Wild Cat Breeds

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There are no "wild cat breeds". There are wild cat species. The word "breed" cannot be used in relation to wild cat species. The word "breed" is used to describe the various domestic cat breeds. These are purebred cats with pedigrees (documented history of purebred parents).

All domestic cat breeds (over 100) and random bred cats are one species of cat: Felis silvestris catus. There are 36 species of wild cat. A species of animal is a scientific classification of that animal (called taxonomy) based on genetic analysis, form and function etc.

There is one usage of "breed" in relation to the domestic cat that is allowed: "wild cat hybrid breeds". That is not a very elegant use of the English language but it is correct. There are a number of domestic cat breeds that are wild cat hybrids. You can see a list on this page.

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