There is a big difference. If you did not get your kit from a registered breeder, she's not an American Shorthair even though a lot of moggys fit under the basic breed standard.
but domestic shorthair is listed as a recognized breed whenever i look it up online, although they recently officially changed the name to american shorthair because the word domestic in the name domestic shorthair refers to the fact that this is a native (domestic) breed to our region. anyway that is how it is explained on cat breed sites.
Yes. Actually, moggy is more of a British term for mutt-cat. On this board, most members who've been around long know it and use it. Also in certain circles, like fanciers and showers and breeder, they have begun using moggy too.
Americans as a whole don't have a word for moggies, and so most vets will list the breed of your cat either as "mixed-breed" or "DSH". Zissou's vet records all say DSH.
In short, sort of, DSH became a word for moggies after it changed, in fact they changed it because people had begun using it to mean "mutt-cat" which is what I prefer to call them. So, it continued being used for Moggy and American Short Hair now refers exclusively to the actual breed.
I'm a word-nut if you can't tell.
Okay, and what Arlyn said. I think DSH is also often used to describe any moggy though. Mine is truly a medium-hair, but nobody calls her a domestic medium hair. In fact they once listed her as a DSH with medium hair.