Members of the cat family are quite easy to identify. They differ widely in size, color, and markings, but all look “catlike.” They have long, rather slender but powerfully built bodies.

The head seems quite large and the legs short when compared with the body size. All parts of the body fit together smoothly to give overall balance and structural smoothness.

Some animals called cats are not. The polecat is a member of the weasel family, and in the United States the name polecat is also used for the skunk. The bashful cat of Asia is really a loris–one of the primates. The tiger cat of Australia is a marsupial, and its proper name is dasyure.

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The number of recognized show breeds that have defined, inherited characteristics has increased dramatically since the late 1950s as cats have become more popular home companions. The 30 to 40 distinctive breeds can be grouped into two general categories: the long-haired Persian and the domestic shorthair.

Almost everyone recognizes the words Siamese, Manx, and Persian as the names for certain breeds of cats. Until about a century ago, however, these terms had little meaning. Domestic cats bred freely as they spread through various parts of the world. As a result, cats of almost infinite varieties of sizes, shapes, and colors came into being. Some cat owners liked the qualities of certain strains and wanted to perpetuate them. They interbred the cats with the desired qualities, and, when these qualities continued to appear in generation after generation of cats (that is, when they bred true or pure), a new breed was established.

Cat breeders today follow essentially the same pattern. They consider a strain that breeds true for four generations a purebred, and proof of this true breeding is necessary before a new breed becomes accepted. Full-color illustrations show the breeds most widely accepted in the United States. Cat fanciers in other parts of the world may recognize different breeds. Read the rest of this entry »