A pure breed cat, by definition, is a cat whose ancestors were of the same breed and had similar characteristics and personalities. They are also known to have the same markings as their parents or grandparents. To quickly find out whether you have a pure breed cat or not, you may need to look at its heritage.
Usually, when cats are born, their parents are registered in the system. A pedigree is formed, which tells us about a specific kitten’s heritage. It also tells us more about their parents, giving us information such as which breed they were from and when all this process is completed.
Its findings show that the kitten’s parents were of the same breed, and their parents were also of the same breed; only then will the newborn kitten be considered a pure breed cat.
Sometimes, that is not the case, sometimes the kitten’s parents may not be registered in the system, so it causes a lack of information, which hinders the process of confirming a cat’s pure breed status. There are other ways to determine a cat’s breed, which this article discusses somewhat thoroughly.
1- The shape of their faces
Different breeds of cats are known to have different shapes on their faces. Some pure breeds of cats have round faces; others have triangular faces; some even have square-shaped faces. The shape of their face tells us a bit of their heritage. Only a selected few breeds of cats have a triangular face, so if your cat has a triangular face, then your cat may be from one of those breeds.
However, if your cat’s face does not match any of the face shapes mentioned above, or it matches more than one face shape, then it is possible that you do not have a pure breed cat, and it is a hybrid instead.
2- Fur length
There are two types of pure breed cats divided based on the length of their fur, long-haired cats and short-haired cats, named after how long their fur is. Long-haired cats have more flowy and silky fur, and it resembles that of a bear, and they tend to look larger because of it.
Whereas short-haired cats have shorter fur coats that resemble a lion, they do not require grooming as much. Some pure breed cats have little to no fur on their bodies, such as the sphinx and the cornish rex. If your cat has either of these, then you can further shorten your list of pure breed cats that your fur baby may belong to.
3- Patterns on their fur
When you’ve decided on which type of fur your cat has, the next thing you need to focus on is the fur patterns on your cat. Suppose your cat has the three colors of orange, black, and white in its fur.
In that case, there is a possibility that you’re the proud owner of a calico cat, a special type of cat that is the only one of its kind. However, you may need to look at its fur patterns and how they are arranged. For example, a pure Bengal cat will have spots like a leopard’s.
In contrast, a Tabby cat will have stripes similar to a tiger. Sometimes the cat may not have stripes at all and would have simple fur such as the Chartreux or the Russian Blue, both of them are pure breeds of cats.
4- Their eye colour
Believe it or not, all pure breed cats have a specific eye color consistent in each member of that breed.
For example, Russian Blue cats are known to have Blue eyes, and that’s where they got their name from.
Some cat breeds have two different colored eyes. However, this only occurs if the cat is a hybrid breed, so if your cat has eyes of the same color, you can rest assured that your cat is purebred.
5- The type of tails pure breed cats have
The length of the tails of some cats varies from long to medium to short. For example, a Japanese bobtail is a pure breed cat with a very short tail and resembles a cotton ball. Some cats have tails longer than their hind legs, so the tail length can also tell you a lot about which pure breed your cat belongs to. So if your cat has a short tail, it may either be a Japanese Bobtail or the Manx. So that further narrows your list down to maybe two or three breeds to whom your cat may belong.
All these features may give you a general idea about your cat’s breed and whether or not it is a pure breed cat. There are some exceptions; however, some pure white breeds of cats have different eye colors even though they are a part of the same breed, which may create some ambiguity in your findings. Hence, it is important to consider other factors as well.
Some rescue cats also tend to get injured on or near their tails and sometimes lose them, or they are completely born without one due to a congenital disability. This may cause the cat in question to be mistaken as a bobtail cat and may also cause some confusion.
Conclusion
In the end, it is crucial to consider these factors all at the same time because you may not realize, and you’d end up designating a hybrid cat as a pure breed cat or vice versa. Some cats may also have temperamental tendencies that would be normal for other breeds but not for the breed they are a part of.
Not every cat is the same when it comes to behavioral tendencies is also important. There may also be another ancient method used to determine a cat’s heritage long before technology such as computers and the internet made things easier for us.
