Possible breed of cat?

[nickc]

Hi all, I have this lovely cat who decided to move into my house, I don't think he was ever a stray as he is very friendly, possibly left behind after someone moved. Hes quite small and I believe he is fully grown as ive had him for about 6 months and his size hasn't changed much.

Here are some pictures.

IMG-20131118-WA0000.jpg

• nickc
• Nov 17, 2013

IMG-20131118-WA0001.jpg

• nickc
• Nov 17, 2013

IMG-20131118-WA0002.jpg

• nickc
• Nov 17, 2013

 

[mani]

HI nickc and welcome to TCS! 

What an interesting boy!  He's a domestic short-hair (not a particular breed).  As for coat,  I would have called him a tortie (tortoiseshell), but male torties are very rare, so I'm at a bit of a loss.  Someone else may be of more help.

Have you checked that he's been neutered?

He's a lovely boy.. You should be very happy together..

 

 

[maewkaew]

What a wonderfully striking coat pattern!   Are you absolutely sure it's a male cat?   because this sure looks like a tortie coat (albeit a rather unusual one) and as Mani said,  male tortoiseshells are rare.    But rare is not nonexistent .   and it looks like you have a rare male tortie. ( unless you're mistaken about the gender and it's a neutered male.   It's  hard to mistake a mature whole tomcat.  but a neuter MIGHT be mixed up.   No

This is one of those tortie coats where the black-based pigment came out super dense black,  yet the red-based pigment is much paler;   it makes an interesting effect.   ( There are rare examples of torties in which the fur that is supposed to be red  is actually de-pigmented and comes out white!     I wonder if there may be a similar cause when only the phaeomelanistic color red turns out light-color,   like in your cat , but it is just less pigment not zero .) 

The other thing wild about it is how the head and chest appear to be sold black.   But  tortoiseshells can come out with  a huge range of variety in the arrangement of the red and black parts of the coat --which is something that happens during development of the embryo.  

I would agree the cat is probably  at least mostly from random-bred " domestic shorthairs" .  and is a very beautiful example of how they can turn out.

  There is no way to know if he might have some pedigreed ancestry mixed in.   but no matter what the ancestry,  this cat looks very regal.  

  He does have rather large ears.   but I don't know how that compares to the random bred cat population in your area.  ( and I don't know where you're located).  and "domestics" come in quite a variety .