What is she?

[Colleslaw]

Hello! This is Fig, she is turning 4 this year and I adopted her from a shelter jan 2022. She has started up a lot of catroversy on tiktok as I suggested she might have a little bengal in her and a lot of people had a lot to say about that lol, so I thought I’d ask this community their thoughts. I’ve owned and been surrounded by cats my whole life and I’ve never met a cat this high energy and just.. different. She holds herself more like a wild animal when she walks, can jump 5ft+ in the air for a toy, plays fetch and picks up tricks pretty fast, and is highly demanding of play (she needs like an hour or more of play a day or she is a menace all night, permanent kitten energy!). Build wise- she is very slender with a small head for her body, big round emerald eyes, nose on the broad side, very small chin, longer hind legs. Coat- brown tabby, ticked fur, bright orange belly with black spots, only white on her is around her eyes and on her chin, undertones of orange everywhere, also the stripes on her back aren’t symmetrical and are more like lines of spots (they aren’t continuous). The fur texture is very unique, almost like rabbit texture. She’s a total cuddlebug and is quick to adapt, making friends with people and new cats quickly (even though she is a toy hog!) oh and one of my favorite things about her- she doesn’t meow, she meeps! Like a little roadrunner all day- meep meep meep. I swear you can hold a full conversation with her. There is a lot about her that makes me immediately think bengal, but for me it really comes down to her personality. Anyone who’s met her has agreed she seems just a tinge more like a wild animal than your everyday cat. Maybe you all see something else though! I’m aware it’s not likely she’s purebred (I mean come on I got her for 20$ lol), but it wouldn’t surprise me to find out she has hybrid blood in her, even if it’s a small percentage, she’s just too.. not your everyday cat. And trust me, I’ve lived with some pretty crazy cats. She’s next level weirdo haha.

 

[Colleslaw]

Aaa new to this website and trying to post on my phone, totally botched the thread name and not sure why the same pic got added twice, sorry about that! Lmk if there’s a way to edit

 

[Colleslaw]

Here’s better images of her eye shape and orange tummy!

 

[di and bob]

I don't think you can edit until you have posted so many times......Your little one is absolutely beautiful. Cats are not considered purebreds unless they are papered, so she will be considered a DSH, or domestic short hair tabby with broken mackerel coat pattern. I can't see her sides, but if the stripes are continuous, then she is a mackerel, stripes that stop and go are a broken mackerel pattern. Another interesting fact is that ALL cats posses the tabby gene, even seemingly solid-colored ones. You will still see faint stripes in strong sunlight. she also has the 'M' above her nose on her forehead indicating a tabby. Your little one may be more closely related to her desert cat ancestors and possess little more of teh wild side!

 

[betsygee]

Aaa new to this website and trying to post on my phone, totally botched the thread name and not sure why the same pic got added twice, sorry about that! Lmk if there’s a way to edit

You must have 20 posts and 5 days of membership to edit, then you can edit for 120 minutes. After that, you'd need to flag the post and get help from a moderator to edit anything. Promotions and Benefits

Welcome to TCS!

 

[Colleslaw]

I don't think you can edit until you have posted so many times......Your little one is absolutely beautiful. Cats are not considered purebreds unless they are papered, so she will be considered a DSH, or domestic short hair tabby with broken mackerel coat pattern. I can't see her sides, but if the stripes are continuous, then she is a mackerel, stripes that stop and go are a broken mackerel pattern. Another interesting fact is that ALL cats posses the tabby gene, even seemingly solid-colored ones. You will still see faint stripes in strong sunlight. she also has the 'M' above her nose on her forehead indicating a tabby. Your little one may be more closely related to her desert cat ancestors and possess little more of teh wild side!

Here’s her sides! More stripey in the front, broken up spots in the back, also random patches of orange here and there. Also yes she is deemed a dsh on paper, she just doesn’t look or behave like any run of the mill dsh I’ve encountered which is why I have my suspicions she could be closer related to a wild cat than normal someone has also just mentioned ocicat?

 

[heatherwillard0614]

Unfortunately it doesnt look like your little girl is a bengal or ocicat.. nonetheless she is a beautiful domestic short hair mackerel tabby. I cant tell if it is broken stripes in the picture if ao then broken mackerel. Just as special as special though.
She is a beautiful little lady for sure
I also notice her ear is tipped so it would seem she was a stray at one point and time and was TNRd that could explain her "wild animal" demeanor

 

[Colleslaw]

Unfortunately your little girl is not a bengal or ocicat.. nonetheless she is a beautiful domestic short hair mackerel tabby. I cant tell if it is broken stripes in the picture if ao then broken mackerel. Just as special as special though.
She is a beautiful little lady for sure

I’m not trying to say she is one, just perhaps closely related to one, which wouldn’t have any fancy name other than dsh (I’m perfectly happy with her being a dsh and I love her to bits) I’m just trying to look for breeds she may resemble <3 sorry for any confusion

 

[heatherwillard0614]

I’m not trying to say she is one, just perhaps closely related to one, which wouldn’t have any fancy name other than dsh (I’m perfectly happy with her being a dsh and I love her to bits) I’m just trying to look for breeds she may resemble <3 sorry for any confusion

No confusion at all she is a beautiful little lady though.. do you know if she was possibly a stray before? Do you know much about her background? I know coming from a shelter its hard to get their background information most times.. Her ear has me wondering tho if she was stray that had been TNRd
She is lucky to have you. Thank you for adopting this beautiful little lady and giving her a life full of love!

 

[IndyJones]

I think her ear was deliberatly cut by the vet seems too clean for a fight wound

 

[heatherwillard0614]

I think her ear was deliberatly cut by the vet seems too clean for a fight wound

That's what I think.. that's y I think she was a stray who was TNRd which could explain why she holds herself as a "wild animal" I am pretty sure I understand what OP is saying about her personality and if so it would make sense especially if she was a stray at one point

 

[goingpostal]

I would say domestic tabby, I don't see anything to indicate any particular breed and it would be very uncommon for a cat to be a mix. The behavior traits are all cat, some are more wild, some are more sedate. There are plenty of lazy inactive lower gen bengals and hyperactive wild domestics out there. Bengals and ocicats are spotted not striped also so nothing about the pattern looks similar really.

 

[Colleslaw]

No confusion at all she is a beautiful little lady though.. do you know if she was possibly a stray before? Do you know much about her background? I know coming from a shelter its hard to get their background information most times.. Her ear has me wondering tho if she was stray that had been TNRd
She is lucky to have you. Thank you for adopting this beautiful little lady and giving her a life full of love!

The shelter said her family moved and abandoned her at the house they moved from :,( a neighbor took care of her for a bit until she decided to bring her in, not sure what the ear tip is about considering this info! I thought TNR too but it doesn’t seem like she was feral for too long

 

[heatherwillard0614]

goingpostal I just wanted to say the kitty that is your

The shelter said her family moved and abandoned her at the house they moved from :,( a neighbor took care of her for a bit until she decided to bring her in, not sure what the ear tip is about considering this info! I thought TNR too but it doesn’t seem like she was feral for too long

That is so sad!!! I can't stand people! I'm so very glad you have her now to shower her with unconditional love!! Again thank you for adopting this beautiful little lady. She is so precious!

 

[IndyJones]

Some vets clip the ear as a standard part of their service. Particularly low cost/free clinics. It depends on the vet really. She may have already been spayed by the previous owners at a low cost clinic.

Regular clinics won't crop the ear unless you specify it is a feral usualy. Shelters (at least in my area) also don't crop ears. It can detere potential adopters. People can be pretty vain when it comes to animals.

 

[heatherwillard0614]

People can be pretty vain when it comes to animals

Unfortunately this is so true... that's why kittens with any deformities even ones that have no medical problems are so hard to be adopted out. It's sad... I've never heard of a vet or shelter around here tipping ears.. it is only done here if they are feral we also don't have a low cost clinic in the area.. maybe that's why?..

At any rate. I'm glad this little lady has a family now to provide her with a home and lots of love.

 

[StefanZ]

A pretty and nice shorthair mackerel brown / black tabby domestic.

The question is, if she is ALSO a tortie, a so called torbie...

Brown tabby do have often warm brown or even reddish nuances here and there...
But I wonder if she hasnt some red small splotches...

How are her pad soles? Are all black, or is some of them rosy?

 

[StefanZ]

The shelter said her family moved and abandoned her at the house they moved from :,( a neighbor took care of her for a bit until she decided to bring her in, not sure what the ear tip is about considering this info! I thought TNR too but it doesn’t seem like she was feral for too long

TNRed cats are typically cut in the ear as she is... But its also done by low cost clinics. So they wont need to ask if the spayed cat is a stray they are trying to help, or if its their house cat but they wish to reduce the costs... So, they spay for low cost, but cut off the ear tip.

Of course, occasionally it may be surgical rests after a cat fight or ampuation after a frost damage.

 

[StefanZ]

Ps. Many think the spots on belly shows some Ancestry by bengal or ocicat.... Nay, its sooner typical for tabbies... Many tabbies have spotted belly...
So to know what for tabby pattern it really is, we must always look on the sides and back...

 

[Colleslaw]

A pretty and nice shorthair mackerel brown / black tabby domestic.

The question is, if she is ALSO a tortie, a so called torbie...

Brown tabby do have often warm brown or even reddish nuances here and there...
But I wonder if she hasnt some red small splotches...

How are her pad soles? Are all black, or is some of them rosy?

She does have a few rusty orange blotches! And she has three black paws with black beans and one orange paw with pink beans she looks more spotted when she’s stretched out, the most interesting part to me is how soft she is! I’ve never had a cat with fur like this, it’s very soft and plush like a bunny