Say it with me kids
Cat👏color👏is👏not👏a👏breed!!
The cat you rescued off the side of the road is NOT a Siamese, Bengal, Persian, or whatever you’re going to come up with!!!
Those are cats that are THOUSANDS of dollars, the owners are not letting them wander the streets! And they sure aren’t being born in your back yard by some random stray!
Cat color is just that-color. Cat size, shape, tail, whatever is not how you figure out the breed. Most cats, we’re talking like 90-95%, are NOT PEDIGREE CATS.
I’m sure you’re asking “But Silver, why does this matter? No one is being hurt by me calling my silver mackerel tabby an Australian Mist.”
Ignoring the fact that it makes you look stupid (“oh yeah sure I have a rare exotic cat breed worth more money than my rent. No Im not paying vet bills this cat was free in the parking lot” sure Jan, that’s definitely a pedigreed cat there.)
Breeds tend to have a propensity to certain issues due to their inherent inbreeding and unique characteristics. Take for example, the Manx cat. You know, the cute little tailless ones? They’re prone to spine issues due to that tail. Your cat doesn’t “become a Manx” because it had a tail amputation. That’s not how the breed is determined.
Also, when you call your cat a “Maine Coon mix” at the vet, and then we open your carrier (which you should always bring your cat in a carrier to the vet btw but that’s a rant for another day) and it’s a massively overweight long hair…yeah, that’s not okay. It’s not “he’s big because he’s a Maine coon” it’s “your cat is obese and this should constitute as animal abuse”.
“But Silver, what do I call my dumpster/rescue/cat distribution system cat?”
Easy!
If your cat has short hair, it’s a domestic short hair (dsh for short)
If your cat has medium length hair, it’s a domestic medium hair (dmh for short) (this one is sometimes controversial, because it’s quite subjective)
And if your cat has long hair, it’s a domestic long hair (dlh for short) (medium hairs will be put in this category if for whatever reason you don’t want to use medium hair as a category)
Statistically, you have a domestic short hair. Unless you have a pedigree, your cat is a mix. You can call it a Moggie, if you want to feel fancy.
“But what about his/her color?”
Cats can be colorpoint without being a Siamese. Cats can be blue without being a Russian Blue. Cats can be black without being a Bombay. Half the time y’all can’t say a single feature of the cat breed besides coat color.
Tl;dr: Your warrior cat OC is not a purebred unless he/she was a kittypet with a pedigree. The cat you found in the university parking lot is not a purebred. Stop it you’re making yourself look like a fool.
Edit: forgot the long haired pictures whoops
