Popular Cat Breeds

Traditional Persian. Photo: Dani

It is easy for me to figure out which are the most popular cat breeds because I have been running a poll on the Pictures of Cats.org website for a long time. Although the order changes a little from month to month the top three cats are the Siamese, the Maine Coon and the Abyssinian (at the date of this post - at March 2011 the top three are Maine Coon, Bengal and Siamese) - the links on this post lead to full descriptions and great photos of the breeds listed here. Historically, the Persian wins hands down as the most popular cat breed of all time and is still very popular in Asia for instance.

Siamese

There is more than one type Siamese cat unfortunately. One is skinny and delicate looking (Modern Siamese) and the other has the classic conventional appearance. 75% of people prefer the latter, the conventional shape. Therefore, when people vote for the Siamese cat they are likely to mean the Traditional Siamese. The Siamese cat has a long history and has a very well known almost iconic appearance. This wasn't always the case as this cat breed was extremely special and unusual in the West until cats of this breed were imported into England in the latter half of the 1800s. Read about Siamese cat history as it is genuinely interesting and tells us a lot about the cat fancy (cat breeding) especially in the USA, the biggest domestic cat market by far.

Maine Coon Kittens - now you see why this cat breed is one of the most popular cat breeds....photo copyright Helmi Flick

Maine Coon

The Maine Coon is bound to be one of the popular cat breeds for a number of reasons. Firstly, although it is thought the original cats that became the Maine Coon came over with the first settlers from England to America in 1630, this is now a true American cat breed. As most domestic cat keepers are in America it is going to be the case that most votes on the Pictures of Cats.org poll come from Americans and that they will vote for their very own cat breed.

Secondly, this is such a fine looking cat; the complete package really in terms of looks and character. The one weakness with the Maine Coon is the breed's health. Certain lines or perhaps the entire breed carries "defective genes" which bring with them inherited diseases such as a heart disease called HCM and a hip defect which can be crippling. I cover Maine Coon cat health in some detail. That is not to say that these disorders are confined to this breed, they are not. It is just a shame for such a fantastic breed. It has been argued, I am sure, that some of the inherited disorders if not all are due to inbreeding or breeding too closely which brings forward defective recessive genes as well as produce cats that are "on the button" as to type (appearance for the breed by the breed standard). That said breeders are now doing good work to eliminate these deficiencies.


Abyssinian

As mentioned, another one of the most popular cat breeds (ranked 3 in my poll) is the Abyssinian (the "Aby"). Why? Simple really, as this is a fine looking cat with a normal and balanced appearance combined with a long history going back to the importation of this breed from Ethiopia in about 1860 or so say the experts on cat history. Although one should take cat breed history with a pinch of salt sometimes.

The top 3 then are the Siamese, Maine Coon and Abyssinian, what comes next? More balanced and normal cats that a lot of us a familiar with. The next 3 in order of popularity are the Bengal cat, the Persian cat and the British Shorthair.

Bengal

The first, the Bengal is a cat of the modern age replicating a wild and exotic cat but totally domesticated. This was the first cat in the line of cats that are intended to bring into the home the wild (nature if you like) but in a manageable way. But this cat breed, although very much an American type cat, full of "bling" and dash, demands a little more attention than the once most popular cat breed, the Persian. The Persian is made for indoor living it seems (although I am personally against it).

Ultra Persian Cat - photo copyright Helmi Flick

Persian

The Persian cat too is an ancient breed in essence. In terms of a time line of the origin of breeds the Persian goes back hundreds of years at least (see cat history). Yet the origin becomes a little meaningless as since discovery by the West the appearance of this breed has changed out of all recognition. A similar development took place with this cat breed as took place with the Siamese in terms of the alteration of the cat's natural appearance (the one we expect) to one that is frankly a little odd (see a discussion on the changing appearance of this cat breed and more). The modern looking Persian is called by some an "Ultra Persian" in recognition of the extreme appearance. I have argued that the extreme look goes against the basic underlying breed standard, which states that no breeding should result in health issues being bred into the cat, which is what has happened with the contemporary Persian. My thoughts are in line with the majority of people in that 75% of people prefer the Traditional Persian.


British Shorthair

6th placed (or there abouts) in the most popular cat breeds list is the British Shorthair. Once again this is because this looks like a classic domestic cat (like a cat should look) and cats of this breed have relaxed characters which suits modern demanding lifestyles.

Update March 2011: These breeds are still in the top 10 most popular breeds. The Maine Coon is now in the number one spot and the order has changed a bit. Here is the current list:

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The next 4 making up the top 10 most popular cat breeds are the Norwegian Forest cat (NFC), the Egyptian Mau, the Savannah and the Himalayan.

The NFC has a long and distinguished history in Norway as a working mixed breed cat (a Moggy) until it was decided that she should be a show cat in about 1930. A great jumper.

The Egyptian Mau goes back to 2000 BC in Egypt but this breed is not treated so kindly in the land of her origin. This is a glamorous looking cat. Remember though that all cat breeds have been developed by breeders since "discovery"

The Savannah is a different kind of cat, a wildcat hybrid (like the Bengal cat). This cat is largely confined to the USA where the second generation cat from the wildcat (an F2 cat) is perhaps the most popular. You'll need space and time to keep an F2 Savannah. Some people think the Ashera GD (an Allerca cat) is in fact a Savannah F2.

Finally, the Himalayan ("Himmie"), which is a cuddly and pointed Persian Cat. All the characteristics of the Persian (laid back and part of the furniture) with a lovely pointed coat.


Popular Cat Breeds to Home page

Cheshire cat art

Cheshire cat art is based on Lewis Carroll's fictional character in his book, "Alice in Wonderland". In the book the cat talked to Alice and sometimes baffled her with his philosophy. The Cheshire cat was is known for his grin, which occurred when he gradually disappeared. Apparently Lewis Carroll might have been thinking of a British Shorthair cat when he thought up the character as it is this breed of cat that is was on Cheshire Cheese packaging at the time. Cheshire is in the North of England. Cheshire cat is not a breed of cat.


British Shorthair cat copyright Helmi Flick - Lewis Carroll based his character the Cheshire cat on this cat breed, it is thought.


"Please, would you tell me," said Alice, a little timidly, ... "why your cat grins like that?""It's a Cheshire cat," said the Duchess, "and that's why."


This cat is made for some cat art and there is plenty about at deviantART, where the following examples can be seen and lots more:


Cheshire Cat by ~OptimalProtocol on deviantART

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Cheshire cat art - image copyright ~Geyzerrr - this is published here under a permitted download from deviantART. The image has been reduced in size (dimensions) and file size (quality) to accommodate easy loading of this web page.

It is a picture for the artist's project "My Crazy Wonderland". The Cheshire cat represents a form of madness (although I am not sure that was the intention of Lewis Carroll - does someone know?). In the book the cat declares (jokingly it seems) that he is mad because he does things differently to a dog. Perhaps this is a comment on the world meaning that if you are different people treat you as mad.

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Cheshire cat art - image by ~Akira-Wishmaker

I like this image as it captures the slightly "mad" behavior of the cat and it is very colorful and for me artwork that demonstrates talent.

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Cheshire cat image is by ~Milezy The artist lives in the Philippines and is female. I suspect a lot of the artists are women.

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My Cheshire Cat Tattoo by ~Body-Art on deviantART
I think it's fun to see the Cheshire cat turned into body art.

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Another theory for the inspiration for Lewis Carroll's Cheshire cat is that the Cheshire cheese in the area was cut into the shape of a cat that was grinning. The tail was cut and eaten first leaving the grinning head. This squares up with the book's description.

There are many stories on the inspiration for the Cheshire cat. Another theory is that the cats in Cheshire were content and therefore grinned as they had a lot of milk available, Cheshire being a dairy farm area. Cheshire is south east of Liverpool and north west of Stoke on Trent.

Top RHS picture is a Wikimedia commons image now copyright free. Thank you Wikipedia.

Cheshire cat art to Egyptian cat Art

Anthropomorphic cat art

Just so we are all clear (including me) anthropomorphic cat art means art in which cats are portrayed as humans (i.e. a cat is given human characteristics and this is used for the basis for the creation of art).

And by far the best place (for me at least) to find this kind of art is the well known website, deviantART.

I spent about 40 minutes (there is so much it doesn't take long to find good stuff) trawling through the anthropomorphic cat art sections of deviantART and came up with these, which is a small selection. One factor in the selection is that some of the artists allow downloads and some allow hot links etc. It is these I am able to reproduce here:



The Cats Good Life by *asemo on deviantART

This artist created this around the fictional premise that cats were on two legs and in disrespecting the Gods they were made to walk on four legs.

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Image © Leona Preston 2007

I actually like this image a lot for the reason that this cat/person seems to have life and character and for me there seems to be some pain . Maybe because the character portrayed is a 18th Century Midshipman of the Royal Navy. This was a hard life and a relatively short life by modern standards. The picture is of a 5" sculpture from different angles.

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I'm O'Malley the Alley Cat by ~PoisonApple88 on deviantART

What is this about? I think it is inspired by the Disney cartoon film Aristocats.

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Vermeer goes furry as the artist says - image is copyright ~ImmortalSilver

This is a take on the "Girl with a Pearl Earring" painting. There is a 2003 film by the same title starring Scarlett Johansson. The film is about the painting of the painting and this one above is Anthropomorphic cat art based on the painting!

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You can see a bit of the Anthropomorphic cat art of Louis Wain as I have used one of his drawings to illustrate how a Siamese cat looked in 1987 (go to Siamese cat history). Louis Wain was known for his cartoon characters of cats.


Anthropomorphic cat art to Home page

New Cat Breeds

The most recent New cat breed? - Elf cat - experimental - not recognized by cat associations - photo © Kristen Leedom

The heyday of cat breeding and new cat breeds was in the 1980s, when 12 new breeds were either "discovered" or created and the 1960s when an astonishing 15 new breeds were started, more than one a month. The 1960s were the "good times" for cat breeders it seems. Things have changed a little. There is perhaps a greater sense of realism about cat ownership and in any case there are only so many cat breeds that can be created or discovered. The market for cat breeds is already crowded. There are then few new cat breeds.

Also, the cat associations will not recognize every "new" cat breed. And without the breed being recognized and made a pedigree cat it is not formally a cat breed, just a plain 'ole Moggy (I love Moggies though).

Here is a chart showing how many cat breeds were started by decade - you can see the start dates of all the cat breeds by clinking on this link:



That said, if one takes the last 18 years, which is fairly recent, you can count approximately 6 at least. I say at least because it is hard to find accurate information about the origin of cat breeds. Although the haziest origins are for those cats that were "discovered" in some far flung country, such as for the Sokoke a rare cat breed looking like but smaller than the Savannah cat.

Update 31 January 2010: Read about the birth of a new cat breed in Cyprus. The Aphrodite and the St Helena

The 6 new cat breeds that were started/created/developed since 1900 are the following:

2008 - Elf Cat
A very rare experimental cat breed that is a cross between the the Sphynx and the American Curl. This cat is then both hairless (or near hairless) with curled ears. The link above takes you to a page about this breed. This cat is rare as only 2 catteries (associates) breed this cat and it is the beginnings of a possible new cat breed but who knows where it will go. Some cat breeds never get off the ground, meaning that they are never accepted by the cat associations, which gives the breed credibility and makes it a bona fide recognized cat breed.


1998 - Minskin
This is a dwarf cat founded by Paul McSorley in Boston USA. Dwarf cats are normal sized cats with short legs. The body should be normal. They are generally healthy but like a number of purebred cats they can suffer from the occasional genetically inherited condition. Read about dwarf cat health.


1995 - Chausie
A wildcat hybrid (Jungle cat and domestic cat). A fine looking cat, athletic and perhaps it is fair to say more demanding than the average domestic cat.


1994 - Serengeti
The name of this cat breed tells us where the founding cat breeder was coming from when she decided to create this breed. Think exotic cat, think wild type cat but fully domestic in terms of character and behavior. This cat is very much in the same bracket as the wildcat hybrids in terms of appearance but she is not a wildcat hybrid. This cat was developed to satisfy the demand for wild cat look-a-likes. It is peculiar that humankind destroys true wildlife and then recreates it to suit his tastes.


1993 - RagaMuffin
This is a true looking domestic cat and a close relative of the Ragdoll. The history of the Ragdoll and RagaMuffin are very closely intertwined. The RagaMuffin was created by a breakaway group of cat breeders who were once part of the founding group of Ragdoll breeders.


1990s - Peterbald
A bald cat from St. Petersburg, Russia. One of the hairless cat breeds. The most well known is the Sphynx.


New Cat Breeds to Cat History

Older cat behavior

Older cat behavior - old cat - photo by Piez under creative commons license

A cat's age is a little hard to determine from looking at the cat but there are signs and these are usually much like the signs of old age for humans. Except older cats generally eat as heartily as when they were young. As we all know cats like their food. This can mask older cat behavior.

Cats are naturally very athletic, particularly with respect to jumping skills. The Chausie (a wildcat hybrid) is a particularly spectacular jumper, achieving an 8 foot vertical jump from standing start.

Old age makes the cat's joints stiffer, which prevents athletic jumping. I can understand the feeling as my joints are getting stiffer. My cat's joints are doing the same. She is about 15 years of age and a little overweight. Her jumping skills are still good by human standards but poor by cat standards. She can jump onto a bed, just, but not much higher and in getting off she slides down the edge and flops the remainder of the distance. Sometimes I pick her up and place her onto a spot she is thinking of getting to.

Our stray boy cat in contrast is young and he jumps up a brick wall about 7 feet tall with complete ease (but the way he is eating that won't last long).

Another aspect of normal cat life and a major part of it that is lost is the ability to groom the parts of the body that are hard to get to. My cat's hind quarters become a little matted as does the area on her shoulders. I groom my cat. I try and make sure that I brush her regularly and I remove matted fur if I fail to keep it at bay by combing and brushing. That said cats don't mind a bit of matting and if the cat is mainly indoors it has no impact on their lives as a well groomed coat is not essential for survival for a domestic cat as it would be in the wild.


Older cat behavior - old cat - photo by timitalia (creative commons)

Older cat behavior as for humans becomes entrenched in routine and it is unwise to break it as it provides a comfort zone. The usual cat inquisitiveness is there still but to a lesser extent.

My cat is a female and she is defensive so will avoid fights but a warrior cat boy who is old would have difficulty in winning a dispute (this is if he is an outdoor/indoor cat). Some form of human protection may be suitable.

Although the signs of old age are similar between humans and cats they commence later for the domestic cat, starting after 90% of their life has elapsed, while for humans old age begins sooner after about 70% of their lives have been lived. Old age and the discomforts that accompany it are therefore shorter for the domestic cat.

The average age of humans males is about 84 years in the UK. For cats the average age is harder to ascertain as it depends on many variables. Some cats (in the USA for example) are kept indoors all their lives. This makes for a duller and for me an unnatural life but a longer one at about 15 years or more. At the other end of the scale domestic cats turned feral have short tough lives of about 3 years. Scottish wild cats in the wild live for about 6 years and in zoos for about twice that.

The more robust moggie mixed breed cat is liable to live longer too. I see no reason for a moggy's life to be less than 15 years baring serious illness and even much longer into late teens. Some finer quality but more fragile purebred cats with weaker constitutions (brought about on occasions by inbreeding depression or mild forms of it) will have shorter lives of about 10 years or even less. I think the Modern Siamese cat is less healthy than the Traditional Siamese cat for example. I discuss Siamese cat health.

The hybrid vigor enjoyed by mixed breed cats resulting in longer lives is counteracted by a usually less cared for or pampered existence, which can shorten their lives.

Older cat behavior to Home page