What Breed Do You Think My Unique Kitty Is?

Penny's mommy

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Hello,
I recently adopted a 4 month old kitten. She is unique compared to any other cat I have had or spent time with. She is incredibly friendly with my family and I; she seeks our attention and purrs ceaselessly when receiving attention. She is especially attached to me and has decided I'm her person (good thing because I adopted her). She is incredibly intelligent, at just 4 months she sits on command and we are working on leash training (and doing very well), and she plays fetch better than our puppy. She is very talkative, she talks when she's happy, upset, annoyed, and just to hear herself talk (all mostly meows). She likes running water and jumps in the bath and sink, but doesn't seem to enjoy forced baths. She has a lean, athletic build, more athletic/muscular than other kittens her age but not overpoweringly so. Her eyes are quite yellow, but they have changed since I got her since she's only 4 months. Her colors are quite rich with some gold tones to her, and her head shape is interesting. To me, she seems like an Egyptian Mau, but let me know what you think!
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Penny's mommy

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If not a beautiful dsh spotted tabby it would be fun to imagine her as a savannah!
Hello, thank you! I originally thought she was a DSH and just happened to be spotted, however her behavior is odd (and a bit wild) for a DSH so I'm thinking she could possibly be something more. People say she looks like a Savannah all the time! Although I do not think she behaves that wild haha.
 

kittyluv387

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Well maybe she acts like a F2 or F3? Those would be less wild. And savannahs are known to like water. They are lean and athletic too.
 
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Penny's mommy

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Well maybe she acts like a F2 or F3? Those would be less wild. And savannahs are known to like water. They are lean and athletic too.
Oh yeah I definitely don't think my cat is a purebred anything, much less a F1 or F2 Savannah, I just see she's unique and want to learn more about her heritage and her behavior! She's so quirky and what prompted me was her teaching me to play fetch with her this morning :lol:
 

kittyluv387

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Oh yeah I definitely don't think my cat is a purebred anything, much less a F1 or F2 Savannah, I just see she's unique and want to learn more about her heritage and her behavior! She's so quirky and what prompted me was her teaching me to play fetch with her this morning :lol:
Well she is just such a pretty girl! So precious. It's fun to imagine what she could be. For my brown/grey and white tabby we say she acts part siamese. Loving, vocal and annoying at times. Haha.
 

lutece

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What a gorgeous girl! She sounds like a lot of fun, too. I would describe her as a brown spotted tabby domestic shorthair. Spotted tabby does occur fairly often in the domestic cat population, and doesn't indicate that the cat is related to any of the "spotted breeds"... most cats don't have any specific breed ancestry. Behavioral traits aren't a good indication of breed ancestry, either... lots of cats fetch, are interested in water, etc. Most likely, she simply has her own unique and wonderful combination of traits :)
 

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She's adorable!

90-95% of cats are no particular breed. That percentage is even higher when you get a cat from a shelter.

She looks like a beautiful tabby DSH. Behavior doesn't really tell you anything about breed -- you could almost be describing my boy, who is also a DSH.

Certain purebred cats are distinctive for temperament, like Ragdolls, but all cats can display those traits.
 
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Penny's mommy

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She's adorable!

90-95% of cats are no particular breed. That percentage is even higher when you get a cat from a shelter.

She looks like a beautiful tabby DSH. Behavior doesn't really tell you anything about breed -- you could almost be describing my boy, who is also a DSH.

Certain purebred cats are distinctive for temperament, like Ragdolls, but all cats can display those traits.
Thank you! I also think she could just be a DSH. I didn't get her from a shelter, but from a humane society; these kittens were from someone's pet cat but they gave the kittens to the humane society when they were weaned. They said the mom was some "breed" but I don't know what and the father was a DSH. That might be good information, sorry!
 

lutece

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It's quite possible that the mom was a spotted tabby domestic shorthair, and the owner assumed she was a specific breed because of her pattern. Most people don't know how rare the cat breeds actually are, so it's common for people to assign a "breed" by comparing their cat to pictures online or in a book. However, it might be interesting to try to get in touch with that person and find out more of the story!
 
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Penny's mommy

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It's quite possible that the mom was a spotted tabby domestic shorthair, and the owner assumed she was a specific breed because of her pattern. Most people don't know how rare the cat breeds actually are, so it's common for people to assign a "breed" by comparing their cat to pictures online or in a book. However, it might be interesting to try to get in touch with that person and find out more of the story!
That's true! I might reach out, but I also love my kitty regardless so maybe it's best to just leave it unknown. We'll see! Thanks for your input.
 

lutece

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If you really want to know about her heritage (as you mentioned above), getting in touch with her mom's owner is probably the only way to find out! If her mom is some specific breed, it might not be a spotted breed or anything else you could guess from looking at your cat. Brown tabby and short hair are dominant traits... her mom could have been almost any color, and could even have had long hair :)
 
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Penny's mommy

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If you really want to know about her heritage (as you mentioned above), getting in touch with her mom's owner is probably the only way to find out! If her mom is some specific breed, it might not be a spotted breed or anything else you could guess from looking at your cat. Brown tabby and short hair are dominant traits... her mom could have been almost any color, and could even have had long hair :)
Wow I didn't know! I don't know what the father looked like at all as far as colors go, but that is interesting that a parent's recessive traits could be so bold and yet hidden in their offspring! I do wonder what they looked like! or what reasons they had for thinking the mom is a breed.
 

lutece

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Yes, color genetics is funny! I'll give you an example: The cat in my avatar is solid blue, as are all her ancestors for many, many generations. Solid blue is the only color allowed in her breed. However, if you bred her to a brown mackerel or brown classic tabby DSH, she could have a litter of brown spotted kittens like your cat!

Even more amusing perhaps, if you bred my girl to a brown mackerel or brown classic tabby Maine Coon, she might also have a litter of brown spotted shorthairs! If someone were to look at such a litter of kittens, they would probably think it was a litter of Ocicats or something :)

The reason her kittens would be spotted is that even though she is solid blue, she had a spotted "ghost pattern" when she was a kitten, so I know that the tabby pattern she carries is spotted... and in fact, I am pretty sure that she is actually homozygous for spotted (both her parents had spotted ghost patterns, and all of her kittens have spotted ghost patterns, even though my male has a classic tabby ghost pattern). Spotted pattern is dominant... Brown tabby is dominant... Short hair is dominant... Blue and solid, on the other hand, are both recessive, as is long hair.
 
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Penny's mommy

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Yes, color genetics is funny! I'll give you an example: The cat in my avatar is solid blue, as are all her ancestors for many, many generations. Solid blue is the only color allowed in her breed. However, if you bred her to a brown mackerel or brown classic tabby DSH, she might have a litter of brown spotted kittens like your cat!

Even more amusing perhaps, if you bred my girl to a brown mackerel or brown classic tabby Maine Coon, she could also have a litter of brown spotted shorthairs! If someone were to look at such a litter of kittens, they would probably think it was a litter of Ocicats or something :)

The reason her kittens would be spotted is that even though she is solid blue, she had a spotted "ghost pattern" when she was a kitten, so I know that the tabby pattern she carries is spotted... and in fact, I am pretty sure that she is actually homozygous for spotted (both her parents had spotted ghost patterns, and all of her kittens have spotted ghost patterns, even though my male has a classic tabby ghost pattern). Spotted is dominant... Brown tabby is dominant... Blue and solid, on the other hand, are both recessive.
That's interesting, makes me think a lot. So, my grandma found a lost kitten in her neighborhood, where there are many cats both indoor and outdoor. He is pure blue/grey fur like in your avatar, grey nose, grey paw pads, even blue/grey eyes. Is this pretty rare to find on the streets as opposed to a tabby? Considering the recessiveness of his color. Also, are pure grey cats Russian blues or are non Russian blues capable of maintaining all grey/blue?
 

lutece

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Solid blue is actually a common color in the domestic cat population, especially in the US. The blue color doesn't indicate ancestry from any specific breed; the gene for dilute (blue) is widespread in the population.

I expect the kitten that she found is still a young kitten? Young baby kittens have blue/gray eyes before their eye color develops. If it has a solid blue coat color, its eyes will change color and it will probably have either green, yellow, gold or orange eyes as an adult.
 

EnzoLeya

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Boy, I can see why you see Savannah in her. I was looking into savanah's pretty heavily and changed my mind at the last minute. In Iowa anything F1-4 is illegal so I would have had to go with an F5 which is 5 generations out from the Serval, I believe it breaks out to 12% Sereval. She looks similar to f6-8s that I saw people trying to sell. I wonder what the back of her ears look like. Sometimes they have a tiny hint of the "eye" left on the ears. It would be funny if she was a kitten I saw online :p
 

kittyluv387

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For some reason I feel like the cat is a Bengal? Anyone agree?
Bengals have more rosetting instead of solid spots. And the cat is lean and muscular like a serval. Bengals are a bit stockier / heavy set compared to a typey savannah.
 

SpottyKitti

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Bengals have more rosetting instead of solid spots. And the cat is lean and muscular like a serval. Bengals are a bit stockier / heavy set compared to a typey savannah.
Thank you for correcting me, I was mistaken I think the cat could also be a Savannah!
 
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