Is my cat an Abyssinian mix?

Dave Brownlee

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From the looks -I would say your cat is partially Abby judging from the ears and the eyes - I had a mix before and I know a bit about this. How athletic is your cat? Abby's tend to be more athletic than other cats. Also, is your cat VERY curious - granted that cats are curious in general but Abby's tend to be even more curious. Other than that - does your cat "meow" much? Abby's tend to be relatively quiet generally. Abby's also aren't the best "lap cats" as they lose interest when they hear or see something.

I had an Abyssinian mix that could jump from the floor in the kitchen and land (coming down) on the top of the refrigerator.
 

cearbhael

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I have a cat that is very similar but more pale. She arrived a spotted tabby colour and now she suddenly has a very ticked body with very faded spotted tabby markings on her body. Her face, legs and tail are strikingly marked. Brown on pale cream with a definite cinnamon cast to the brown. I definitely think she is a spotted/ticked tabby colour of some sort and for some reason the face tail and legs are not affected by the fading. I can still make out her spots in the proper light, especially from the rear but if the ticking increases that may change! I take tons of pictures so I have proof she arrived a spotted tabby.
I KNOW all tabby markings, including ticked are colour markings, not a breed. She DEFINITELY is a mutt, but there is a strong resemblance to Abyssinian, which makes me curious as to what her mix is. I live in a small town and we have a backyard breeder who breeds spotted tabby cats by mixing domestic tabby, Bengal, possibly Siamese and Abyssinian. It is not a mystery that the last two cats I took in were spotted tabby. Neither of them outside by choice! The first was found by my standard poodle under my son’s car in a severe sleet storm. Only a handful and very young. The 2nd one (the ticked/spotted tabby) broke into my basement and cried at the top of her lungs until I let her upstairs. She was wearing a flea collar that was Way too tight and it was January and almost -30 degrees Fahrenheit! She had a post pregnancy tummy she has lost and has been in heat twice. She never meows, even in heat! She chirrups. She is getting shots and getting spayed in June.
People who throw kitties away in severe weather, whatever reason they think the have, should be flogged.
 

StefanZ

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I have a cat that is very similar but more pale. She arrived a spotted tabby colour and now she suddenly has a very ticked body with very faded spotted tabby markings on her body. Her face, legs and tail are strikingly marked. Brown on pale cream with a definite cinnamon cast to the brown. I definitely think she is a spotted/ticked tabby colour of some sort and for some reason the face tail and legs are not affected by the fading. I can still make out her spots in the proper light, especially from the rear but if the ticking increases that may change! I take tons of pictures so I have proof she arrived a spotted tabby.
I KNOW all tabby markings, including ticked are colour markings, not a breed. She DEFINITELY is a mutt, but there is a strong resemblance to Abyssinian, which makes me curious as to what her mix is. I live in a small town and we have a backyard breeder who breeds spotted tabby cats by mixing domestic tabby, Bengal, possibly Siamese and Abyssinian. It is not a mystery that the last two cats I took in were spotted tabby. Neither of them outside by choice! The first was found by my standard poodle under my son’s car in a severe sleet storm. Only a handful and very young. The 2nd one (the ticked/spotted tabby) broke into my basement and cried at the top of her lungs until I let her upstairs. She was wearing a flea collar that was Way too tight and it was January and almost -30 degrees Fahrenheit! She had a post pregnancy tummy she has lost and has been in heat twice. She never meows, even in heat! She chirrups. She is getting shots and getting spayed in June.
People who throw kitties away in severe weather, whatever reason they think the have, should be flogged.
Pics are welcome.
But how you write the looks, I wouldnt be too much suprised if she were really a point. Sometimes they arent very apparent!

And when I read this BYB used a siamese too in her "byblowing", the possibility of a point mix is even higher...
 

cearbhael

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Pics are welcome.
But how you write the looks, I wouldnt be too much suprised if she were really a point. Sometimes they arent very apparent!

And when I read this BYB used a siamese too in her "byblowing", the possibility of a point mix is even higher...
Ha, ha, you think like me. She is intriguing. She isn’t a point however. I had a tabby point with strong body colour, however, like all point kitties he was born white and colour arrived as he grew. Also, all, and I mean All point cats have blue eyes. It is a recessive gene and has to come from both parents to actually “present” itself. Ginny has green eyes, so whatever is happening, it is not the point gene. Her ears have cute tufts that tilt back, very cute. She is tiny. I thought she was a kitten last Jan, 6-9 months but she hasn’t grown, and still looks like a kitten. Tiny wedged head and huge almond eyes and huge ears are what give her that look. I still believe her to be young.
 

cearbhael

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Ha, ha, you think like me. She is intriguing. She isn’t a point however. I had a tabby point with strong body colour, however, like all point kitties he was born white and colour arrived as he grew. Also, all, and I mean All point cats have blue eyes. It is a recessive gene and has to come from both parents to actually “present” itself. Ginny has green eyes, so whatever is happening, it is not the point gene. Her ears have cute tufts that tilt back, very cute. She is tiny. I thought she was a kitten last Jan, 6-9 months but she hasn’t grown, and still looks like a kitten. Tiny wedged head and huge almond eyes and huge ears are what give her that look. I still believe her to be young.
PS: the pic with the spots was taken early Feb. The others are recent. I will be posting a Jan pic of her sleeping but need to move it from another file first
 

cearbhael

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D3544E5C-E3E7-4D2A-AF43-BA14D6D1147B.jpeg

You can see the striking difference in her coat. My son noticed how silvery the new ticking was. It may be a seasonal thing which means her spots may become more apparent in the winter (hope) but if not, she is still beautiful and quite unique
 

cearbhael

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View attachment 336498
You can see the striking difference in her coat. My son noticed how silvery the new ticking was. It may be a seasonal thing which means her spots may become more apparent in the winter (hope) but if not, she is still beautiful and quite unique
PS: forgive my feet being in picture! I was out running barefoot around my yard after it rained, and cats tend to settle in laps. Grabbed the photo when it presented itself
 

chrono

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Wow, came into the right thread. I recently picked up two kittens and one of them, is similar to yours. I wanted to find out what type of breed she was and it led me to Abyss + domestic short hair. The characteristics and behaviors mentioned in this thread were spot on. They are very curious in EVERYTHING, i mean everything. You open a cabinet, boom they right there. You open the fridge, BAM they right there. You open the dish washer, BAM they right there. They have long limbs and tall ears, and almond shaped eyes. Both have amber/copper eyes as well. They have a lot of energy and can both play all day. They jump really really high, quite the aerobatics/

Here they are, CP and Kobe both are roughly 4 months old. Don't mean to hijack thread, posting similar cat breed for all to see.

IMG_20200917_133821.jpg


IMG_20200915_134055.jpg
 

lutece

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Wow, came into the right thread. I recently picked up two kittens and one of them, is similar to yours. I wanted to find out what type of breed she was and it led me to Abyss + domestic short hair. The characteristics and behaviors mentioned in this thread were spot on. They are very curious in EVERYTHING, i mean everything. You open a cabinet, boom they right there. You open the fridge, BAM they right there. You open the dish washer, BAM they right there. They have long limbs and tall ears, and almond shaped eyes. Both have amber/copper eyes as well. They have a lot of energy and can both play all day. They jump really really high, quite the aerobatics/
Your kittens are adorable!

They both look like mackerel tabby domestic shorthairs -- one is brown mackerel tabby (black-based tabby), and the other is cream mackerel tabby.

I'm not seeing any resemblance to the Abyssinian breed in your kittens. Abys are slender ticked tabby cats, with long legs, large ears and eyes, and very "warm" (reddish / orange) coloring to their undercoat and ground color. Most cats are not any particular breed, but that doesn't make them any less special... Domestic shorthairs are great cats!

Every cat has its own personality. Your kittens might turn out to be a bit more active than average, but it's also normal for four month old kittens to be curious and into everything :)
 

chrono

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Hi!

Thank you for your reply! They're everything to me, love em to death.

Hmmm I still think they have some kind of Abyssinian mix to them because their necks are long and long limbs. The don't have the tick coats but such similar characteristics to a Abyssinian. However, I might be wrong. I asked the original owner and they said it's mixed. My guess is mixture of wild abyssinian + domestic short hair. But IDK it's tough to determine if you don't have a DNA test.

Here's some better picture of them.

IMG_20200919_171507.jpg


PXL_20200924_032323296(1).jpg


Thanks again for your insight!
 

FionaQuinnTorbie

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Wow, came into the right thread. I recently picked up two kittens and one of them, is similar to yours. I wanted to find out what type of breed she was and it led me to Abyss + domestic short hair. The characteristics and behaviors mentioned in this thread were spot on. They are very curious in EVERYTHING, i mean everything. You open a cabinet, boom they right there. You open the fridge, BAM they right there. You open the dish washer, BAM they right there. They have long limbs and tall ears, and almond shaped eyes. Both have amber/copper eyes as well. They have a lot of energy and can both play all day. They jump really really high, quite the aerobatics/

Here they are, CP and Kobe both are roughly 4 months old. Don't mean to hijack thread, posting similar cat breed for all to see.

View attachment 351557

View attachment 351558
My kitten has rounded ears like yours-never seen this before and an curious what breed has that trait?
 

sunnysunshinerine

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Hi!

Thank you for your reply! They're everything to me, love em to death.

Hmmm I still think they have some kind of Abyssinian mix to them because their necks are long and long limbs. The don't have the tick coats but such similar characteristics to a Abyssinian. However, I might be wrong. I asked the original owner and they said it's mixed. My guess is mixture of wild abyssinian + domestic short hair. But IDK it's tough to determine if you don't have a DNA test.

Here's some better picture of them.

View attachment 352165

View attachment 352166

Thanks again for your insight!

yes yes yes and yes!!!
 

AnSDRfanhere

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At first i considered my kitten to be a tabby, but people have said that they think that she is part Abyssinian. Sh[color= rgb(24, 24, 24)]e's got tabby marks on her face and stripes on all his legs, but the stripes fade to a ticked pattern on her back. She is 15 weeks old. I know she was born feral so Im not quite sure she's got any real breed in her.[/color]

Here are some photos of her as a kitten. What do you think? Could she have some Abyssinian heritage, or is it just some recessive tabby gene?


Matilda at 11 weeks



I think she is a brown house-shorthaired agouti. Agouti cats are also known as ticked or abyssinyan tabbies.
 
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