strange animal

[emmaway]

I've been trying to figure out what could have made my funny new cat. He has crazy long legs and body, a tiny head, and very odd markings. He's got a gorgeous personality, so gentle and loves to play fetch, climb, and sleep... as you can see...

Here are some pics:

image.jpg

• emmaway
• Mar 12, 2013

image.jpg

• emmaway
• Mar 12, 2013

 

[emmaway]

image.jpg

• emmaway
• Mar 12, 2013

image.jpg

• emmaway
• Mar 12, 2013

 

[emmaway]

image.jpg

• emmaway
• Mar 12, 2013

image.jpg

• emmaway
• Mar 12, 2013

image.jpg

• emmaway
• Mar 12, 2013

 

[maewkaew]

Wow, amazing looking cat! Where did you get him and do you know anything at all about his background?
 
He looks like a smoke ( with very noticeable ghost tabby markings) . When I rolled over your post in the forum list and saw about long long body and legs and small head , i thought "That sounds like how someone might describe an Oriental". Well, he's clearly not an Oriental, head shape is totally wrong, ears too small and boning too heavy. but might be a mix of Ori x some large domestic shorthair? Or ......Savannah mix??? Maine Coon mix!?! LOL Normally I am not wildly tossing out pedigree mix ideas. but I am thinking this cat is maybe not just a regular moggy , but not a breed, but a mix of moggy and some pedigree cat that is long bodied and long legged and with the inhibitor gene.
 

For some reason i am having trouble really seeing the coat well, maybe it's the lighting. I'm not even totally sure if his base color is blue or black. Looks like he might be some kind of silver tabby, or smoke with ghost tabby markings?. Can you get a photo in better lighting , side view with him stretched out? ( trying to see the pattern on his side) .
 

He sounds like a WONDERFUL cat!

 

[northernglow]

For some reason i am having trouble really seeing the coat well, maybe it's the lighting. I'm not even totally sure if his base color is blue or black. Looks like he might be some kind of silver tabby, or smoke with ghost tabby markings?

Looks clearly like a black smoke on my monitor. 

 

[maewkaew]

Yeah I thought he must be black smoke but I was on a laptop with an annoying glare when I typed that! Now I see it definitely black smoke

 

[emmaway]

he is hard to see even in person! His coat is very fine and hair- like, with no gloss at all. he started out black with white/grey fur at the base, but is starting to get some silver and rust colouring as he gets older. i don't know anything about his parents, I adopted him when he was about three months old. i tried to get some pics that show how long-boned he is, but he was being pretty wiggly.

image.jpg

• emmaway
• Mar 12, 2013

image.jpg

• emmaway
• Mar 12, 2013

image.jpg

• emmaway
• Mar 12, 2013

image.jpg

• emmaway
• Mar 12, 2013

 

[emmaway]

here's one where you can see his markings a bit better- He is really difficult to photograph

image.jpg

• emmaway
• Mar 12, 2013

 

[emmaway]

Wow, I am totally photo-bombing you all! I forgot to mention his wrinkly forehead. I attached yet another photo

image.jpg

• emmaway
• Mar 12, 2013

 

[maewkaew]

Thanks for more photos. What a cat! I was curious what kind of tabby pattern was in the ghost markings. In the last pic looks like broken mackerel. but in some of the others maybe not. Oh well.
 
Yes a black smoke would start out black. and yes they are difficult to photograph. I am inclining toward the guess that he may be part some exotic hybrid breed... as I said, I'm thinking maybe part Savannah ... some of the things don't look so ideally Savannah- like. He doesn't have big Serval ears for example. but in the development of the breed there 's been quite a variety. and I'm not saying this was a selectively bred cat. IF he is part SV, and was adopted from a shelter at 12 weeks , I dont' think he came from a breeder or I would think they'd have just have sold him as an unusual SV. but maybe someone's F4 or even F3 SV got out and mated.
 

The rather small head would fit with Savannah. I think the wrinkles on the head is just because his coat is short and very close lying. It's just that in most cats you can't see that because their fur is longer or sticks out more. http://www.lequoiacats.com/LequoiaSVColors.html Here is a page that has put together just about every possible color and pattern that has popped up in Savannahs. (They're not all officially accepted.) Scroll down and you can see several examples of black smoke Savannahs.
 

I still am wondering, though, about an Oriental x a really large domestic. I had a Siamese mix. who apparently came from some mix of fairly modern type Siamese x large DSH with a pointed pattern. Somehow this cat turned out to have the sort of proportions of a Siamese, with very long body and very long legs, but was bigger , with heavier boning. He was also the most incredible cat. super smart and loving.
 

Anyway I may be totally off base. but he is sure an interesting looking cat and he does sound like a great buddy.

 

[emmaway]

Wow, thanks for that link, they really look a lot like Bruce! In colouring as well as body type. Some of them I would easily mistake for him. I ordinarily wouldn't be so curious, but he's such an unusual looking boy. He's such a nice cat, so intelligent and playful. He was able to reach and sometimes open our door knobs by 5 mos, and often wakes me up in the morning pressing his ball into my hand like a puppy!

I got him from a family whose cat had come home pregnant after disappearing for a couple days. I was so happy to have him that it didn't occur to me to ask about his mum, but I assume that if they'd had any sort of specific breed they'd have told me.

 

[emmaway]

I'll also look for some oriental x pictures to see if anything looks similar. He's got a funny cry that sounds a bit like some (of what I think are) orientals I've heard.