Misnamed Cat Breeds

If a Himalayan isn't Himalayan, an Abyssinian isn't Abyssinian, and a Havana Brown isn't from Havana, why do cat fanciers accept the misnomers? Most mislabeled cat breeds were misnamed because of errors, breed marketing or breed-naming traditions.

The Abyssinian

Ethiopia, formerly Abyssinia, was once believed to be the ancestral home of the Abyssinian cat breed. However, closer examination of the cat's genetics and history now reveals that this ancestry is improbable, and they most likely hail from Southeast Asia. The Abyssinian name was applied by British cat fanciers to make the breed sound exotic and wild.

The Bombay

The Bombay, an American cat breed with its origins in Kentucky, is not actually from Bombay (now Mumbai). Rather, its name's origins relate to its similarity in appearance to the black leopard, also called a black panther, which can be found in India (albeit, not in a very large metropolis like Mumbai). The founder of the breed labeled it the Bombay because she wanted to create a "miniature panther" with a name to match.

The Havana Brown

A breed created in the United States from Siamese bloodlines, the Havana brown is, disappointingly, not from Havana. There is debate within the cat fancier's community regarding the reason for the misnomer, but it was most likely either named after the Havana rabbit breed, or given its inaccurate name because of its resemblance to a fine Cuban cigar.

The Himalayan

Himalayan cats were developed as a genetics product when biologists at Harvard attempted to create a cat with Siamese markings and Persian fur texture. Its roots are in no way ancient and can not be traced back to the Himalayas; most cat fanciers, in fact, consider it to be a type of Persian. Like the Havana brown, it was given its name because of a resemblance to a preexisting breed of rabbit.

The Ocicat

Because of its combination of spots, feral-like behavior, and inaccurate name, many people erroneously beleive that the ocicat is half ocelot. However, while the breed's name was given because of its resemblance to an ocelot, it was created solely from domesticated cat breeds. The breeders who established the spotted ocicat line intended to create an exotic-looking animal of solely domestic origins-- and they succeeded!

 The Oriental

Another American cat breed, the oriental has its roots in Asia only through its foundation in the Siamese breed. The name stems from the Oriental's resemblance to ancient oriental breeds, but not from its actual bloodline. Since it was created solely in the U.S. and Great Britain, this lanky cat breed's name is yet another cat breeder's misnomer.

The Somali

The Somali cat breed is actually a longhaired version of the Abyssinian, developed in Europe and the United States. It was given its inaccurate name because breeders wanted it to have an African name to match the name of its shorthaired predecessor. However, it is still ultimately rooted in Southeast Asia, like the Abyssinian, and not in Somalia.

Although inaccurate, cat breed names tend to stick with breeders and owners because they spark the imagination and create an allure of exoticism. "The Himalayan" certainly sounds better than "Harvard Genetics Project", and the Bombay appeals to the imagination more than "Big Black Cat from Kentucky". While some cat fanciers find inaccurate breed names distasteful or even offensive, they will most likely remain a part of the cat lover's vocabulary for years, or even centuries, to come.

Siamese Cats and Temperature-Sensitive Albinism

When most people hear "albino", they probably picture either a very pale-skinned, gray-eyed human, or a white-furred, pink-eyed animal. The Siamese cat is probably the absolute last image that would come to mind if someone were asked to name albino animals. However-- surprisingly-- the Siamese cat actually has a form of albinism, giving it its distinct markings.

Cats and other animals (such as rabbits) who have this genetic trait, called temperature-sensitive albinism, are considered to have "point" coloration by breeders, handlers, and show organizations. The most well-known of point color is the seal-point pattern, seen in the Siamese cat breed, which is a deep, nearly-black shade of chocolate. However, other cat breeds such as the colorpoint shorthair, the Himalayan, and the Birman may have point-markings of any other color or pattern, including tabby and tortoiseshell points.

This uncommon form of albinism results from a mutation carried genetically on the C-locus-- the same locus that also houses the gene for complete albinism. Temperature-sensitive albino cats have a mutated form of tyrosinase, the enzyme responsible for producing melanin, the pigment involved in darkened fur.

Instead of tyrosinase and melanain completely absent, as in animals with true albinism, Siamese cats and other pointed cat breeds have a form of tyrosinas that is able to operate only at below-average body temperatures. Because of this, only the coolest parts of the body-- the feet, tail, and face-- receive properly-processed levels of melanin.

The mutated tyrosinase found in temperature-sensitive albino cats will not act to pigment the eyes, so the eyes of all cats with true point-coloration have blue eyes. This trait can assist with differentiating unusually dark temperature-sensitive albinos from unusually light cats who lack the tyrosinase mutation. The depigmentation, or albinism, of the eye also causes the cats' eyes to flash red when exposed to light, unlike the eyes of pigmented cats, which "glow" green.

The womb of a cat is uniformly warm, so cats with point coloration, including purebred Siamese cats, are born solid white. As specific parts of the body become cooler with exposure to air, the kitten's markings slowly darken in the body's coolest areas. This causes his tail, face, and paws to darken over time to the color he would have expressed had it not been for the mutation. The point-markings of cats can be any color or pattern, including red tabby, cream tabby, dilute tortoiseshell, standard tortoiseshell, blue tabby, blue, chocolate, or lilac.

The longer a cat or kitten with temperature-sensitive albinism is exposed to cold, the darker his markings will get. For this reason, many older colorpoint shorthairs appear to be standard tabbies, and very old Siamese cats may look solid blackish-brown. It was, in fact, a mutation in Siamese cats that overrode the parital albinism and led to the existence of chocolate cats.

Although the Siamese cat and other pointed cat breeds carry a form of albino gene, it is mostly harmless. While some of these cats have compromised vision, there are very few overall dysfunctional traits for temperature-sensitive albinism. Because the tyrosinase mutation only partially causes the absence of melanin, they are not as sensitive to light as other albino animals.

Temperature-sensitive albinism is a common, beautiful, and generally benign mutation, which adds variety to the already glorious spectrum of cats' coat colors and genetics. While many cat breeds exhibit this trait, it maintains an exotic appeal for cat fanciers and breeders because of its unique beauty.

Tabby Cat Pattern Types

Cats with visible stripes, swirls or spots on their bodies are referred to by breeders, owners and cat fanciers, as tabbies. Although some people erroneously assume the tabby cat to be a breed, it in fact describes a type of fur pattern, and can be seen in most breeds of cat, including the wild ancestors of the domestic cat.

There are several different types of tabby pattern, even excluding the complex agouti trait. To simpify the terminology used in the breeding, sale, and showing of cats, a few basic definitions have been laid to describe individual patterns of tabby marking.

The Mackerel Tabby Pattern

The most common tabby pattern in cats is the mackerel pattern, seen in the majority of cats of all colors. Mackerel tabbies' patterns are defined by their narrow, vertical, continuous stripes that break only on the flanks and stomach (if at all). Most mackerel tabbie cats have a visible "M" shape on their foreheads in a dark color, as well as peppered coloration on their noses.

The Broken Mackerel Tabby Pattern

A variation of the traditional mackerel tabby pattern, broken mackerels look very similar, but have small breaks in their darked stripes. Like the traditional mackerel tabby cat, it usually has a peppered nose and a visible "M" on the forehead, with the only key difference being small, fracture-like breaks in the vertically striped fur pattern.

The Candle-Flame Tabby Pattern

Candle-flame tabby cats, also called braided, are another variation of the classic mackerel tabby pattern. Candle-flame tabby cats have thinner, more tightly joined stripes that weave together to form the illusion of braids or, as the name suggests, candle flames. The pattern is seen mostly in wild-domestic cat hybrids.

The Classic Tabby Pattern

Classic tabby cats have the same "M" on their foreheads as mackerel tabbies, but the fur pattern is differentiated by thicker, bolder swirls rather than stripes. Cats exhibiting the classic tabby pattern have large, thick swirls, often forming bullseye-style patterns on the hind flanks and sides. In classic tabby cats, the legs and tails are often deeply and uniformly banded.

The Modified Classic Tabby Pattern

The Sokoke cat breed is one of only a very few breeds exhibiting the traits of the modified classic tabby pattern. Like the marbled bengal and other wild-looking domestic cats, these classic tabbies have deeply swirled patterns that resemble tree bark in their appearance. Unlike the standard classic tabby, these cats' bands appear "hollow", with a dark-colored outline and a light-colored inside.

The Marbled Tabby Pattern

Similar to the modified classic tabby pattern, and another variation of the same, marbled cats take the effect one step further to display deeply varied marbling of the classic tabby coat. In a series of deep swirls and highly varied colors, this coat pattern creates a salt-and-pepper style. Like candle-flame tabbies, marbled tabby cats are almost always descended from wild-domestic cat hybrids.

The Spotted Tabby Pattern

Spotted tabbies are the least common of the three main coat patterns, and cats with the genes are, as the name implies, spotted. While some breeders have suggested that these are not true spots, but rather, cleanly broken-up stripes, the name persists. Some fully domestic cats, such as the Egyptian Mau and the Ocicat, exhibit spotted tabby coats, but the pattern has been elaborated by the introduction of wild genes.

The Rosetted Tabby Pattern

One development that wild hybrids have added to the gene pool of domestic cats is the addition of rosette patterns to other, more traditional tabby cat coats. These cats differ from standard spotted tabbies because their spots are rosettes, or circles, similar to those seen on leopards and jaguars. The Bengal is one breed especially known for the rosette tabby pattern, although it can be seen in other breeds as well, including the Bombay.

Tabby cat patterns can be labeled and categorized into several basic descriptions to enable easy communication between breeders, owners, handlers, and cat fanciers. All variations of this classical, ancient pattern reveal the beauty and soul of the cat, created by thousands of years of evolution and selective breeding.