Cat breeds: information, characteristics and behavior
The house cat, or simply cat, is a furry mammal that is kept in homes by cat-loving owners for companionship and for their ability to hunt vermin. There are at least 70 types of cat breeds. However, due to different claims on standards, there are associations who claim that there are more.
A little history
Cats belong to the same family as felids-mammals that share a common ancestry that goes back 10-15 million years. We are talking about lions, tigers, cougars, and many others. The housecat was classified as Felis catus by the father of Taxonomy (science of classification). Within this family of felids, our cat belongs to a smaller group called genus, which includes some other seven members. These include the African wildcat, the Arabian sand cat, and the Chinese mountain cat. These seven (or so) members of this genus share a common ancestor from 6-7 million years ago.
The Domestication process
Why people decided to domesticate the Felis catus, among the others, still remains a mystery. Some say that people, through artificial selection, chose them as good predators of vermin. This is not considered too reasonable, though, since there are other species that are much better at that and could have perfectly fit in a home environment. People probably turned to cats since, through natural selection, they separated from their wildest cousins as they got used to hunting rodents from towns and villages.
Types of Cat breeds
Once domestication took place, the different types of cat breeds started to come up. Cats did not undergo as many changes as dogs during their domestication process. The different types of cat breeds obey to different owner needs. Some of them were made agiler with pests or were breed to reduce hair shedding. Others were the result of wrong crossing, thus making them hairier.
List of cat breeds
Abyssinian
Aegean cat
American Bobtail
American Curl
American Shorthair
American Wirehair
Arabian Mau
Asian Cat
Asian Semi-long Hair
Australian Mist
Balinese
Bambino Cat
Bengal
Birman
Bombay
British Longhair
British Shorthair
Burmese
Burmilla
California Spangled
Chausie cat
Cornish Rex
Cymric
Cyprus cat
Devon Rex
Donskoy cat
Dwelf cat
Havana Brown
Highlander cat
Himalayan
Japanese Bobtail
Javanese
Korm Ja
Korat
Kurilian Bobtail
Maine Coon
Manx
Manx longhair
Munchkin
Scottish Fold
Selkirk Rex
Siamese
Siberian
Singapura
Snowshoe
Somali
Sphynx
Tiffany cat
Tonkinese
Turkish Angora
Turkish Van
We will be going through the types of cat breeds and describing them, their origins, their physical traits, and other interesting facts. Here in Dogalize we have all the tips and tricks you’ll need to better take care of your furry, purring companion.