Can anyone help identify this breed?

janemary

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Hey guys,

I was hoping that someone here might be able to help me out.

I took in a stray cat about 4 months ago, he had been wandering around a friends place for over two weeks and he was covered with fleas and infected with ear mites so I took him to the vet and got him all fixed up and now he is integrated with my two siamese and considered part of the family.


Not that I care, but I was curious if anyone knew what type of cat he is, I know it sounds odd but he sort of looks like a Norwegian Forest Cat (don't even know if they have them in little ol' PEI) but his markings sort of look like one OR maybe he's a brown tabby?

Below are some pics of him- his name is Benji!







Okay, and below are some internet pics of Norwegian Forest Cats that I found, there are a variety of colors but I posted the one's that match Benji..





If anyone has any ideas please share them!

Happy Holidays
 

abymummy

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He looks like a Domestic Long Hair with some sort of forest cat (Maine Coon/NFO or Sibi) thrown in the mix! Maybe more Maine Coon then Norwegian by the ears!
 

lionessrampant

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Wow, he's gorgeous.

To answer your question, he sure is a brown tabby....but that's not a breed. It's actually just a color/patter. He's actually a classic brown tabby with white, domestic long hair.

This means that he's just your standard non-pedigree cats. Cats are not like dogs in how breeds work. He very well could have escaped from some home who got him from a breeder, but unless he has papers he's not considered to be any particular breed. This is for a couple reasons: 1. Cat breeds were developed by humans using standard breed cats like yours and 2. Cat breeds aren't really developed to serve any purpose (like herding dogs, hunting dogs, etc.), rather they're just bred companions that try to just specify a bunch of looks and traits that you could very easily find in the general kitty populace. If that makes any sense.
 

kai bengals

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Originally Posted by lionessrampant

1. Cat breeds were developed by humans using standard breed cats like yours and 2. Cat breeds aren't really developed to serve any purpose (like herding dogs, hunting dogs, etc.), rather they're just bred companions that try to just specify a bunch of looks and traits that you could very easily find in the general kitty populace. If that makes any sense.
These statements certainly don't apply to the breed of cat I work with.

Blanket statements like this are just plain inaccurate.
 

kai bengals

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To the O.P.

Benji does look remarkably similar to the Norwegian's you posted pics of. The eye set, muzzle, inner ear tufts and tail all look very close. I don't see the lynx tipping to the ears, but maybe he's young?

I'm no expert on Norwegian's, but he's a beauty and if the rest of his hair grows long, you could certainly fool me into believing he's one.
 

pondwader

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The same applies for dogs, no papers, no purebred... just a mutt.


Anyway, your cat looks to me like it may have some maine coon in the background somewhere, it's beautiful.
 

celestialrags

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Originally Posted by pondwader

The same applies for dogs, no papers, no purebred... just a mutt.


Anyway, your cat looks to me like it may have some maine coon in the background somewhere, it's beautiful.
People like to be able to catergorize their animals. I see all the time at shelters, ect, lab mix, shepherd mix, pitt mix, ect. If I see a dog that looks like a lab or a dalmation, I would call it a mix of that breed. There is nothing wrong with some one who has a cat with blue eyes and pointed markings calling it a siamese mix, or a white dog with black spots a dalmation mix. It doesn't hurt any thing does it? For the most part esp with cats if it doesn't have papers it is a domestic, but if it makes some one happy to call it a breed mix then why not (as long as they aren't trying to breed it and say it is a certain breed.) But, esp, with dogs, you can see that it has a certain breed so it can be called a mix of that breed. IMO

Just because it doesn't have papers doesn't make it a mutt, I had a pure bred boxer he didn't have papers but he was by no means a mutt.
 

arlyn

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I see no paw tufts.
How old and how large is he?
He is gorgeous by the way.

I am owned by an NFC and while she is a very poor example of her breed, she has had her ear tufts, lynx tips and toe tufts since she was 3 weeks old and her mane grew in by the time she was 6 months.
 
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janemary

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Wow! Thanks for the responses everyone!

Regardless of what ancestors Benji might have had I love him all the same!

Arlyn- Although the vet isn't 100% sure how old he is (got him as a stray) she estimates he is between 1.5-2 years of age.

Happy Holidays!
 

catsknowme

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What a lucky boy Benji is
I think that he does show the "forest cat" look esp. the set of his eyes and the muzzle, plus that big "fluff-tail". he is a very gorgeous cat - what a treasure
 

lionessrampant

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Originally Posted by Kai Bengals

These statements certainly don't apply to the breed of cat I work with.

Blanket statements like this are just plain inaccurate.
I just read an article last night about how bengals were developed...asian leopard cats bred to DSH tabbies. That produced sterile males, so the girls had to be bred to something in order for the breed to continue.

As for purpose...what purpose does a bengal serve, apart from being a unique, hyperactive companion? Do they pull carts or herd animals and I'm just not aware of this? I don't mean to be facetious...I'm really not sure what I'm missing. People developed all of the breeds we have...bengals included, and not until the 80's. Sure, you only use pedigree lines NOW, but that wasn't the case when the breed was being concocted.

And yes, I've seen "glittered" cats come through our shelter, actually on a fairly regular basis. I've also seen hyper active, athletic 'wild" cats. These aren't bengals...just street cats who look like bengals. I've also taken strays off that look like ragdolls, non-peke persians, maine-coons, siamese, snowshoe (we actually are in the process of TNR-ing a colony that had in the past consistently produced snow-shoe looking cats, many of this colony are FIV+, so probably not someone's beloved pedigree cats), manx....you name the characteristic, I gaurantee you I can find a shelter cat with that look or personality. And it all has to do with the fact that these breeds were developed using regular old standard kitties. I'm not arguing whther breeding is bad or good...All I'm saying is that people created them and they had to get the original lines from somewhere.
 

tiffanyjbt

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The first ALCs that were bred to domestic cats was for a definate purpose. To see if the ALCs apparent immunity to FeLV could be passed on to domestics.

And I find it really hard to believe that you regularly have glittered, rosetted, typey Brown Spotted Tabbies (i.e. Bengals) showing up in your shelter. I just don't see that combination happening with a regularity. I'm sure you do get a glittered cat every now and then. The glitter in bengals came from the domestic side anyway. Heck, my siamese cat (no papers, so he's not a pedigree, but he IS siamese) has glitter!

You don't have to say you think breeding is bad. We already know thats exactly what you think.
 

kai bengals

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Originally Posted by lionessrampant

I just read an article last night about how bengals were developed...asian leopard cats bred to DSH tabbies. That produced sterile males, so the girls had to be bred to something in order for the breed to continue.
Wrong. ALC's were bred to a variety of established breed cats. Yes there was at least one DSH in the mix, but the percentage of moggies is extremely low. First generation males are for the most part sterile......but I don't see the point you're trying to make.

Originally Posted by lionessrampant

As for purpose...what purpose does a bengal serve, apart from being a unique, hyperactive companion? Do they pull carts or herd animals and I'm just not aware of this? I don't mean to be facetious...I'm really not sure what I'm missing. People developed all of the breeds we have...bengals included, and not until the 80's. Sure, you only use pedigree lines NOW, but that wasn't the case when the breed was being concocted.
Why does a cat have to have a purpose for you to acknowledge it's right to exist? Bengals came into existance in the late 60's, not the 80's. Check your reading material for accuracy. Using the word "concocted" is your way of looking down your nose at a breed of cat that is one of the most popular in the world today. Thankfully you're one of the minority who doesn't admire breed cats.



Originally Posted by lionessrampant

And yes, I've seen "glittered" cats come through our shelter, actually on a fairly regular basis. I've also seen hyper active, athletic 'wild" cats. These aren't bengals...just street cats who look like bengals. I've also taken strays off that look like ragdolls, non-peke persians, maine-coons, siamese, snowshoe (we actually are in the process of TNR-ing a colony that had in the past consistently produced snow-shoe looking cats, many of this colony are FIV+, so probably not someone's beloved pedigree cats), manx....you name the characteristic, I gaurantee you I can find a shelter cat with that look or personality. And it all has to do with the fact that these breeds were developed using regular old standard kitties. I'm not arguing whther breeding is bad or good...All I'm saying is that people created them and they had to get the original lines from somewhere.
I doubt you've seen any truly glittered cats come through your shelter. Do you even know what bengal glitter looks like??? It's a trait that is almost exclusively seen in bengals now, because we breed for it.
In addition, no "wild" street cats, look like bengals. Bengals have a unique look and most shelters claiming they have a "bengal cross" are using that phrase to attract buyers. WHY? Because bengal cats are so popular.
Isn't that funny, the very thing many of the shelters abhor...breed cats...is the thing they use to target adopters to adopt their cats.
Seems hypocritical to me.
Thankfully, anyone who knows bengals can see through the BS. The big problem is the poor uneducated, unsuspecting adopters can't tell the difference between a bengal and a classic tabby, especially with you folks filling their heads full of nonsense. We all know this from all the posts on this site where folks are asking if their moggie is part bengal.

And...wth is "an old standard kitty"? The breed I work with was established using an Asian Leopard Cat and a variety of established breed cats.
 

bengalbabe

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Yo go Nial!!!!!

I hope I don't sound rude or anything and this is not directed towards anyone in particular but I get so irritated when people say that they see bengals roaming the streets and that thier DSH looks just like a bengal, They see bengals in shelters all of the time, ect. ect.
It makes us bengal breeders look bad.
The truth is many people just don't know what they are looking at or looking for unless they really STUDY the breed. I think anyone would be hard pressed to find a cat with REAL glitter unless it was a bengal. Maybe the cat is shiny or has a satiny sheen but that's not glitter. For those who are wondering if the neighborhood cat is really a bengal, Here's what glitter looks like (although not very good photography):



It actually is like tiny prisms in the sunlight. It is not simply a shiny coat.

Here is a good example of a bengal that is not rosetted (mostly):

http://www.littleleopardcats.com/images/234_durk926.jpg

and one that is:
http://www.littleleopardcats.com/images/507_2rj926.jpg

And a GOOD tri-colored marble pattern that looks nothing like a classic tabby pattern:
http://www.littleleopardcats.com/ima..._storm_005.jpg

A spotted cat does not a bengal make!!!!!!!!
And a classic Tabby pattern does not a bengal Make!!!!

For lots of info on determinging bengal type you can go here:
http://www.littleleopardcats.com/bengaltype.html
 

kai bengals

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Terra,

Thanks for providing that photo again ( and the other links). It really shows off the glitter. You won't see that on any other breed of cat or moggie......period.



Originally Posted by bengalbabe

Yo go Nial!!!!!

I hope I don't sound rude or anything and this is not directed towards anyone in particular but I get so irritated when people say that they see bengals roaming the streets and that thier DSH looks just like a bengal, They see bengals in shelters all of the time, ect. ect.
It makes us bengal breeders look bad.
The truth is many people just don't know what they are looking at or looking for unless they really STUDY the breed. I think anyone would be hard pressed to find a cat with REAL glitter unless it was a bengal. Maybe the cat is shiny or has a satiny sheen but that's not glitter. For those who are wondering if the neighborhood cat is really a bengal, Here's what glitter looks like (although not very good photography):



It actually is like tiny prisms in the sunlight. It is not simply a shiny coat.
 

bengalbabe

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Originally Posted by tiffanyjbt

Aside from bengal rescue (which is still a little questionable at times), how many of these cats are actually bengals?

http://search.petfinder.com/search/search.cgi
I have a problem with that site. I seriously doubt most of them even have an ounce of bengal blood. And the prices some of them charge for mixed breed animals and animals that are "for adoption" is way too high. It seems more like animal sales and not animal rescue to me. The only one i'd trust is the actual bengal rescue. The rest seem like they label every classic tabby and every spotted tabby as a bengal to make them more adoptable. Not that there's anything wrong with adopting (I even promote the Northern California Bengal rescue on my website) but I just have a problem with the other rescues labeling all of them as bengals when it's obvious to a bengal breeder they are not.
 

tiffanyjbt

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I'm not a bengal breeder, and I haven't met that many bengals in person... my own bengal kitten was due home yesterday, but he won't be here until Wednesday.


Anyway, I've only read a lot and seen a TON of pics of bengals (and other cats) and its pretty obvious to ME that many of those cats are not bengals.

Just last weekend my husband and I were in Petsmart looking at the kittens for adoption. They were all silver mackeral tabbies with some faint spotting with white paws. A lady next to us said to her friend, "I'll bet they're bengals". I very politely mentioned that it was my opinion that they were very cute mackeral tabby DSHs with white paws. They were adorable, but the lady almost insisted that they must be "something". Well, I know that they are not bengals. Ocicats have classic tabby pattern flow, not mackeral. Not sure about maus, but I'm pretty sure they weren't that either. That part I kept to myself though.
 

bengalbabe

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Originally Posted by tiffanyjbt

I'm not a bengal breeder, and I haven't met that many bengals in person... my own bengal kitten was due home yesterday, but he won't be here until Wednesday.


Anyway, I've only read a lot and seen a TON of pics of bengals (and other cats) and its pretty obvious to ME that many of those cats are not bengals.

Just last weekend my husband and I were in Petsmart looking at the kittens for adoption. They were all silver mackeral tabbies with some faint spotting with white paws. A lady next to us said to her friend, "I'll bet they're bengals". I very politely mentioned that it was my opinion that they were very cute mackeral tabby DSHs with white paws. They were adorable, but the lady almost insisted that they must be "something". Well, I know that they are not bengals. Ocicats have classic tabby pattern flow, not mackeral. Not sure about maus, but I'm pretty sure they weren't that either. That part I kept to myself though.
I hear that same sort of stuff all of the time and they don't listen to me either and I am a bengal breeder.....sigh.....
I don't think a lot people realize that DSH can be spotted and not be a "breed of something" Almost all mackeral tabbies have a little bit of broken lines that make spots too and almost all mackeral, spotted, and classic tabbies have spotted bellies as well.

I love taking my bengal boys to petsmart so people can see what a real bengal should look and act like! My stud "Rumble In The Jungle" LOVES petsmart! He just loves the attention he gets. He was going to be my show boy so I took him there ever since he was 8 weeks old (to socialize him and desensitize him to noise, people, and other animals) but his tail was slammed in the door by my son (accidentally) and broken so he can't show. I still take him to petsmart though =0)
 
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