From Jay
My friend had this stray kitty wandering around the outside of her apartment and the momma cat was pregnant again and was shunning him away so I decided to take him in. Its been about 6 months and he’s part of the family now, however I’m wondering if anyone knows what breed he is. Jasper is 9 months old, very full of energy and plays a lot. His coat is long and grey/blueish in color.
Response from Michael
Hi Jay, thanks for visiting and asking. It is 100 to 1 on that Jasper is a moggie or random bred cat. In fact, if I am being honest whilst being respectful, it is certain that Jasper is random bred.
You probably know what “random bred” means. It describes 99.9% of all cats, mine included. These are cats with no recorded parentage (lineage) and the breeding that creates these cats takes place in a random manner as opposed to a cat breeder selecting cats to breed, the offspring of which are then recorded at cat associations making them pedigree purebred cats.
Read a bit more on this by clicking here.
The interesting thing is that all cats have some cat breed in them. So for example longhaired moggies in America have some Maine Coon in them. And shorthaired cats in America have some British and American Shorthair in them because all the US random bred domestic cats come from these cats. The Maine Coon is just a long haired farm cat from England and continental Europe, and then Maine, USA. While the shorthairs come from British moggie stock, which is the source of the British and American Shorthair cat breeds.
In fact you can go back further and say all long hairs probably have some Turkish Angora in them as this cat breed is the founder of long haired cats, in my opinion, with the Persian but they may be the same cat! Confusing.
I am sure Jasper is gorgeous and I say, well done in rescuing him. What you did was important and probably saved his life.
Jay? May we see a photo? don’t worry about pixels/resolution, whatever you’ve got. Does it even matter to you, at this point? No doubt, you love him with all your heart, or you wouldn’t have succumbed to his needing you! 😉
Some very interesting stuff Harvey. I just learned a little about DNA last semester at University. I agree that this cat may not be easily identifiable as any certain breed, but he is, at the very least a beautiful beast that brings an extra dose of love and affection to their home. A picture would be nice. There is really nothing I have to add to the debate. Great article Michael. Always love to help with cat questions.
Jay: Would LOVE to see a picture!
Hi Michael. I have just been looking up the dictionary meaning of pedigree.
InDefinition of PEDIGREE
1
: a register recording a line of ancestors
2
a : an ancestral line : lineage Merriam-Webster it say the following.
I see it has having 2 different meanings.
1. A register, which means where the information is written down, a book or document.
2. An ancestral line. This refers to the actual ancestral line in real life, not a written document which may or not state the real facts.
Since the 2 may be at odds, the written pedigree cannot be considered definitive especially since it’s accuracy depends on a series of factors and is based on trust alone. . . Only DNA can state a cat’s pedigree with 100% accuracy. This may seem like splitting hairs but it is not. We know from DNA analysis that a written pedigree cannot be trusted.
Hi Michael. It depends on where the random-bred cat is picked up. Random bred cats all over Turkey and Cyprus have a high probability of being Ankara kedisi to a very pure degree, even the short haired ones as you have seen with those spotted tabbies. Jasper’s long hair does not indicate he is just a regular moggie. There is no such thing as a pure-bred cat in the cat fancy. Recent DNA analysis has shown that none of them have the DNA of the supposed country of origin. EG. The American Angora and Van are mostly a mix of European breeds with the LH gene inserted at some time in their development. The closest I have seen to pure-bred are the Angoras from Marmaris and Cyprus with up to 98% pure Ankara kedisi DNA signatures, and they are random-bred cats!!! Given the potpourri of cat fancy breeds ANY CAT AT ALL has every right to be considered a “breed” cat. Pure-bred status is conferred by a series of false pedigrees with the intent of charging a lot of money. Think about that.
I agree with all you say. I think you know that. You can answer questions about cat breeds, purebred cats and random bred cats from two completely different perspectives:
I tend to go for the conventional story regarding cat breeds because the real story is complicated and no one can understand it unless they are really into cat breeds and studying them.
I was looking for a picture too lol but I’m sure you are right Michael.
Anyway Jay I think all cats are beautiful, no matter if they are purebred or moggie 🙂
I don’t see any photo of Jasper.
No, there is no picture. You are correct. This is normal in my experience. On the basis that 99% of cats are random breed it is a good assessment that any cat will be random bred if the person does not know what breed their cat is because people with purebred cats know they are purebred.