filled out by the breeder or veterinarian and you can enter anything there, even a non-existent breed.

In some felinological systems, a cat that is phenotypically similar to a breed, but has among its ancestors cats of other breeds and outbreds, can be classified as this breed. Such cats can even receive official confirmation of the breed based on an external examination and become owners of zero pedigree. To register a “zero”, you need to get a description of the cat from several experts at the exhibition. In the zero pedigree, only the cat being evaluated is indicated and there are no his ancestors (after all, they are unknown).

However, most felinological systems prohibit issuing zero pedigrees, because This practice jeopardizes the development of existing breeds and can negate all the work of breeders who have long struggled to improve breed lines. Even the clubs of the WCF system, where zero pedigrees are allowed, for the most part do not allow the issuance of “zero” pedigrees. In general, we can say that the practice of issuing zero pedigrees causes criticism in the professional community and is questionable.

Little ones

Dwelf

Among the representatives of exotic breeds there are also completely small or even tiny cats. For a better understanding of their size and weight, we also present them in the table:

Lambkin

Bombino

There are similar differences between male cats and female cats. Cats are larger by several grams, and sometimes even a kilogram. The table shows the minimum and maximum sizes and weights for both genders.

How to determine a cat's breed online?

Google developers decided that if there is demand, there must be supply, and they created an application for mobile phones called Google Lens. The developers claim that the application knows how to determine the breed of a cat or dog by color, paws, face and other external characteristics. But this online test again tells about the appearance of the animal, that is, about who it looks like. In addition, his work is very approximate, even in terms of analyzing external data.

You can use the Google Lens application so that, walking down the street and seeing an animal, you don’t have to approach its owner with questions, but point the camera and ask Google. Although you will still receive much more reliable data from the owner.

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Features of pedigree kittens

Determining the breed of a kitten by phenotype is not always within the power of a professional. Some have such obvious natural features that they cannot be confused with anyone else; in this case, the table at the beginning of the article will help. Others differ so little from each other that they require the help of an experienced felinologist, supported by a genetic test.

Selkirk Rex

Balinese

Signs of thoroughbredness and obtaining a pedigree are important for those cases when the pet is awaiting breeding work or an exhibition career.

It must be remembered that the upbringing, love and appreciation of a cat is not determined by the “purity” of its blood.
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Is an animal without documents a purebred animal?

So, you ask, is a cat without documents a purebred? Many people feel offended because they thought that they were the owners of a purebred animal. In any case, at the time of purchase, the seller assured so...

The only way to know a breed 100% correctly is on the basis of documents of origin - this is true. At the same time, it often happens that a cat without documents is in fact a purebred or a mestizo. For example, he was born from purebred parents or parents of different breeds, purchased from a nursery not for breeding (without documents or marked “not for breeding”), but then an unscrupulous buyer decided to mate them. A pair of the same breed will produce a purebred cat. But this is not legally confirmed in any way, he will not participate in exhibitions, kittens with documents, that is, with a confirmed breed, cannot be obtained from him.

Sometimes a purebred animal can be picked up on the street: unfortunate owners sometimes throw even purebred animals out of the house. But in such cases it is still impossible to reliably recognize the breed. One can only guess whether the cat is purebred, or simply looks like the breed. In the “Kittens are waiting for owners” section in the “Murkotiki” group, in addition to purebred kittens, they also post abandoned cats that look like British and Scottish cats. If you want such a cat, you can pick it up from the volunteers. It will be a good deed and free.

In general, you probably only need to know the breed if the cat is going to participate in a kitten breeding program. Having such plans, you must complete felinological courses and buy an animal from a nursery with permission for breeding. It will cost more, but everything is legal.

In other cases, you simply love your pet, regardless of its origin. And this is correct, because love is not measured by criteria such as breed, purebred or price. It happens that a purebred animal is kicked out of the house, and it happens that an absolutely purebred dog with an average appearance and not the best character is loved simply because it exists. It depends only on the particular person and his ability to love.

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Eyes

You can tell what breed a cat is by looking at its eyes. This is difficult to do, because many breeds have the same eye color. Therefore, you need to pay attention not only to the color, but also to the shape and location of the eyes so that the result is correct.

For example, British cats are the only ones with orange eyes . A cat of the same breed, among other things, is endowed with strabismus. The Turkish Angora and the Turkish Van have another, but no less striking feature - eyes of different colors.

© shutterstock

Final verdict

If, after an external assessment of the pet, the owner continues to doubt its breed, it is recommended to go to a special exhibition with the pet. There you can consult with experienced breeders who will help determine the type of animal. After this, it is recommended to show your pet to professional felinologists who specialize in breeding a specific breed.

If experts confirm that the pet belongs to a specific breed of cat and find no reason for culling, the owner will be given an appropriate document confirming the breed of the animal.

If experts confirm that the pet belongs to a specific breed of cat and find no reason for culling, the owner will be given an appropriate document confirming the breed of the animal.

Determining gender by external characteristics

Another way to distinguish a cat from a cat is to carefully look at the face and body of the animal.

However, this method is suitable for avid cat lovers.

A person who determines the sex of a cat for the first time is unlikely to be able to do this accurately.

A cat differs from a cat in the following ways:

• You can determine the sex of a cat by its face and nose. They are quite wide;
• he has a powerful and large physique;
• paws are thick;
• A castrated cat can be distinguished from a female cat by its large head and thick skin.

External signs of a cat:

• has a more graceful body, graceful curves. This is especially noticeable in short-haired breeds like the Oriental, Savannah and Cornish Rex;
• if you try to find out the gender by the muzzle, then you need to look at its elongation: in cats it is more elongated in length rather than in width.

This can be seen in the photograph: the muzzle is narrow and elongated.

Gracefulness is the main characteristic of a cat

Another external sign of how to distinguish a cat from a cat is color:

• If a kitten at birth has a tricolor or tortoiseshell coloration, then we can say with complete confidence that it is a cat. This is due to a genetic feature. For the appearance of black, white and red colors in the coat, two X chromosomes are needed. And only females have them. A cat can only develop this color in the case of a genetic disease, which is quite rare.
• The color Calico also belongs to cats;
• Only cats are red or cinnamon colored.

You can sometimes accurately determine a cat's gender by coat color.

Traits associated with genetics

There is such a thing as sex-linked inheritance of traits. Thus, individuals with a three-color coat color will definitely be female, since the simultaneous presence of bright red, white and black colors guarantees the presence of two X chromosomes. (XX – female, XY – male). A genetic pathology (triploid set of sex chromosomes XXY) occurs very rarely, when cats have this coat color, but they cannot have offspring. Also, calico and tortoiseshell colors belong only to cats.

There are obvious differences by sex in mature animals during the period of sexual heat, which, as a rule, occurs no earlier than 7 months:

• Cats begin to more actively mark the surrounding territory, filling your home with a specific smell, become anxious, noisy, and try to go outside.
• Cats make heart-rending sounds day and night, fawn over others, roll on the floor, and arch their backs.

Pedigree and mongrelism

Before determining the breed, most often you have to find out whether the cat belongs to any breed at all or is outbred. To find out, you need to answer the following questions:

1. Is the color of the animal atypical, somehow different from most of its fellows?
2. How are the ears, limbs, tail developed, are there any non-standard differences?
3. Is the cat's size larger or smaller than most of its fellows?
4. Are there any peculiarities in the structure of the coat, such as small curls, waviness, long hair, etc.
5. Are there any other features in the animal’s appearance?

The test is not for weaklings: guess the cat from the photo!

Do you consider yourself a real connoisseur of cat breeds? Prove it to yourself and your friends by sharing your test result!

Write a comment!

I was sure that I understood cats much better! But the test made me tense up

I didn't expect this from myself. It seems like a small thing, but it’s nice.

6 out of 17 I’ll probably go into dog breeding

17 of 17 ... But I still love dogs more, sorry, funny fluffies who are already hungry at five in the morning, and are ready for breakfast at seven in the morning

Surprised. I am a cat lover. I leafed through one book about cats to guess who could become the father of my cat, because... her blue British mother gave birth to 5 completely black kittens. I made a mistake 2 times.

7 out of 17. I thought that I understood cats better - it turns out that I still have to study and study.

Finding out the “feline status” of your beloved pet

The first thing that quite naturally comes to our mind is that we need to turn to specialists in cat breeds. Professional breeders of certain breeds of cats and veterinarians who have seen various representatives of domestic cats have knowledge in this area. You can reliably determine that your new pet belongs to one of the famous aristocratic cat families with a high degree of probability, although no one can give you a 100% guarantee.

There are several specific signs that will definitely help you figure out which breed best matches the appearance and character of your cat. The appearance, habits and other characteristics of all known cat breeds have long been studied, classified and collected in specialized literature.

To compare with scientific sources, you will have to create a “portfolio” of your furry friend. Photos of the cat from different angles, in full growth, an image of the face, the size and shape of the paws, the structure and fluffiness of the tail will be useful. By collecting all the data on your pet and comparing it according to the description with the characteristics presented in the atlas-reference book, you will get your first guesses about the breed of your pet.