What is the Stray?

Is Blue Tabby an actual breed? I've been trying to figure out what kind of cat my stray kitten is,or at least what breeds she has in her, does anyone know of any way for me to find out? She is a really light gray that I've always pictured with Russian blue, but she also has tabby markings that are really light. Her hair is a little long, but mostly it is just Really thick. She has a creamy yellow underbelly and is one of the most gorgeous cat's I've ever seen, when I can find her. She looks alot like the first example of that blue tabby kitten at the top of the other blue tabby forum, except, since she's mine i personally think she is the most gorgeous cat in the world. She is about the same age as that kitten too. Any Ideas? Any comments are appreciated

Blue tabby is a colour NOT a breed. Your kitten sounds like a Domestic.

She sounds very pretty. I've wondered what 'breed' my cats are before too, but I don't know if you can ever really tell for sure with tabbys. Especially when you don't know thier little family trees.

She is likely a domestic short hair with tabby colours though she sounds adorable!! I love tabbies! Tabby is not a breed but colouring.

K I feel dumb, but what is a domestic? Just a domestic cat or does it have a special meaning?

Yup, just a domesticated kitty.

Cats aren't as specialized as dogs. With the exception of those that are part of a breeding program, most cats are known as domestic (short-hair, medium-hair, long-hair).

However, the domestic cat displays a wonderful array (even within the same litters) of colors and patterns. Here on the site is an informative description of colors and patterns.

K then, I have another cat Named Trinity, also a mix, who is different shades of an orange tabby and a black and white. what would her colour pattern be called? She is kinda a tortise shell, but I swear you can tell she is half orange Tabby and half black and white She is addorable, but she has about 4 or 5 colors on her. what is thatcalled? her chest throat, and belly are white and the rest is really mottled together, like each individual hair is several colours, I found that out brushing her.

You other kitty sounds like a tortie and white or torbie and white. Torties are red (orange) and black. The red may have some "tabby" markings as red is a very hard color to get solid - the striping always shows a little.

Torbies are basically tortoiseshell tabbies. The difference is that the black/brown would have striping - torbies are more of a brownish shade then the deeper black.

I had a very pretty torbie household pet - she was a light shade of brown, red mixed (multi color on the fur like yours) and won lots of awards because of unusual color.

So what breed are my kittens? Also domestic?

Yes - Domestic Short Hair (DSH) with the tabby pattern. Unless you have documented the parentage, breeds are difficult to ascertain. It has only been since the Victorian age that there has been a concerted effort to specifically breed cats to meet special characteristics whereas dogs have been bred for thousands of years and these characteristics are stronger and show up in mixed breeds. Some cat breeds developed because of geographical isolation.

Sometimes, you can see characteristics in a mixed breed that might indicate a specialized parent (like Siamese or Manx) but chances are the majority of the cat's heritage is Domestic.

Katachtig, What kind of pattern would you call your first kitten? She looks almost identical to Trinity, right down to the sripe of yellow on her face and the white belly! They really could be twins. If I ever get a digital camera I will post some pictures to show you.

My vet calls her a tortico. She has kind of a split personality. Her underside is like the calico where there are solid patches of color. But if you look at her from behind, she has the tortoiseshell markings. I have posted a couple of other pictures in the fur pictures so you can see her tortoiseshell markings.

Tortoise Shell Kitties

And here a link to the whole thread.

She's a tortie and white - a little unusual in the color patching, but that's what she should be called. An easy way to tell if you have a calico vs a tortie/white is to think of the cat as:

Calico - white cat with patches of black/red - kind spotted looking.

Tortie/white - a tortoiseshell cat with white markings - usually on the face, legs and belly.

There is also the "VAN" type - which is a white cat with color restricted to the head and tail (best description) but can also have a little color on the legs or a few body spots. Vans can be white with black, blue, red or cream spotting or can be van calicos. You can mix in the tabby gene and have brown tabby, red tabby, etc. van color cats.

Keep in mind, Audrey: "mixed breed" (or moggie) cats arent like mixed breed dogs. You likely don't have a mix of pure breeds, rather you simply have a standard, domesticated cat. Unlike dogs, you don't get mutts from mixing purebreds, for instance, a german shepherd with a golden retriever. You originally get breeds from developing lines of specific characteristics in the standard domestic cat.

hmm - that got me thinking... what does happen if you let 2 pedigrees of different breeds have young ones ? Will they look like Moggies ? Will they look a bit like both parents, or will you get some which are like one parent and some which are like others ? Also, does it make a difference if theya re both european / american breeds compared to one being asian/exotic and the other europen/american ?

If you breed two breeds together then you will get a mutt cat IMO but the kitten will show characteristics from both breeds of course. Unless it's an allowable cross within your cat fancy then you are just creating mutt kittens.

Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

She's a tortie and white - a little unusual in the color patching, but that's what she should be called. An easy way to tell if you have a calico vs a tortie/white is to think of the cat as:

Calico - white cat with patches of black/red - kind spotted looking.

Tortie/white - a tortoiseshell cat with white markings - usually on the face, legs and belly.

There is also the "VAN" type - which is a white cat with color restricted to the head and tail (best description) but can also have a little color on the legs or a few body spots. Vans can be white with black, blue, red or cream spotting or can be van calicos. You can mix in the tabby gene and have brown tabby, red tabby, etc. van color cats.

Click to expand...

My girl is a patch tabby with white...ummm, sorry, it's not the BEST picture of her.

Yeah that picture is better then the first - she's a brown patched tabby. My brown patched tabby had more red in her and was the lighter/warmer shade of brown.

I call them either "cold" brown - one that is more of a black/brown shade or "warm" brown - one that is more chocolate/lighter shade of brown tabby.

A torbie is a tortoiseshell with tabby markings where as a patched tabby is a tabby with patches of the red mixed in.