Although to be fair, cat genetics, insofar as ancestry testing goes, is still pretty much in its infancy.
thefiresidecat That does make a lot more sense!I have an updated report that looks A LOT better. now dante is 94% more like norwegian forest cat than anything else and the next closest is Russian blue at 59% and then turkish angora at 50% things make sense now. lol
The UC Davis database does contain information for all the many, many purebred cats that are tested through UC Davis for various disorders. So their breed database is large.Some breeders I've talked to test at Davis, NC State and Washington State. Mainly for genetics like HCM not DNA. Breeders have no reason to do that if there's a paper trail so, I don't know that their database would be any better for ancestry.
Hi sabian , I will respond to this part first, as I'm sorry if you felt lectured or condescended to! Some people feel that way about my posts, and it is not intended. In my posts I am generally just trying to explain things as clearly as I can. This often gets wordy and nerdy. I do like to argue a point but this doesn't mean I think any less of the person I am arguing with, or meant to put them down. I've been in some school and work environments where you have to be very careful to state your disagreement with someone in such a way that you do not offend them... and also in other school and work environments where it is culturally OK to disagree straight out and have an excited and passionate argument... I get along a lot better in the second type of environment!This was the second time you quoted and lectured me in 2 different post in 1 day. It's not the first time it's happened either. To be honest you tend to come across as condescending in my opinion but, then again, maybe it's me reading more into it than I should.
I absolutely do think Basepaws' reports are influenced by the fact that Basepaws is a for-profit company. They have to make their customers satisfied so that other people will get excited about ordering Basepaws' product. That doesn't mean that Basepaws tells people "what they want to hear" in the sense that someone thinks they have a Maine Coon and Basepaws tells that specific person that they have a Maine Coon But, I do think Basepaws "tells people what they want to hear" in the sense that every cat gets a report with lots of breed matches.I've seen post to the effect that [Basepaws] are telling people that their cats are purebred because "it's what they want to here". I'll be willing to bet that none of these members have submitted a DNA sample to them and have not seen an actual report. I don't even know how it would be possible for Basepaws to do that since all they have is DNA and a pic if you decide to post that in your site profile. How would they know what purebred I want my cat to be so they can give me the right answer? From my experience so far, all I see, is them trying to give accurate information as it becomes available.
It is absolutely possible to get a purebred through adoption from a shelter... I wouldn't say it is "not uncommon" to get one, because numerically speaking there simply aren't enough purebreds in existence to be "common"... But yes it's definitely *possible,* and in fact I have friends who rescued a Norwegian Forest Cat. My friends just wanted to adopt a cat, knowing nothing about pedigreed cats (they had other rescue cats as well). He didn't look very impressive at that time, as he was not in good condition, but they fell in love with him and adopted him, and took care of him, getting him back in good condition physically and mentally. It turned out that he had been surrendered to a shelter with his registration papers. They found out more about the breed and then decided to try showing him. They ended up getting a national win on the cat last year. Scroll down to see Aharon: CFA's Top Cats in Premiership, Regions 1-9, for the 2018-19 show seasonIt is not uncommon to get a purebred through adoption from a shelter or other means. Not every shelter cat came from a feral colony. I have reason to believe that Manny could be purebred from his history. I'm not trying to wish him into something he is not. I don't believe that because he has long hair that he is a purebred. I just simply want to know more about my cat. Call it curiosity if you will.
Yes, it's true that I don't often give a suggestion of what BREED it could possibly be. That's for a few different reasons.I very rarely see you give even a suggestion of what it could possibly be.
Yeah it's simple, you just say:If you have any ideas about how to get that last message across to more people, I would be all ears. I try to convey that message by making comments about interesting characteristics I see in the cat independently of the question of "breed ancestry," but often I don't have the time to say a whole lot, other than to try to describe the cat as honestly and accurately as I can.
If you see something over the line, please don't hesitate to report it. I totally agree that posts like that can and do scare new members away. I looked back at the thread you are referencing and the member did come back and start another thread...and got another cringe-worthy post in it from a member. Hasn't posted since that one.None the less, it's incidences like this why I chose to no longer regularly post on the forums and give advice. I'm not singling you out, they're are others as well. I've just found it simpler to stick to forums where you just post pics or whatever. It was fun at first but some members are rigid in their views and not very tolerant of differing views. I deal with that enough in real life.
Honestly, a smiley or two goes a long way in getting your feeling across on here. It's not a face to face conversation so people can't interpret your tone. A well-placed smile really does help let them know how you feel. I am usually fairly short and to the point on here and come off quite abrupt. I don't actually mean to be that way (well, most of the time ) so I try to interject a few smilies.If you have any ideas about how to get that last message across to more people, I would be all ears. I try to convey that message by making comments about interesting characteristics I see in the cat independently of the question of "breed ancestry," but often I don't have the time to say a whole lot, other than to try to describe the cat as honestly and accurately as I can.