16 most affectionate cat breeds who love a good cuddle

I'll say it strongly: the title is pure mumbo-jumbo and it comes direct from Pets Radar, a cynical website in my opinion where they regularly employ clickbait with a complete disregard for factual truth. They are cynically misleading the general public and those who want to adopt a cat for the first time. In fact, they are taking the piss out of people. That's what they are doing. They are playing with the internet. Don't listen to their advice. I'll tell you the truth.

The truth is far less prosaic. It is far less interesting. I know that people who want to adopt a cat from a cat breeder like clarity in terms of the cat's character. They want to know what they are buying. They want certainties. That's why Pets Radar provides it. But it is false.

16 most affectionate cat breeds who love a good cuddle. A random bred cat being affectionate. The nose-to-nose cat greeting occurs frequently. It is a friendly greeting and pleasant for both parties. I think the human likes it more and feels blessed to be treated as a genuine friend by their cat. Image in the public domain.

All the individual cats of each cat breed are going to be bred to be friendly and affectionate. Above all else, domestic cats who are part of a cat breed are just like any other domestic cat.

In fact, you might find some individual cats described as moggies i.e. non-purebred cats who are friendlier than any individual cat from any cat breed. It often boils down to the nature of the individual cat.

It is disingenuous to presume that all the individual cat of one particular cat breed all have the same character in terms of their level of affection. It isn't logical. It isn't common sense.

Breeders focus on the appearance of the cat primarily. The character comes from the foundation cats and obviously they want their cats to have good, friendly and affectionate characters. They want their cats to be confident and outgoing. They do work on this but it is not a science. And of course, there is nature/nurture. The cat's experiences later on in life and in the early years of development affect their personality.

So, you can't provide a clear answer as Pets Radar think you can do. Well, they don't actually think that. As mentioned, they are cynical. They just feed information that they think people want to hear. Their objective is to get as many readers as they can and they don't care whether the information that they provide is correct or not.

I'm being harsh but rightly so in my view. It isn't just Pets Radar who do this. The newspaper The Scotsman has done it frequently as well. It's all click bait. It's all very wrong and I don't want to see people adopting cats to be so misled.

If you want to adopt - as everybody does - an affectionate purebred cat which you will have to buy at over £1000 normally, you really should visit the breeder that you have selected, talk to him or her and meet the cats. Ask some pertinent questions. Challenge the breeder. Discuss the matter in depth and then adopt the kitten that comes to you if that happens.

But you're not going to know for sure whether the cat you adopt is going to be super-affectionate or more affectionate than any other domestic cat. Just presume that your selected cat will be affectionate provided that you are affectionate towards him or her.

And that's the last point I want to make. The level of affection that a cat delivers to their caregiver is largely dependent upon the level of affection that their caregiver delivers to them. It is reciprocated. Affection is an emotion. And the emotions of a cat and how anxious or calm they feel is dependent upon the environment in which they are placed and that environment is dependent upon the work and efforts of the caregiver.

16 most affectionate cat breeds who love a good cuddle. All domestic cats enjoy a cuddle at some time or other. It just needs to be done on their terms. Image: public domain.

In the interactions between caregiver and cat are so important. They should be gentle, calm and friendly. Owners should never yell at their cat. They should never be aggressive towards their cat. They should not be irritated by their cat if their cat behaves in a way that displeases them. And this comes down to expectation management as well.

People need to remember that the domestic cat is a domesticated wildcat. They have inherited the wild cat behaviours but of course they've adapted to the human environment. They are domesticated. But expect a domestic cat to have wildcat traits which occasionally emerge.

Be realistic, please. Don't believe everything you read on the Internet because a lot of it is tailored to please the readers rather than, like this article, tailored to be entirely factual true. The raw truth counts in my view. And in that way, we can expect better animal welfare as well because people's expectations are accurate.

What is the largest litter of kittens?

This is a Guinness World Record for the largest litter of kittens born to a domestic cat. It happened in Kingham, Oxfordshire, UK on August 7, 1970. A Burmese/Siamese hybrid owned by V. Gane gave birth to 19 kittens. Four were stillborn. That is all we know. Technically it is possible that a larger but unreported litter has been born but we'll never know.

Burmese kitten. This kitten has nothing to do with the record. This charmer is here to illustrate the page, no more. Photo: Pinterest.

A female domestic cat can give birth to anywhere between 1 and 10 kittens normally. The 19 of the record is, on the face of it, unique. An average litter consists of 4 or 5 kittens.

Mel and Fiona Sunquist in their excellent book Wild Cats of the World state that the record is 13 kittens. I am afraid they were incorrect. Their book was published in 2002. 

New-born kittens weigh about 90-110 grams at birth. This is 3 percent of their mother's body weight.

Normally the weights of individual kittens declines as the litter size increases.

Kittens are born with their eyes closed. Very rarely kittens are born with teeth. Usually they are born without teeth. They have poor hearing but a good sense of smell and touch as they are able, within an hour of birth, to find 'their' nipple and begin feeding. They return to their dedicated nipple which avoids arguments. Brilliant system to create calm and better feeding.

ASSOCIATED PAGE: 12 facts about the domestic cat purr

The kittens purr to their mother while feeding to say all is well. The mother responds likewise. It is their first purr signifying contentment. Many more will come in a good home.

Interesting facts about the Abyssinian cat

The most interesting facts about the Abyssinian cat come from it's history. I know that the history of the cat breeds does not fascinate people as much as their appearance but in this instance I have to write about it. There is one story which I think is very interesting about the origins of the breed. It is a bizarre historical incident.

Both the above photos are by Helmi Flick

The Emperor of Abyssinia (now Ethiopia) in 1860 wrote to Queen Victoria to ask her to marry him. She ignored the letter which annoyed the Emperor resulting in the arrest of some Europeans including the British consul. The British government overreacted and sent in a force of 32,00 to release him and the others. The Emperor panicked as the troops approached his residence and he blew his brains out with a pistol given to him by Queen Victoria!

The fighting was over before it had started so they offered gifts to a local chief and went home. On their way home some of the soldiers picked up pet kittens from the friendly local people and returned to England with them. This is said to be the beginnings of the Abyssinian cat breed.

The first Abyssinian cat in Britain, according to a man called Gordon Stables writing in 1874, was an individual called Zula who was brought to England by the wife of captain Barret-Lennard in 1868. This is the date of the end of the Abyssinian confrontation. It is possible that she obtained the cat from one of the returning soldiers referred to above. "Zula" refers to the name of the northern Abyssinian port at which a British military expeditionary force established its first base in 1867.

That is the more romantic version of the origins of the Abyssinian cat. The more pragmatic and perhaps realistic version is that the cat was simply created through selective breeding in England at the end of the 19th century. It appears that there was a substantial amount of crossbreeding of cats with ticked coats in order to fix what is now perhaps the defining feature of this cat namely the ticked coat. This is an agouti tabby coat without the strong markings with which one is familiar. The appearances salt-and-pepper rather than dark swirls or spots and stripes.

Although it seems likely that some cats were indeed brought back to England after the brief war with Abyssinia. Perhaps the selective breeding took place around these cats and they were refined by mating them with carefully chosen British shorthairs.

The first time I saw an Abyssinian cat I thought that it looked very similar to the ancient Egyptian cat statues in museums. It raised the question as to whether the Egyptians, many thousand years ago, lived with cats similar in appearance to the Abyssinian. There is no evidence to suggest this however. This misconception may have come about because the Abyssinian cat's appearance is very regular and normal. This is one of the outstanding features of this cat breed. Although the cat is quite slender and athletic there is nothing extreme about it which is refreshing bearing in mind some of the extreme bred cat breeds such as the flat-faced Persian.

Some authors suggest that the Abyssinian was first listed as a breed in 1882 but this is contested. There was a "Standard of Points" (breed standard in modern terminology) in 1889. It was published by the founder of the cat fancy, Harrison Weir. The first Abyssinian to be registered at the National Club Studbook occurred in 1896. The first individual Abyssinian cats to be exported to the United States were shipped out in 1907.

As to temperament, there are many descriptions but it would be surprising if there were anything but excellent companions. I shall rely on Gloria Stephens who says that they communicate with their human companions in an open and loving way. This cat likes to talk with people in a "euphonic voice". They make a loyal, loving companion. This is a gentle animal capable of understanding the feelings of their owners. The Abyssinian is an inquisitive cat with great climbing skills combined with grace and agility. Yes, they are an athletic cat breed.

Their appearance is medium-sized. They are muscular, shorthaired and have slender bodied. The head is "slightly wedg -shaped". The ears are large with almond-shaped eyes. The tail is long and tapering. The long-haired variant of this very popular breed is the Somali. In my view the Somali is more attractive than the Abyssinian and their appearance is somewhat like that of a fox. They photograph beautifully in the studio. I can vouch for it having attended a photographic session with Helmy Flick in the USA at a cat show in which she photographed the most glorious Somali cat.

The original colour form is the rusty red coat called "ruddy". This was the sole colour until 1963. The colours have been expanded substantially.