Little hank Williams.

[crazycatlady365]

I received a new kitten yesterday. Hank. He's blue and stocky. So I was thinking part russian blue, but his fur is more like a charteux as its almost sheeplike. And his eyes are a yellowish orangish but he's still you g so they will change still. His ta is also pretty short and thick. I'm sure he's mixed cause he has stripes on his tail and two tiny white spots on his hips.

Anybody have I site to what he is?

 

[crazycatlady365]

 

[belle8bete]

Oh HANK WHAT A STUD

I agree with your russian blue guess but I'm not especially reliable.  His face seems pretty round...aren't the Russian blues more pointy? 

 

[crazycatlady365]

Oh HANK WHAT A STUD



I agree with your russian blue guess but I'm not especially reliable.  His face seems pretty round...aren't the Russian blues more pointy? 

i thought they had round faces and were kinda stocky.

 

[maewkaew]

 Your little Hank Williams  (LOVE the name !  I am a fan of Hank Sr.) is an adorable Blue Domestic Shorthair.  which just means no particular breed,  like the vast majority of cats.    Of course he is very special since, after all, he is the only one of himself! 

 It is very natural to be curious about your kitten's ancestry,  and can be fun to compare him to some breeds.  But  cats aren't like dogs that are usually a breed or a mix of breeds.  There has been much, much less selective breeding of cats .  The great majority of them have just bred randomly on their own over the centuries,  and  have little or no pedigree ancestry.   They have a mix of genes from the general cat population in their part of the world.    and they come in a great variety of colors, patterns, shapes and sizes,  but most aren't considered a breed.  They're  known as "Domestic Shorthairs" or "Domestic Longhairs",  or affectionately called "moggies".  

  The pedigreed cats with all the breeds put together are only about 3% of owned cats.    And a huge part of that 3% is cats from a few of the most popular breeds like Persians, Maine Coons and Ragdolls.    by the time you get down the list to minority breeds like Russian Blues ,  or even more rare Chartreux,  the numbers are pretty small.  And most are neutered as kittens.  So there just are not so many Russian Blue mixes around as people think.   ( Maybe there are more in Sweden,  since Stefan , who is Swedish,  seems to fairly often suggest that a cat might be part RB.  which would actually be very unusual here in North America. ) 

Just to give some perspective,  a Russian Blue is  less common in the U.S. than a hairless Sphynx cat.  Chartreux are even more  than Russian Blues. 

Russian blues are not stocky / cobby with round heads,  not at all.   They are not as long and fine boned as cats of "oriental type" ( like an Oriental  or modern Siamese)  but they're "foreign type" which is the type right next to that.    Especially the RBs in the U.S.  are rather refined in body type.        (Keep in mind, one can't go by every picture online labeled as Russian Blue  because so many people mistakenly think any blue cat is a Russian Blue,  so there are lots of   photos online mistakenly tagged  Russian Blue .)  

   A Chartreux would be pretty stocky ,  or a British Shorthair.   And he does kind of resemble those breeds.  But that doesn't mean he probably has pedigreed ancestors of one of those breeds because there are far more blue "moggies",  in a variety of body types.  

  However ,  a lot of the U.S. cat population originally did come from the British cats.    And  British Shorthair  is  a natural breed ,   the pedigree version of shorthair moggies in Britain ( though they have been bred to exaggerate that big round head and stockiness,  to make it more predictable they'll turn out like that).   The breed originally came from those random bred cats; breeders selected some that they thought most attractive and most typical . 

but it makes sense that there are also some cats who are similar to the cats who were the foundation of that breed and do rather resemble them. 

I would guess that may be the case for  this little cute Hank. 

The U.S. equivalent breed is the American Shorthair,  a breed that has the goal to preserve the historical ook of the shorthaired working cats of the U.S.    They tend to be less massive than the British Shorthair,  but they are a muscular cat of similar semi-cobby type  with a wide oval face with a pretty short muzzle.  Possibly the original British Shorthair was a bit closer in type to today's American Shorthair?  

To be blue,  a cat needs to get 2 copies ( one from each parent) of the Non-Agouti gene ( for solid instead of tabby),  at least 1 copy of Black and 2 copies of Dilute ( which makes a black cat into a blue cat ).  All these genes are common in cat populations all over the world,   not just from specific breeds.   But the blue cats look so cool that there have been a few breeds developed from them ( or like with the British Shorthair,  it's a popular color within a breed that comes in many colors.)

 

 

[crazycatlady365]

I've just never seen such thick hair on a cat. It's Linda itchy sometimes.

 

[maewkaew]

   You mean "itchy" because it's so thick ( and with such undercoat) that it stands out from the body like a teddy bear 's "coat"?  .

The random bred cats do come in a big variety...  so some will have thicker coats than others.   The body type in this blue kitten definitely looks more cobby / heavy than a Russian Blue.   But those other breeds I mentioned,   British Shorthair and American Shorthair, also have short thick double coats.      

   There is honestly no way to  know for sure if he might have some pedigreed ancestry.     but like I said, even without ancestors being pedigreed members of a breed, they could still be the same sort of cats that were the foundation of that breed. 

 

[crazycatlady365]

   You mean "itchy" because it's so thick ( and with such undercoat) that it stands out from the body like a teddy bear 's "coat"?  .



The random bred cats do come in a big variety...  so some will have thicker coats than others.   The body type in this blue kitten definitely looks more cobby / heavy than a Russian Blue.   But those other breeds I mentioned,   British Shorthair and American Shorthair, also have short thick double coats.      



   There is honestly no way to  know for sure if he might have some pedigreed ancestry.     but like I said, even without ancestors being pedigreed members of a breed, they could still be the same sort of cats that were the foundation of that breed. 

Yes! Like a teddy. And yes his u see coat. Abigail and Amelia have different coats too. Amelia's if finer and Abigail's is very smooth. She's has a beautiful coat.

 

[maewkaew]

     That teddy bear kind of coat is what we call a plush coat.   His body  & coat do remind me of a little Brit kitten.  and he probably does look like some of the early ones. 

I just went and looked at your first post and saw Abigail and Amelia .  They are beautiful!  

 

[crazycatlady365]

     That teddy bear kind of coat is what we call a plush coat.   His body  & coat do remind me of a little Brit kitten.  and he probably does look like some of the early ones. 




I just went and looked at your first post and saw Abigail and Amelia .  They are beautiful!  

Thank you!!! Abigail's fur is so nice. I love to shave my legs and when she rubs them it feels so good. Hahaha

 

[crazycatlady365]

Eewwwww. So I train all my cats with a spray bottle. And when hanks fur is wet he smells like livestock.