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What breed is this?
- Thread starter napi
- Start Date
You'll need to attach a photo to tell.
In general though, unless you got your cat from a breeder with papers it would not be considered the specific recognized breed. Unlike in dogs, there are naturally occurring cats that can have a visual appearance similar to a specific recognized breed. A good portion of the recognized breeds are refined from naturally occurring cats so depending on where you live you might find some feral/strays that are very close to purebred in appearance. The Snowshoe breed is relatively new and off a naturally occurring color pattern found in mixing pointed with bicolors; as such it is found readily outside of the breed as well. The breed is characterized typically by specific patterning and body shape and will likely get more refined and specific as it develops more.
Most likely you have a bicolor pointed domestic short hair or long hair if you are thinking Snowshoe.
My two are both bicolor pointed DSH. Meaning they have the pointed gene (which people sometimes call Siamese but Siamese is a specific pointed breed but there are many breeds with pointed as a common coloring) and bicoloring over that giving them the white marks on top of the pointed coloring. Bicolor is simply meaning that the cat has white fur combined with some other fur coloring. Pointed coloring is from a specific gene and are a lot of fun to watch as the kittens are pure white at birth and darken with age. The tips of there body (face, ears and limbs) get dark due to a heat sensitive character in their genes leading to the pointed name. They will also typically continue to darken with time over their life. There are different coloring's within pointed as well such as Seal and Chocolate to describe the tinting to the pointed coloring (mine are both Seal).
In mine the male, Link, has Siamese ancestry in the last few generations somewhere as indicated with his long lean body, face shape, and lack of an undercoat. And the leg you can see is light because the fur is regrowing from a broken leg; he usually has a dark spot on his hip where he is darkening on his body.
My female, Rocket, is a moggy (or cat of undetermined heritage similar to a mutt in the dog world) bicolor pointed. I know her mother, grandmother and great grandmother were all tabbies in the local feral colony/hoarder home she was born in. Her father is undetermined but both her mother and father had the pointed gene and passed it on to her and some of her litter. The rest of her litter was tabby. Based on her body shape and fur texture it is unlikely her father was a recognized purebred or close to any recognized purebred. She has short stubby legs, a very round body and silky soft fur with an undercoat (if she was at the window Link is at in the above picture she can't see out in the same position, she has to put her front legs on the window and stand up to see).
In general though, unless you got your cat from a breeder with papers it would not be considered the specific recognized breed. Unlike in dogs, there are naturally occurring cats that can have a visual appearance similar to a specific recognized breed. A good portion of the recognized breeds are refined from naturally occurring cats so depending on where you live you might find some feral/strays that are very close to purebred in appearance. The Snowshoe breed is relatively new and off a naturally occurring color pattern found in mixing pointed with bicolors; as such it is found readily outside of the breed as well. The breed is characterized typically by specific patterning and body shape and will likely get more refined and specific as it develops more.
Most likely you have a bicolor pointed domestic short hair or long hair if you are thinking Snowshoe.
My two are both bicolor pointed DSH. Meaning they have the pointed gene (which people sometimes call Siamese but Siamese is a specific pointed breed but there are many breeds with pointed as a common coloring) and bicoloring over that giving them the white marks on top of the pointed coloring. Bicolor is simply meaning that the cat has white fur combined with some other fur coloring. Pointed coloring is from a specific gene and are a lot of fun to watch as the kittens are pure white at birth and darken with age. The tips of there body (face, ears and limbs) get dark due to a heat sensitive character in their genes leading to the pointed name. They will also typically continue to darken with time over their life. There are different coloring's within pointed as well such as Seal and Chocolate to describe the tinting to the pointed coloring (mine are both Seal).
In mine the male, Link, has Siamese ancestry in the last few generations somewhere as indicated with his long lean body, face shape, and lack of an undercoat. And the leg you can see is light because the fur is regrowing from a broken leg; he usually has a dark spot on his hip where he is darkening on his body.
My female, Rocket, is a moggy (or cat of undetermined heritage similar to a mutt in the dog world) bicolor pointed. I know her mother, grandmother and great grandmother were all tabbies in the local feral colony/hoarder home she was born in. Her father is undetermined but both her mother and father had the pointed gene and passed it on to her and some of her litter. The rest of her litter was tabby. Based on her body shape and fur texture it is unlikely her father was a recognized purebred or close to any recognized purebred. She has short stubby legs, a very round body and silky soft fur with an undercoat (if she was at the window Link is at in the above picture she can't see out in the same position, she has to put her front legs on the window and stand up to see).
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he is quite dark for a point. When exaclty did he darkened up? I presume he was almost white when newborn?
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- #8
Do you have younger pictures?
It looks like he is a little lighter in the first picture compared to the last on his body but the angle on the face is wrong to tell. But I agree with @StefanZ that he is fairly dark for a pointed. They can get dark as they get older. How old is he? You usually don't see that dark until very late in life when they start having more problems self regulating body temperature or have just lived a long life where it gets colder in the winter and doesn't lighten all the way in the summer so the next winter is slightly darker. Do you live in a colder climate? Does he have outside access? Since pointed cats coloring is temperature sensitive so if you lived in a colder part of the world and he has outside access or you don't keep the home at a regular temperature, or that regular is colder, at all times it could also be darkening due to the temperature. The other main reason for darkening is being overweight (theory is that it affects body temperature causing the coat to darken quicker, same affect as age but prematurely) but he looks like he is a healthy weight. Usually you see lighter cleaner (more even throughout the body with darker spots better defined to the extremities) coloring and bolder brighter blue eyes on ones closer to purebred simply because they breed purebred for the bright blue eyes and clearer coats. Naturally occurring pointed tend to have a paler blue that can seem more of a grey blue; at least from my personal observations and within my own research. Naturally occurring are also more likely to have splotchy darkening on their body or uneven darkening across the body.
I will say that if he is likely moggy and a bicolor DSH than a specific recognized breed; so he is more like my Rocket in getting the pointed gene from a lucky pairing rather then intended and directed breeding by humans. I am leaning towards a pointed because of the blue eyes and I think I see some darkening between what I think is a younger and older photo. If you have younger photos and can give ages of photos it would help with verifying if he is pointed or some other more uncommon coloring. But to answer the original question, no he is not a Snowshoe.
It looks like he is a little lighter in the first picture compared to the last on his body but the angle on the face is wrong to tell. But I agree with @StefanZ that he is fairly dark for a pointed. They can get dark as they get older. How old is he? You usually don't see that dark until very late in life when they start having more problems self regulating body temperature or have just lived a long life where it gets colder in the winter and doesn't lighten all the way in the summer so the next winter is slightly darker. Do you live in a colder climate? Does he have outside access? Since pointed cats coloring is temperature sensitive so if you lived in a colder part of the world and he has outside access or you don't keep the home at a regular temperature, or that regular is colder, at all times it could also be darkening due to the temperature. The other main reason for darkening is being overweight (theory is that it affects body temperature causing the coat to darken quicker, same affect as age but prematurely) but he looks like he is a healthy weight. Usually you see lighter cleaner (more even throughout the body with darker spots better defined to the extremities) coloring and bolder brighter blue eyes on ones closer to purebred simply because they breed purebred for the bright blue eyes and clearer coats. Naturally occurring pointed tend to have a paler blue that can seem more of a grey blue; at least from my personal observations and within my own research. Naturally occurring are also more likely to have splotchy darkening on their body or uneven darkening across the body.
I will say that if he is likely moggy and a bicolor DSH than a specific recognized breed; so he is more like my Rocket in getting the pointed gene from a lucky pairing rather then intended and directed breeding by humans. I am leaning towards a pointed because of the blue eyes and I think I see some darkening between what I think is a younger and older photo. If you have younger photos and can give ages of photos it would help with verifying if he is pointed or some other more uncommon coloring. But to answer the original question, no he is not a Snowshoe.
Ok, this makes the diagnosis clear. He is no atypical "siamese-mix" point. Black "seal" points can darken up farly quickly in some situations, but not THAT quickly.
He is a combo of the genes of siamese masque and the burmese masque... His face IS a little darker, no?
These genes are different, the burmese point gene is a masque gene but often its not counted as a point gene. The siamese is both masque and colored points. Both genes are recessive. So when alone, they arent visible on the cat.
Yet, peculiar enough, these genes can cooperate, and paired up, thed DO "dance tango". The pointed cat resulting tends to darken up much quicker than common points of the siamese type. They can get dark already as kittens. Their eyes arent always good blue - even if yours IS good blue eyed.
They arent very common, but not unique either, once you had learned" there is such an animal", and how to recognize them. Quite a few atypical dark points are probably these. Some few may even be full burmese colored...
So my guess is, he is such a combo masqued gene... With the white gene thrown in for good measure, making him into a darkish Snowshoe look alike.
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Okay thank you for the information. So basically a snowshoe cat will get darker as it gets old right?
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Thank you. So a snowshoe cat is actually white when he is a kitten then it gets darker as it gets old? Right?Ok, this makes the diagnosis clear. He is no atypical "siamese-mix" point. Black "seal" points can darken up farly quickly in some situations, but not THAT quickly.
He is a combo of the genes of siamese masque and the burmese masque... His face IS a little darker, no?
These genes are different, the burmese point gene is a masque gene but often its not counted as a point gene. The siamese is both masque and colored points. Both genes are recessive. So when alone, they arent visible on the cat.
Yet, peculiar enough, these genes can cooperate, and paired up, thed DO "dance tango". The pointed cat resulting tends to darken up much quicker than common points of the siamese type. They can get dark already as kittens. Their eyes arent always good blue - even if yours IS good blue eyed.
They arent very common, but not unique either, once you had learned" there is such an animal", and how to recognize them. Quite a few atypical dark points are probably these. Some few may even be full burmese colored...
So my guess is, he is such a combo masqued gene... With the white gene thrown in for good measure, making him into a darkish Snowshoe look alike.
Link at 6 months - Before his first winter
Link at 1 year - He was only 6 months old when winter came so he wasn't outside much and was warmer from being a kitten still.
Link at 18 months - In the middle of his second winter
Link at 2 years - After a second winter and a cool spring, heading into summer
Link at 2.5 years
You can see he has lightened up since last winter a little bit because of the summer and he has been at a regulated temperature being housebound mostly since August. He likely won't get as dark as he was last year but as he ages he will likely keep getting darker and end up being one of those very dark pointed cats.
