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Which breed is my kitten?
- Thread starter tehhcell
- Start Date
She's a super cute little "Domestic Shorthair" which just means no particular breed or unknown ancestry Or they are fondly called "moggies".
I think she is Brown Mackerel Tabby and White. However it is possible she might be instead a Brown Mackerel Torbie and White. There is some orangish looking color on her. From just this one photo I can't be sure if that is just what we call "rufus" coloring that some brown tabbies get in places, or if she might be a Torbie. (Torbie = Tortoiseshell coloring along with a Tabby pattern. )
Brown Mackerel Tabby is the most ancient cat coat pattern, passed down from their wild ancestors, the African Wildcat ( Felis silvestris lybica) .
If her stripes on her side are broken up like in the African Wildcat in the photo at right, that's sometimes called a "broken mackerel tabby pattern".
And she probably has spots on her belly? That is normal for tabbies especially kittens.
Genetically it would really be more accurate to say Black tabby instead of Brown, because the darkest markings are black, and the base color is black, but the tabby pattern causes some of the fur to be in lighter shades, and they often look brownish, so traditionally it's been called Brown Tabby.
But like I said, i am not totally sure she is not a Torbie , with genes that make her have both red-based pigment and black-based pigment.
Cats are not like dogs that are usually a breed or mix of breeds, because there has been MUCH less selective breeding of cats. The pedigree cats are only about 3% of owned cats. The vast majority have just reproduced by random breeding with the other cats in their part of the world.
( It does get more complicated though, since many breeds started as "natural breeds" that just developed on their own in a certain area, before people started breeding them. Also, there has been some mixing of pedigreed cats with the general cat population -- less today than decades ago when fewer of them were neutered as kittens -- but in most cases it's impossible to tell if a cat has a little bit of some breed in their ancestry.
I don't really see any particular breed in the kitten. but that makes her no less adorable!
I think she is Brown Mackerel Tabby and White. However it is possible she might be instead a Brown Mackerel Torbie and White. There is some orangish looking color on her. From just this one photo I can't be sure if that is just what we call "rufus" coloring that some brown tabbies get in places, or if she might be a Torbie. (Torbie = Tortoiseshell coloring along with a Tabby pattern. )
Brown Mackerel Tabby is the most ancient cat coat pattern, passed down from their wild ancestors, the African Wildcat ( Felis silvestris lybica) .
If her stripes on her side are broken up like in the African Wildcat in the photo at right, that's sometimes called a "broken mackerel tabby pattern".
And she probably has spots on her belly? That is normal for tabbies especially kittens.
Genetically it would really be more accurate to say Black tabby instead of Brown, because the darkest markings are black, and the base color is black, but the tabby pattern causes some of the fur to be in lighter shades, and they often look brownish, so traditionally it's been called Brown Tabby.
But like I said, i am not totally sure she is not a Torbie , with genes that make her have both red-based pigment and black-based pigment.
Cats are not like dogs that are usually a breed or mix of breeds, because there has been MUCH less selective breeding of cats. The pedigree cats are only about 3% of owned cats. The vast majority have just reproduced by random breeding with the other cats in their part of the world.
( It does get more complicated though, since many breeds started as "natural breeds" that just developed on their own in a certain area, before people started breeding them. Also, there has been some mixing of pedigreed cats with the general cat population -- less today than decades ago when fewer of them were neutered as kittens -- but in most cases it's impossible to tell if a cat has a little bit of some breed in their ancestry.
I don't really see any particular breed in the kitten. but that makes her no less adorable!
I want to add. In cats a "breed" is not what they are look alike, but what ancestry they do have. Usually proven by "birth certificate", or else other solid proofs may be OK.
Such proven ancestry, pure bred cats arent not more than 3% of all our cats. In some places locally it may be more, in some places less.
The others 97 are the main population as such.
These breed cats you see in cat books arent there because they happen to look alike, but they are there because they ARE such purebred cats, with papers and everything.
Pics on internet are more unclear and less reliable, as anybody can post practically anything and say it too.
So, with such a nice and pretty domestic like yours, what you can talk is of course what pattern she has - which Maewkaew gave us an excellent lecture about!
And possibly - what "somewhat look alike" she is, just for the fun of it.
Such proven ancestry, pure bred cats arent not more than 3% of all our cats. In some places locally it may be more, in some places less.
The others 97 are the main population as such.
These breed cats you see in cat books arent there because they happen to look alike, but they are there because they ARE such purebred cats, with papers and everything.
Pics on internet are more unclear and less reliable, as anybody can post practically anything and say it too.
So, with such a nice and pretty domestic like yours, what you can talk is of course what pattern she has - which Maewkaew gave us an excellent lecture about!
And possibly - what "somewhat look alike" she is, just for the fun of it.
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