Please help me identify the primary and secondary breed of my cat

July 20, 2020 10:08 AM

For some reason or another, I have never bothered to determine his exact breed. I have had him for ten years, and it just didn't come up! For licensing purposes, I now need to determine his Primary Breed, Secondary Breed, Dominant Colour, and Secondary Colour. Please help (Pictures Included).

The form requires

"Dominant Breed"
"Secondary Breed"
"Dominant Colour"
"Secondary Colour"

Here are the options available:
$ cat cat_breeds.txt
==COLOUR OPTIONS==
ABYSSINIAN
AMERICAN CURL LONGHAIR
AMERICAN CURL SHORTHAIR
AMERICAN SHORTHAIR
AMERICAN WIREHAIR
ANGORA
BALINESE
BIRMAN
BOMBAY
BRITISH BLUE
BRITISH SHORTHAIR
BURMESE
CHARTREUX
COLORPOINT
CORNISH REX
CYMRIC
DEVON REX
DOMESTIC LONGHAIR
DOMESTIC MEDIUMHAIR
DOMESTIC SHORTHAIR
EGYPTIAN MAU
EUROPEAN SHORTHAIR
EXOTIC SHORTHAIR
HAVANA BROWN
HIMALAYAN
JAPANESE BOBTAIL
JAVANESE
KORAT
MAINE COON
MALAYAN
MANX
MUNCHKIN LONGHAIR
MUNCHKIN SHORTHAIR
MUNCHKIN TOY
NORWEGIAN FOREST CAT
OCICAT
ORIENTAL SHORTHAIR
PERSIAN
PIXIEBOB LONGHAIR
PIXIEBOB SHORTHAIR
RAGAMUFFIN
RAGDOLL
REX
RUSSIAN BLUE
SCOTTISH FOLD
SERVAL
SIAMESE
SINGAPURA
SNOWSHOE
SOMALI
SPHYNX
TIFFANY
TONKINESE
TURKISH ANGORA
TURKISH VAN

==COLOUR OPTIONS==
AGOUTI
ALBINO
BLACK
BLACK SMOKE
BLACK TABBY
BLACK TICKED
BLACK TIGER
BLUE
BLUE CREAM
BLUE POINT
BLUE SMOKE
BLUE TABBY
BLUE TIGER
BRONZE
BROWN
BROWN TABBY
BROWN TIGER
CALICO
CALICO POINT
CHINCHILLA
CHOCOLATE POINT
CREAM
CREAM TABBY
CREAM TIGER
DILUTED CALICO
EBONY
FLAME POINT
GINGER
GINGER TABBY
GRAY
GRAY TABBY
GRAY TIGER
LAVENDER
LIGHT BROWN
LILAC POINT
LYNX POINT
MITTED
ORANGE
ORANGE TABBY
ORANGE TIGER
PINK
RED
RED TABBY
RUDDY
SEAL POINT
SESAME
SILVER
SILVER LYNX POINT
SILVER TABBY
SILVER TIGER
SMOKE GREY
TORBI
TORTIE
TORTIE POINT
UNKNOWN
WHITE

Here are the pictures.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated - I had never considered this question before and have little knowledge about cat breeds.

posted by beatThedealer to Pets & Animals (17 answers total)

He's a tabby cat. Like 99% of domestic cats he's not a breed. Most vets will mark him down as "domestic shorthair, orange tabby", or something like that.
posted by zadcat at 10:17 AM on July 20, 2020

Seconding. I'm always thrown off when people (vets included!) ask for my cat's breed. He's...a generic cat? Domestic [x]hair covers everything unless you have, like, papers from a parent cat that's a registered breed.
posted by kalimac at 10:23 AM on July 20, 2020

American shorthair (assuming the cat was born in the Americas), color orange tabby. Ignore secondary breed and color, or mark them the same as the first if you can’t submit an empty or N/A answer.
posted by SaltySalticid at 10:26 AM on July 20, 2020

That there is an A+ domestic shorthair orange tabby.
posted by northernish at 10:27 AM on July 20, 2020

DSH (domestic shorthair) the basic model for all cats without papers. If you know one of his parents was not the regular oddlot, then it's the default. I have two Siamese, which is obvious from their coloration and although I have no papers for them (so they're not purebred). Medium hair is usually used for cats with long hair on their tail or chest but not so much elsewhere.
He's not dark enough to be a red tabby and not light enough to be a cream tabby so ginger or orange would work for his color.
posted by fiercekitten at 10:33 AM on July 20, 2020

I’d put secondary colour as white, looks like he’s got a white chest and chin.
posted by 100kb at 10:37 AM on July 20, 2020

Domestic shorthair, no secondary breed, orange (or ginger, wtf?) tiger. (That is a not a designation I've heard before for a mackerel tabby, but I assume they're using it to distinguish from a classic tabby, which has swirls and blotches, not narrow stripes.)

Don't get too hung up on this, this is not a particularly good or clear list of options and there are several ways to describe your cat with reasonable accuracy.
posted by restless_nomad at 10:40 AM on July 20, 2020

OK I know that this breaks the guidelines but compelled by how adorable your cat is, I just have to say that the picture with your cat in the pizza box is (technically speaking) COMPLETE ADORBS. I would like to subscribe to your cat's newsletter.
posted by yohko at 10:52 AM on July 20, 2020

He's a marmalade tabby, subtype extremely good boy! What a sweetheart!
posted by bile and syntax at 10:59 AM on July 20, 2020

I agree with the above answers identifying your adorable cat, but for reference here is the big awesome graphic of cat coloration and pattern.
posted by agentofselection at 11:16 AM on July 20, 2020

Oh he's so beautiful. I love my own orange tabby. I have nothing to add to zadcat's comment. I just wanted to oooh and awww over your boy.
posted by biggreenplant at 11:41 AM on July 20, 2020

Yes, Domestic Shorthair is the non-breed “breed” you want. (Not American Shorthair, regardless of his provenance — that’s a pedigreed cat breed and another thing entirely.)
posted by armeowda at 12:18 PM on July 20, 2020

Please put down "A Very Good and Handsome Boy" because that is what he is. :)
posted by Kitchen Witch at 12:31 PM on July 20, 2020

Please boop that adorable nose for me. He is quite handsome.
posted by kathrynm at 1:51 PM on July 20, 2020

Dominant Breed: Domestic Shorthair
Secondary Breed: N/A
Dominant Colour: Orange Tabby
Secondary Colour: White
posted by Jacqueline at 3:37 PM on July 20, 2020

I live in an area where domestic longhairs are very common. My relatives who live in an area where they are not insist that my DLH cats must be "Maine Coons" or whatever longhaired cat breed that is not a Persian they've heard of most recently. They really aren't, though.

Thanks for that colour chart, agentofselection -- I once did a deep dive into cat coat genetics, although I've forgotten 90% of it. I was delighted to rediscover the word "torbie", which one of my current two cats definitely is.
posted by confluency at 3:49 AM on July 21, 2020

That is a very good boy, Brett, of the DSH Orange Tabby variety.
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 2:11 PM on July 21, 2020