Cat breed??? need help

pixiijade

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hi guys, i have three cats and two of them i know their breeds however my recent cat hazy is new to the family and we got her from a friend for free who didn’t really know what she was either other than american curl and maybe serval? i’m not sure but he also mentioned something about the generation being f2 or f3 or f4 something along the lines of that... which i don’t really understand anyway. as for her personality, she’s VERY vocal and very very lovable, she loves being pet and she acts more like a dog than a cat. her fur is SO soft and it literally looks like she’s made of silk or gold coated because her fur is so shiny. she is also very slender, it took me almost a year to get her to the weight she’s at now, she wasn’t like sick or anything i just wanted to fatten her up a bit but now i realize it might be in her genetics to be slender. she eats like a normal cat, likes treats and wet food. she is very beautiful, wouldn’t trade her for anything in the world, if you guys could help me figure out what she looks like, that’s be great! thank you 😊
 

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lutece

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Your cat definitely appears to have the curled ear gene, which is a dominant gene found in the American Curl breed. Given what you remember about your friend's description (mentioning F2, F3, F4 etc), her ancestry may also include one or more hybrid breeds. From her appearance, warm coloring, and your description of her coat texture, I would guess that ancestry from the Bengal breed is probably more likely than the Savannah breed (serval hybrid), but more than one hybrid breed might be involved.

There is no single officially recognized breed that combines the curled ear gene with any hybrid breed. However, there are people out there that use different breeds to produce intentional or experimental mixes with combinations of traits (similar to dog breeders who produce "doodle" dogs by combining Poodles with other breeds). The curled ear gene is a popular trait that many of these people like to use in their mixes.

So it's possible that your cat may have been produced as part of an intentional breeding program like these, or it's also possible that she may have come from an accidental litter, if someone had both American Curls and Bengals in their home, for example. It's hard to know for sure just from looking at her. You might be able to get more information from talking to your friend.

In any case, I agree with you -- she's a beautiful cat!
 
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pixiijade

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thank you so much! that definitely does help a lot! does the spots on her fur indicate any specific breed that comes to mind? and do you think she has the ‘M’ on her head that would say she’s a tabby? it looks like she has it but it’s different than the regular ‘M’ you normally see on tabbies. she’s the nicest cat ever, my other two will flinch and get out of the way for anything they’re like scaredy-cats but she never flinches or anything she won’t even get out of the way when she’s in my path like she almost doesn’t care lol! and i am pretty sure she was intentionally bred to look the way she does but i didn’t buy her because i would never buy a cat, luckily we got her for free as the guys parents were allergic to cats. i tried asking him but i don’t think he fully knows what she is other than american curl 🤷🏻‍♀️
 

lutece

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Spots in themselves don't indicate any specific breed. Spots can occur in most breeds that allow a variety of tabby patterns, including random-bred domestic cats. All tabbies have some sort of "M" on the forehead, unless it's covered up by white markings. So I don't think those things tell you much. Probably you won't know for sure about her ancestry unless you track down the original breeder, and even then, that person might not know.
 

StefanZ

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Agree with everything above. Want to mention, if its important for you to know more, there are genetical tests, not even very costly nor complicated. The one with best reputation is run by UC Davies.
 
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pixiijade

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thanks guys, i’ll look into the genetic tests, i’ve heard they’re not very reliable because it’s very hard for people to pinpoint the exact genetics of any cat but if that place works i’ll give it a try and update you guys, thanks so much
 
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