What breed is my adopted cat, or what breed does he resemble?

hypatia

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So about a couple of months ago I adopted a cat from a local shelter and he is an absolute sweetheart. I know I'll love him no matter what breed he is, but I thought it'd be fun to figure out what genes he's got.

I thought he was a DLH but then I had my doubts because of his size. He's a pretty big cat. About 5 kgs (11 pounds) and measures about 31 inches from nose to tail tip when he is properly relaxed and not curled up. It is even a chore for me to lift him for longer than a minute (no that he'll let me) and he also can't comfortably fit in my lap when I'm sitting at my computer. I have to sit cross-legged on the floor with my feet spread a little for him to get comfy in my lap (and even then he doesn't have anywhere to put his head, poor thing). I think he is just a tab bit overweight though because I can only lightly feel his ribs and he's got a bit of a belly (I adopted him like that, I wouldn't have let him become obese if I was looking after him).

I don't know how old he is and I'm not even sure if he is done growing (because I think he might be a maine coon mix and don't coons grow till they are 4?). Initially I thought he was about 2-5 years old based on the history the shelter gave me, but now I'm not sure because I'm pretty sure the shelter didn't know what they were talking about. (Fun fact: For the first 7 weeks after adoption I thought he was 'she'. That is why he was given a lady's name, Hypatia. But I checked later and I'm pretty sure he is a 'he'. If I had known I would have named him Shrody.) The shelter told me he was a mother who was a house pet once and then was given up by her owners when she had babies and all the babies died. I don't know how much of it is true, if any.

As for his personality, he is a pretty easy going cat, very well behaved. We didn't have any behavioral issues either (except recently, but that might be my fault as I might have accidentally encouraged the wrong behavior) except not wanting to take his medicine and being curious about what's Outside. He is also pretty friendly. In fact, when I went to the shelter he was the first cat, out of the 40 in that small room, to come up to me and rub himself against my legs (and it was feeding time but he was more interested in me while all the other cats were meowing for food). He is pretty cool with guests as long as they are relaxed and friendly towards him and warms up to people pretty quickly. He is also pretty smart from what I saw during playtime. 

His coat is medium to long and he is a bi-color (maybe even tri-color because he's got a sort of creamy patch near an arm pit and on a back leg) with tabby pattern. He is a handsome cat and I'm simply curious about his origins. Any takers?

P.S., in the pics, the laptop is a 15" screen one, the couch is 6ft long, and the bed is a large dog bed suitable for a golden retriever (I bought the bed because she was sleeping on the door mat and not in the nice little cardboard bed I created for her or my bed. At nights, she usually needs a lot of space to sleep and likes to stretch out her arms and legs completely.

P.P.S., do y'all think she is overweight by looking at her pics?





















 

Kieka

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I am a smidgen curious why you think its a he and not a she. I know you are in India so the adoption policies might be different but here spay/neuter is required for adoption so the gender is pretty solid when you get one from a shelter. I have had a cat who was marked as the wrong gender but they discovered the mistake when it was time to fix him. Usually once they hit adulthood unaltered cats (and even altered ones) are fairly easy to determine gender with. 

As to breed, I would go more domestic medium hair. I am not seeing characteristics to point to a specific breed as being more likely though. Size wise s/he is big enough to fit the common large breeds (Maine Coon, Norwegian or Serbian) and doesn't have the full body long hair or have enough of a neck ruff . 11 pounds is on the larger end of average but not quiet into the large cat category of breeds. I might hazard a guess in the British Longhair or Semi-Longhair direction but I am not familiar enough with the breed to really do so confidentially.

You are right on the coloring being a bicolor tabby. I am not seeing a cream patch that you mention but tricolor is more along the lines of a calico or tortoiseshell. It takes a larger amount of a third color for it to really be notable. Even the bicolor definition requires a good portion of white to differentiate it from a "with white" definition going from bi to tricolor isn't different.

 I would agree that s/he probably could loose a little weight, not obese but a smidgen on the heavy side. Meaning that actual weight is likely closer to to the 10 pound range which puts her/him more in the average category (usually 7-10 female and 8-11 male is the average range across domestics). S/he is a pretty cat. Reminds me of my brothers cat in a lot of ways. I wonder what happened with her ear to make it fold like it does. 
 

1CatOverTheLine

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First off, welcome to TCS and to the forum !

In reading your introduction (I Loved the Schrödinger reference to being both male and female), you're clearly aware that without Registry information (or a DNA test) that Hypatia (hey - given Hypatia's connexion with maths, and the kitty's weight being near one Stone, you could always name him Ein Stein, right?) is a DLH.  With that caveat out of the way, the nasal bridge conformation (the distance from the nasion to the tip, and the width across the bridge), the distance between the orbits, and the overall body  conformation suggest that there's a large percentage of Maine Coon Cat genetics at work in his lineage.

Despite the guard hair length, Maine Coons are very soft, and most are pretty much tangle-free.  You've not given the distance between the pupils as a gauge of his body size, but the photo which compares your head with his suggests that he's a big boy indeed, although his age isn't known.  There are lots of points in favour of Maine Coon ancestry, and he might well be younger than you or the shelter surmise.

As to weight, he seems very fit.  I've had several Maine Coons over the last mumble mumble years, one of whom measured just a fraction over 41½ inches, and who carried his 15 kg (33 pound) weight with considerable grace.  Their bone structure allows for slightly higher weight-to-mass ratios without the worries over "obesity."  Is he a Maine Coon, or is his ancestry primarily that?  Without DNA comparitors, it's impossible to say, but you probably knew that already.  Is he an impressive and exquisite kitty?  Well, anyone who sees him can answer that !

.
 
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hypatia

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Hi. 

I guess the shelter I adopted him from is a totally different type of thing that what you or most people on this site are used to. The 'shelter' is basically a huge compound with many buildings for cats, dogs, cows, birds, snakes, and every other animal normally found where I live. The animals here are fed and given a shelter and that's it. The staff don't interact much with the animals other than at feeding and cleaning time, they don't know the individual cats (even their genders. They wouldn't be able to tell you how many male and female cats there were or how many kittens there were. They didn't even know the exact number of cats they were housing). It's basically a place to keep the animals that might otherwise end up dead. The place has a good heart but is not managed the way you'd imagine. With cats its even worse. Adoption doesn't happen often here and almost no one adopts a cat (due to superstitious beliefs. I, myself, had to fight with my parents to adopt Hypy).

The adoption process basically went like this: I entered each of the 4 rooms housing the 140+ cats and spent about 5 minutes in each. In the 2nd room Hypy comes up to me and interacts with me and I'm sold, but I check out the other room as well. 2 days later I come back with a crate and one of the staff who clearly didn't know how to handle an animal tried to force Hypy into the crate and when I started complaining about her indelicate treatment, says the crate is too small and gives up. I come out, speak to the manager (a woman who I doubt even visits each the rooms housing the animals at least once a day) and she sends another staff member without me. He brings out Hypy. They look at him and say its a he (and I mean just look, not even examine his genitals) and that she was mom who used to be a house pet and was given up after she gave birth. They let me take Hypy home and... that's it. They didn't check my credentials, didn't make me fill out any forms, didn't charge anything, didn't give a basic rundown on how they expected their animals to be treated. They didn't make sure Hypy was healthy before giving him to me, didn't even check to see if it's a he or a she. They didn't even call later to check on him. And I don't think spaying and neutering was a rule for them. While I waited for the staff member to bring Hypy the manager was telling me I should probably wait a couple of weeks until she gets used to his new surrounding before fixing him. Only when they brought out the cat that did she become sure that Hypy was fixed. That's where the ear comes in. In shelters across India like this one the ears of the animals are punched a hole to mark that they'd been fixed. The govt. sponsered TNR programs for stray dogs all do this. That's why Hypy has one bent ear. I determined Hypy's gender by looking under her tail after looking up how to do it online and I'm 99% sure it's a male.

I agree she is a DLH but I was wondering about her ancestry. About her hair, she had shed and pulled out a lot during the time these pics were taken (pretty soon after I got her home) because she was stressed out. And then, her ruff is not fuller because she scratches a lot in that area because of ear mites and worms (it took me a while to diagnose it because the vet care here isn't that good either and when I asked the right questions after a lot of research the vet prescribed some meds - which I'm having an awful time getting into her). I also haven't properly measured her so her weight is only a very rough guess based on how she feels when I hold her. And like you said, she is a bicolor tabby, but the creamy patch was not visible due to lighting and it is only visible properly when she lifts her hands up. It's a pretty small patch, though. And I was thinking the same thing about her weight. I'm getting her weighed in a couple of days and then modifying her diet accordingly. I ordered a weighing scale especially for that and decided to switch from Whiskas (the brand the vet suggested because it is easily available and cheaper) to Royal Canin Fit.

Thanks for you help and suggestions :)
 
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hypatia

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Hi. Thanks for replying.

Yeah, I know he is a DLH without proper breeding, but I was just curious about what ancestry she had, just for fun. And his hair is pretty tangle free. I only found three tiny tangles in his coat (over a span of 3 days) in the 10 weeks I've had him, and that too only when he was rolling around in the pots a lot. And those tangles were pretty easy to remove too. He might be heavier than I assumed because I haven't weighed him yet, just based my guess off the way he felt when I lift him. I was only worried about his weight because I didn't want to put him in risk of obesity because I didn't know how much to feed him.

Thank you, he is a handsome cat, regardless.

I still call him Hypy (short for Hypatia) because it's kinda hard to do the transition now. I'm too used to calling her Hypy and a she. I don't know how many times I've typed 'she' in this thread. LOL!
 

Kieka

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Sounds like he is very lucky to have found you. I can see why the gender is questionable. I am in the United States and the adoption process is much different here. Cats can really be great companions and I am glad your parents agreed. My cat I thought was a male at first so her name is Rocket; we kept it even when we found out he was a she so I wouldn't worry too much. 

The food switch is a good one as Whiskas, while inexpensive, isn't the best food. When it comes to weight you want to look for a body type more so than an actual pound. Being longer haired does make it a little more challenging. Hypy doesn't need to loose a whole lot of weight. It is mostly just a little too round in the abdomen so watch that you don't drop too much too fast (on the chart below my guess would be in the lower 4 range and goal is the 3 range). The easiest way is to monitor calories by checking the food calories and figuring out 20 to 25 calories per pound of cat. So if the 11 pounds is accurate about 220 to 275 calories a day would be the current food intake. Then decrease in small amounts (only cutting maybe 10-15 calories) and give him a week then see where he is at. Once you get the right body condition maintain food intake or increase as needed. 

Here is a chart showing ideal body condition: 

 
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StefanZ

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I would say, the looks are quite a much as of a Norwegian Forest Cat.  I would even offer him a smaller stand in role as a Norwegian, If I were a film director.

Biggish, longhaired, triangularish head, bi-color pattern...

But as you are in India, the amount of Norwegians isnt big there, I imagine.  So willy nilly  we take the safe bet of a longhair domestic...  :)

You did the right thing.  Visited a shelter, and let yourself be picked by one of the cats...  :)
 
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hypatia

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Thanks for  the helpful chart. I understand his body better now and I'll work on monitoring his calorie intake as soon as I start Royal Canin and get the weighing scales I ordered (I'd already started a Whiskas packet and I thought I'd finish it before making the switch). I already started giving him plenty of exercise after finding out he was a tad bit overweight. We have 10-20 mins play sessions 5-6 times a day (the play lasts even 30 mins sometimes if she still wants to play, although I don't let her play longer than that because I'm worried her body might get overheated). Thanks for the help!
 
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hypatia

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Wow! I'll tell Hypy he could have been a movie star in a different life, lol. 

Yeah, I'm so glad I went to the shelter and decided to adopt an older cat. The shelter people tried to persuade me to taking a kitten come because they said kittens would be more open to the new environment and won't try to run away. But Hypy never tried to run away and I might be biased, but she is the best cat in the world. I was considered adopting a kitten that day because I visited the kittens' room first and they were all so cute. But then Hypy came up to me and started rubbing himself against my leg and I couldn't help myself. I'm so happy I have him.

P.S., Just realized how many times I've typed she/her instead of he/him. Oh well! I need a little more time to get used, I think.
 
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