What Breed is My Cat?

brittanymarie,   yes the coat pattern looks like silver spotted tabby.   aka black silver spotted tabby 

But that sure as heck does NOT look like a DSH to me. 

Do you know anything about his background?   

It is not at all common   that people have a  rather rare breed of cat without knowing it.   but  I do NOT think this cat is your average moggy.   

 Might be an Egyptian Mau.     The head doesn't really look like the standard but not all cats of a breed are show quality.   and anyway I'm looking at one photo of his head  and that might give me the wrong  impression.  

The ears look bigger than most Maus .  but if the cat is young it may just be a phase before he grows into the ears.   Or like I said  may be a pet quality. 

The other idea that comes to mind is  a Savannah   like maybe some middle generation .    I definitely can't rule out Savannah. 

Gorgeous cat. 

He is 3 years old...or around that. The former owner told me two different ages and also that she got him as a gift from a former employer of hers...he wasn't given to me with papers so I assume he is a domestic shorthair (as I know very little about his past. I was told by his former owner that he's an egyptian mau, but he seems rather big from what I've read about them (about 16 lbs.), and his face looks different than I thought a mau's looked like.

I for sure agree he looks like an egyptian mau or maybe an exotic cat mix. Because he does't have papers he is considered a domestic but I really think he has some sort of mau or exotic ancestry by his looks.

Hello,

I'm trying to figure out if Buddy is a Domestic Medium Hair or Long Hair. 

Also, for those of you familiar with cats like Maine Coons or Norwegian Forest cats, I wondered if he looked like any of them. I've never had such a massive, long, big boned cat. 

Curly, I think you can compare Buddy with a Norwegian.  That triangular face. Also, the tuxedo pattern is quite common among norwegians.

He may even be fairly pure NFC.

Good luck!

Franksmom said:

I for sure agree he looks like an egyptian mau or maybe an exotic cat mix. Because he does't have papers he is considered a domestic but I really think he has some sort of mau or exotic ancestry by his looks.

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I agree, but saying some ancestry is too little. With such splendid spots he "must" be purebred, otherwise they would detoriate quickly / immediately, I think.

The history of him as a gift from the employer gives us a hint, even a strong hint:  It MAY be a purebred for real, although being without papers technically a moggie.  Hardly a purebred of show quality, unless the employer rich and excentric and or the co-worker extremely important.

But a purebred of pet quality, or by any reason not suitable for breeding programme - yes, immediately much possible. Breeders dont want to kill their own high end market by selling cheaply very nicely looking pedigree cats. Selling cheaply not so well looking is another.

But they must "get rid" off for them unuseful cats, and they of course want them to get good homes.  Thus, they tend to be sold cheaply or given for free to relatives and good friends.

And thus it can become a gift to a good co-worker to a relative.

Is my theory for this moment.  

He looks like a beautiful domestic longhair. And l wanted to say that the June photo contest is called "Cats in awkward positions" - your second picture would be great there. 

Thank you StefanZ, for your help. He's so big, that he's comical. And I love his face.

Andrya, I will have to stop by that thread, thank you.

And, not to leave out my Lily. I call her a DLH tortie and white.



and them together

Lily's a darling! She looks very possessive of her friend in those photos. Do they cuddle like that a lot?

They do, although a little less now with the warmer weather. Now, they'll be a little more side by side or touching paws instead of on top of each other.

Curly, are Buddy and Lily akin, relatives to each other?  She looks more or less of the same type, although of a much more modest size.  

Or is she just still a kitten?

Buddy and Lily are lovely and those are some great photos.

  He is Brown Classic Tabby and White.  

She is actually a Brown Classic Torbie and White.   so you were very close with Tortie and White.    You are right that she is a Tortie ...but she is a Tortie with a Tabby pattern.  (the crucial distinction is that one can see the tabby markings in the black-based color,  not just the red.)   So that makes her a Tortie- Tabby   and in TICA that is officially called Torbie.   In CFA  the same thing is called a Patched Tabby.   & of course she is "and White". 

 As for her type of tabby pattern,  it can be hard to tell in longhairs,  and hard to tell in torbies,  but I think it does look like a Classic Tabby pattern like Curly. 

So when you put all that together it's Brown Classic Torbie and White.   ( or Brown Classic Patched Tabby and White  in CFA.)    I think she is just stunning!   

I agree with Stefan that Buddy and Lily do look like the same type. 

 And they do have a   NFC-ish look from the front,  with the triangle looking head.   The profiles are quite different  from NFC,  though. 

 Norwegian Forest Cats,  Maine Coons and Siberians all started out originally as "natural breeds"   ( in biology also called 'landraces')   -  cats that via random breeding and natural selection and  in response to their environment  d,eveloped as a certain type.   ( And then people started to breed them  to preserve them  and  /or to emphasize certain striking features etc.  )  

 But other cats also went through a similar process of development even if they weren't from the same places.  ;  their ancestors probably evolved in a similar kind of climate.    so it is not surprising that there are a lot of cats who in some ways resemble certain natural breeds without actually being that breed.   

They aren't related, though I also think they have similar features.

Lily is about 18 months old per vet estimation. She's looks a little delicate to me, even though she's 10 pounds. She carries herself like a little princess. Buddy is just huge. Who knows where he got his size.

Buddy showed up on my porch about a year ago. He didnt seem super hungry, but he was desperate for attention. He quickly learned my work routine, and would come running to meet my car when I came home. One night, it was raining, and looked so sad and pathetic that I had to bring him in. It was then that I noticed that he had a bleeding paw. I got rid ofnthe ticks and burrs in his fur, and made a vet appointment. It turned up that he was microchipped, and had been adopted through a local pet store that adopts out animals from a local shelter. I took him to the shelter and they tried to contact the previous owners.

I kept him during this time as the shelter was packed with kittens. It was summer. They told me that they would try for ten days, and if I didn't hear from them in ten days, to call them back.

In the meantime, his paw was healing up. He had ripped out a claw somewhere in his outdoor time, and it was infected.

After ten days, I took Buddy back to the shelter. The previous owners never returned the shelter phone calls, so they put my info on his microchip. His shelter name was Jeremy, but he was already Buddy to me at that point. The shelter also gave me the info they had on him before, which had his vaccination and neutering info. He was picked up as a stray in February 2012, and adopted out in March. I found him in June.

It took some adjustment. He was a picky eater, and still is. He's also tall, and he doesn't squat to pee. I had to get a giant box because he'd pee over regular boxes. He won't use a hooded box or get into boxes or bags. He hates confined spaces, except for his hiding spot under the bed that he uses when I vacuum.

He couldn't stand being alone and would howl when he would hear me come near the door. If I went out after work, he'd be worse. It kept getting worse and worse, so I decided that maybe he needed a companion.

A friend at work knew of an outdoor colony about a 40 minute drive from me. These cats had some contact with humans, but were at various level of friendliness. This was in November, and they wanted to try to home some of the cats before winter set in.

My friend and I drove out to where the colony lived, and Lily was just sitting in the grass by the side of the road. She just looked at us as if to say, 'hi there'. We were able to walk right up to her and put her in a carrier with no fuss. We saw about six other cats, and there was one massive orange tom that was similar in size and fur pattern to Buddy. Most of the other strays were black and white, black, and tortie.

I brought Lily home and had her checked out. Her bloodwork came back negative, she was given deworming meds, and was set. She and Buddy were sharing window space after a day, and were cuddling after a week or so.

Buddy's anxiety about being alone stopped when I got Lily. They both run to the door when I come home, but they seem happy to see me as opposed to desperate to see someone the way Buddy used to be.

Thank you all for your help and colors, patterns, and breed look alikes! I had wondered about their heads because they weren't round like I'm used to on my parents' cats.

What a wonderful story 

Thank you for caring enough to rescue these two lucky kitties.

brittanymarie said:

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• brittanymarie
• Jun 15, 2013

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brittanymarie said:

i AM SO HANDSOME-2.jpg

• brittanymarie
• Jun 15, 2013
• 1

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That is an HP F3 Savannah or quite possibly a F2. If the cat is a male, he is on the small side for an F2 male. The cat, does not look as tall as, the average F2 male. Any idea, how tall he/she is at the shoulder, as well as, how long his torso is?

The "hooded eyes", large hips, long lean body, wide nose bridge, large ears, "small triangular head" and head profile, all lead me to believe he is a Savannah. Does his coat feel "corser" then a regular domestic? Can he jump "way higher" then expect or any cat you ever had before? Does he like water? Lastly, does he seem hyperactive?

Cat Person said:

That is an HP F3 Savannah or quite possibly a F2. If the cat is a male, he is on the small side for an F2 male. The cat, does not look as tall as, the average F2 male. Any idea, how tall he/she is at the shoulder, as well as, how long his torso is?

The "hooded eyes", large hips, long lean body, wide nose bridge, large ears, "small triangular head" and head profile, all lead me to believe he is a Savannah. Does his coat feel "corser" then a regular domestic? Can he jump "way higher" then expect or any cat you ever had before? Does he like water? Lastly, does he seem hyperactive?

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 Oh Cat Person,   I am glad you answered this.  I was suspecting either Savannah or a very nonstandard Mau.     but the more I looked the more I thought Savannah.   I was meaning to PM you to take a look at these photos but I forgot.        so  it's good you found it.  

 The cat's owner said that they were told something about Egyptian Mau.  but since those were used very often in Savannah breeding,  my guess is it's a Savannah with some EM ancestry,  and maybe only part of the info got passed along as the cat changed homes a couple of times.   It's sure not a DSH! 

 Curly,  I definitely see what you mean.  Some of her body does look more tortie.  It is  very hard to tell from the back  -- and I think she's a classic torbie,  and that pattern is more chaotic,  with broader markings and going every which way,  not as easy to see as a mackerel tabby pattern (narrower vertical stripes on the torso).  And it makes it especially difficult to see a pattern when the cat has tortie coloring,  so it's also broken up into patches of red -based pigment and black-based pigment.   Plus it is harder to see a pattern in a longhair.  

  But I went by the face.  I feel confident I see  black tabby markings on the face, not just a random tortie mottled look.   which means she is genetically a tabby.    No matter what the tabby pattern they usually have some variation of the tabby "M" on the head.   some more obvious than others. 

I loved your stories about your cats.   I'm so glad for both of them that things worked out and you were able to bring Buddy a friend,  and they turned out to be so close.  

and some things you said about Buddy remind me of  my heart cat,  adopted  at about age 2 and died last year at about age 15.  He was named Louis -- but one of his most often used nicknames was Buddy.