Korat or NO? - Please help answer on-going debate about this cat!

casemarten

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Hi,

I am new here and found this site while looking for ways to distinguish cat breeds with a blue/grey coat.  My family and I rescued a cat about 18 months ago we have been trying to identify.  We have had cats all our lives (currently have 4) and I think it's very unlikely that the cat is anything other than a domestic SH.  But, the rest of my family is convinced otherwise and I'm inclined to agree that she is certainly NOT an average cat.  I am including some pictures of her but will describe her to the best of my ability.

She showed up in my neighbors' yard (they have big dogs) and I was called to come rescue her.  She immediately "spoke" to me and came right away to me, and we brought her home.  She was about 16 wks and very recently (like that day!) spayed.  We posted FOUND ads for her but she was not claimed.  We are glad, we love her to bits! She came into the house like she owned it, climbing about, lots of talking, very friendly from the get go.  

Her name is "itty bitty Betsy" (because she is small) weighing in at only 7.5lbs as an almost 2yr old.  She is very vocal - but not in an annoying way.  When she wants to play she has a call she makes.  When she is looking for her person (my 7yr old daughter) she has another call.  She also has a call when she is just plain bored. Other than her various calls, she makes a number of "trill" sounds that are very small, but have a wide tonal range.  We talk to her in these trills because she seems to like it...it's more like conversational talk to her.  She is quiet if she doesn't need anything, so the vocalization is not over the top. 

Her most outstanding characteristic is probably her agility/trainability.  She MUST play or she will terrorize the house and chase the other cats, so we have taught her many tricks.  Her best trick is jumping on command - her highest jump was just over 5 ft.  This is from a standing position straight up in the air.  She is often found in strange places like high cupboards because she can open/close any door.  She sits, stays, will bring a toy to you, basic commands like you would teach a dog.  She is very, very fast and agile - alloying her to play with big rough and tumble males because she is faster and more agile than any of our other cats.  She is also very confident and will challenge other cats when she probably should not - although we have yet to have any fights.  She is not aggressive at all, more ruled by her playful nature.  She is definitely a "tree-climber" and is all over tall furniture.  She even climbs on a tall sideboard and reaches up to stretch with her front paws on the ceiling.  I cannot emphasize this climbing/jumping habit enough! 

From day 1, she has "belonged" to my daughter.  She is a one person cat.  We all love her and she sleeps with me, but she belongs to my daughter.  She follows her everywhere and my daughter has learned to read her cues when to play, etc.  When my daughter leaves the house, she paces about calling for her.  I have to tell the cat she isn't here (which she seems to understand and usually curls in my lap).  She is not fond of being held or petted in general.  The cat is very, very independent and basically she has to choose to sit in your lap, sleep with you, etc.  She has specific rituals like napping in my lap in the afternoons but otherwise isn't a coddle kitty.  Except for my daughter, who can wag her around under one arm all day with no problem.

Aside from being small (7.5lbs as an adult) she is solid grey from nose to tail.  When we first got her she had some faint shadow striping on her tail that disappeared quickly as she aged.  She is true silver-grey and looks like she glows, especially if she has light behind her.  Her face is very round and she has a "puff" appearance a lot of the time.  Her eyes are light green like an unripe banana.  She does have a very striking appearance.  She is almost always making a smile face, for some reason her face looks like it is smiling in different smiles a lot of the time.  You can see some of this in the pictures.  The only thing that is a little odd about her face is her nose, which has a different shape than the other cats I have owned.  You can also see this in the pictures.  She has a nice build, aside from being overall "small" she is muscular and strong.  Her coat is very soft and dense, and her tail is thicker than average.

My daughter is convinced that she is a Korat or part Korat.  I have researched on the internet and cannot find any Korat breeders anywhere near me, so I know this is highly unlikely.  Our vet said she is an "unusual" cat but most likely is just an average grey cat.  But she does have a lot of the Korat traits from what I have read, and she looks very much like the Korat pictures I have seen.  Can you identify her breed or rule out the possibility she could be a Korat from the pictures/description?

Thanks so much for reading and taking the time to answer.  Here are my pics!




 

StefanZ

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Possibly.

Do you know how old is he?

Are the eyes good green in reality? They shall be on Korats.

I know photos makes often green eyes yellowish.

Welcome to our Forums!

Good luck!
 
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casemarten

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Please see next post...
 
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casemarten

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She is almost 2yrs old...about 21-22months right now.  

Her eyes have always been light green (that is lighter around the outside and more green in the middle) but have become more green as she has gotten older.    I have attached a picture where you can see the eyes better (the picture is from about 6 months ago...I tried taking a new one but she is not being cooperative with pictures at the moment!)  

 

maewkaew

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She is a beautiful cat! and she sounds like a great personality.
I can see why Korat would occur to your daughter. the coat color and the silver tipping does look like that. For some reason it also pops up sometimes in blue domestic shorthairs that probably don't have any Russian Blue or Korat. ( hey it happened naturally in Korats themselves!)

( Personality does sound very much like many of the breeds from Thailand, the intelligence and activity level and the must get enough playtime or will terrorize the other cats. Of course the temperaments of random-bred "Domestics" do vary a great deal. so it's pretty hard to use that as evidence of being some breed. )

But what you said about a "puff" appearance is not sounding Korat.
Can you post a profile shot?

When you part the coat, are there like 2 types of fur?
> one very straight, perhaps hairs slightly thicker (I know that may be hard to tell) maybe a bit longer than the other kind,
> and another type of hair ( finer hair, may be shorter, and if you look closely at least some are wavy) that tends to lie closer to the skin?

This is something you COULD find out by a DNA test if you wanted to shell out the money.. UC Davis has a genetic test for cats' origin. I think it's around a hundred bucks. I would not trust it for everything, but in a natural breed like the Korat from an area where the cats are very distinct genetically from Western cats . you could at least find out if the cat's ancestry came from that part of the world. Then they would compare to samples of Korats. and tell you how close it seemed.
I would seriously doubt the ability of such a test to distinguish a Maine Coon from a Domestic Longhair from America. since it's the same source population. but to tell a Korat from the average DSH in America, I bet they can do that. I know they have samples of pedigreed Korats and samples from random-bred cats in Thailand.
(If you do that , please come tell us the results!)
 

StefanZ

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OK, to your question. If a cat is a purebred (and in practice also a "fresh" mix), you know by the pedigree papers who follows the cat.  Or at least, other good proofs of her parentage.

All others, over 95% of cats, are domestics.

Or if you want, if a cat is a purebreed is not because of its look alike, but because of its parentage.

So the cats you see in a cat book being korat, is not there because he happens to be alike korat, but because he IS a good looking korat with papers and everything.

On internet it may vary, as anybody kan publicize their photos and say whatever they want...

All this said.

Yes, I think your cat is a korat look alike.  

She may even be a korat for real, there are many indicies for it (perhaps lost during a transport).   But this we cant know for sure.  So everything you and me can say, is she is a look alike of a korat.

Good luck!
 

StefanZ

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Proceeding...  Did you looked if she has a micro-chip?  A purebred will probably have it.  Not so sure if she was from a BYB breeder, but all serious breeders would do it. Usually immediately before sending to their new owner, but at very latest, at the occasion of spaying.

So THIS will be a heavy indicium.

As hinted, she may have fled during transport from vet or so, or rather, it is surely what happened. This could explain "a foreign bird" suddenly happened in your neighbourhood, and why nobody answered for the Found ads. A responsible owner of a pure bred will of course search intensively, but not living in your area, it is easy to miss these Found ads, if they are put mostly locally.

No Korat breeders nearby is likewise no proof, purebred are commonly send or fetched to their new owners even hundreds of miles away.

Her head not entirely perfect  does not necessary be proof - we do see these perfect examples on shows and in cat books. Pet quality, or lower breeding quality, we do seldom see, but it is these who are sold to the average buyer.

Korats are a rare breed. Even more rare than Russian Blue. So the statistics are heavy against you.

But as said, buyers of the rare breeds are prepared to fetch them from long away.

Still,  we cant say more then she is a look alike.

Unless a microchip or a refound owner does prove otherwise.    :)
 

maewkaew

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Yeah I am not seeing the heart within a heart face. but as Stefan says there's variation in breeds and not all conform equally to the standard. and the head is not so extremely wrong to make it obvious ( for example if it looked like a British Shorthair head.) In the first 2 photos the head looks more wrong, but in the 3rd where the cat is looking up one can see more the shape of the bones ( since one is not seeing the extra flesh or fur on the neck) . The eyes don't look as big as I think Korats typically do either. but again some pet quality ones may not be.
 

But I am suspecting the coat type is not right. That is something I would consider pretty crucial.
 

orientalslave

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Also the korat is a comparatively rare breed. Suspect she is a lovely dsh - shorthair cat of no particular breed.
 

Dana Williams

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Hello I'm having a similar experience a family of Korat cats ? showed up last fall. Four are living under a camper trailer of mine and a fifth has taken up residence under my neighbers house trailer. I have one female grey /silver was grey/tanish but is more grey as she ages she has green eyes.The second adult cat is a lighter grey and has beautiful blue eyes. I also have two kittens One grey and one lilac thats looks like a siamese in it's coloring.The kittens are always with the blue eyed adult who always lets them eat first.Oh they are all very feral ,but the two adults will come when called just don't try and get to close ,they usually try and keep a 3 foot buffer zone.Now the adult cat that is next door is a darker grey and looks long when viewed from a distance also his head looks larger then the ones at my house ,almost like what a lynx would have with a much larger space beween the ears then the ones at my house .Oh they all seem to have a white triangle shape on their brest.I have no idea where they came from but I do live about a mile from a Loatian Buddist temple.I've heard that if a Korat has a traumatic experience they will find a new home elsewhere.
 

StefanZ

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Hello I'm having a similar experience a family of Korat cats ? showed up last fall. Four are living under a camper trailer of mine and a fifth has taken up residence under my neighbers house trailer. I have one female grey /silver was grey/tanish but is more grey as she ages she has green eyes.The second adult cat is a lighter grey and has beautiful blue eyes. I also have two kittens One grey and one lilac thats looks like a siamese in it's coloring.The kittens are always with the blue eyed adult who always lets them eat first.Oh they are all very feral ,but the two adults will come when called just don't try and get to close ,they usually try and keep a 3 foot buffer zone.Now the adult cat that is next door is a darker grey and looks long when viewed from a distance also his head looks larger then the ones at my house ,almost like what a lynx would have with a much larger space beween the ears then the ones at my house .Oh they all seem to have a white triangle shape on their brest.I have no idea where they came from but I do live about a mile from a Loatian Buddist temple.I've heard that if a Korat has a traumatic experience they will find a new home elsewhere.
Nice! You are warmth welcome to have some good pics on them! We would love this!
 
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