What does my cat look like?!

Barbee

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I’ve had my cat since she was 9 weeks old, and she’s now 4 years old. From day one I knew that she was different and her behavior has always been more dog-like; she will fetch. She’s VERY intelligent and curious, and opens cabinets, doors, etc.

She’s extremely active and very talkative! She doesn’t like to be held, but will let me pick her up for short periods of time. She likes to sit in high places ( like most cats), but she’s always looking to go higher. She’s attached to ONLY me. Her coat is a smokey/grayish color, and has both spots and stripes. Some days it looks shiny and some days it looks dull. She’s on the small side, but looks larger in photos. Her eyes are green. I figured she’s just a DSH. She was given to me by an Ethiopian woman. She couldn’t handle her!! LOL!! Thanks, in advance.
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mewlittle

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I'm unsure but she is very unique maybe do a DNA test on her ,like basepaws etc not sure how reliable they are :)
 

Maurey

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I’m guessing her fur roots are white in colour?
Looks like a black smoke DSH with a locket to me — she doesn’t have enough white to have the white spotting gene, imo. The stripes are just ghosting, she’s not genetically a tabby — if she were, she’d be silver, which is much lighter in tone. Ghosting typically goes away with age, but it’s common in black smoke SH ime, especially in randombred cats that weren’t selectively bred by humans for a more solid look. She’s stunning, but I don’t see any strong indication of recent breed ancestry. The inhibitor gene is dominant, and uncommon in the randombred cat population, but it does show up from time to time, more common in some areas than others. I don’t see any significant indication of breed ancestry, outside of the inhibitor gene (the one that causes smoke and silver colours), so I’m guessing that if she does have the gene, any potential breed ancestry is at least a good 4-5 generations away, if not more. Some areas have a lot of street cats with the inhibitor gene, as it’s dominant and easy to pass on, so they’re many generations away from any potential progenitors of the colour in the population.
 
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Maurey

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I'm unsure but she is very unique maybe do a DNA test on her ,like basepaws etc not sure how reliable they are :)
They aren’t. The small print on their website says that they’re not a breed test, and their information isn’t accurate.the vast majority of cats, over 95% (closer to 97%) have no (or no significant) breed ancestry (only 3% of cats are pedigree (i.e. are a breed), and little more than that are true crosses), and are just randombred cats without human selective breeding involved. They basically make up the results to make the test feel worth it for the consumer — the results don’t at all stand up to any scrutiny, whether it’s testing a papered pedigree, or doing technical replicates on the same cat.

lutece lutece has made a detailed post on it here.
 

mewlittle

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They aren’t. The small print on their website says that they’re not a breed test, and their information isn’t accurate.the vast majority of cats, over 95% (closer to 97%) have no (or no significant) breed ancestry (only 3% of cats are pedigree (i.e. are a breed), and little more than that are true crosses), and are just randombred cats without human selective breeding involved. They basically make up the results to make the test feel worth it for the consumer — the results don’t at all stand up to any scrutiny, whether it’s testing a papered pedigree, or doing technical replicates on the same cat.

lutece lutece has made a detailed post on it here.
Oh ok yeah I was unsure thank for clarifying that, that's why I said I'm not sure how reliable it is
 

nobuthegeneral

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I wanted to reply, because recently I adopted a cat with your color of coat. His name is Nobu, and he is so cute. I think he is 3.5 months old now, and he is 5.2lbs already... so might be a big cat instead of smaller like yours?
I included the adoption picture of when he was really small too :)
 

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Barbee

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I wanted to reply, because recently I adopted a cat with your color of coat. His name is Nobu, and he is so cute. I think he is 3.5 months old now, and he is 5.2lbs already... so might be a big cat instead of smaller like yours?
I included the adoption picture of when he was really small too :)
Oh, wow!! He looks exactly like my, Bella-Bee when she was a kitten!! Your Nobu is SO cute!! 😍Thanks, for sharing.
 
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Barbee

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Thank you, to everyone that replied; I really appreciate you. 🌹
 

cataholic07

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I did a basepaws test for Jethro and the results I can see. His highest breed was American short hair, and even though he is a longhair both parents were short hairs. I did it mostly for the health test, to be honest.
 
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Barbee

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I’m guessing her fur roots are white in colour?
Looks like a black smoke DSH with a locket to me — she doesn’t have enough white to have the white spotting gene, imo. The stripes are just ghosting, she’s not genetically a tabby — if she were, she’d be silver, which is much lighter in tone. Ghosting typically goes away with age, but it’s common in black smoke SH ime, especially in randombred cats that weren’t selectively bred by humans for a more solid look. She’s stunning, but I don’t see any strong indication of recent breed ancestry. The inhibitor gene is dominant, and uncommon in the randombred cat population, but it does show up from time to time, more common in some areas than others. I don’t see any significant indication of breed ancestry, outside of the inhibitor gene (the one that causes smoke and silver colours), so I’m guessing that if she does have the gene, any potential breed ancestry is at least a good 4-5 generations away, if not more. Some areas have a lot of street cats with the inhibitor gene, as it’s dominant and easy to pass on, so they’re many generations away from any potential progenitors of the colour in the population.
Thank you, kindly for your detailed response; it’s greatly appreciated. Incidentally, I’m quite impressed with your extensive knowledge regarding cats!! It’s clear that you LOVE them and truly care about their well-being and protection. God Bless You. 😇
 
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