How to tell the difference between cat breeds?
I'm studying veterinary medicine and have to know all the different cat breeds. I've never owned cats or been around them much. I know the more distinguished looking ones - the Abyssinian, Siamese, Persian, Scottish Fold, etc. - but the rest all look more or less the same to me.
How do you tell them apart?
Public Comments
1. I don't think you need to worry about being able to tell them apart - owners of purebred cats are very eager to tell you all about them.If you really want to look up something, the cfa and tica websites have all the standard breeds with pictures.
2. How you can tell is by their registration papers. There is not other way. Not blood work, not DNA testing or not by looking at them. If they are a breed then they will have registration papers. Other wise you are looking a a Domestic Short Hair cat or a Domestic Long Hair cat. A cat of a certain breed will be registered with a cat association. Did I explain this good enough? If you don't believe me call CFA or TICA or one of the other Associations and ask them. Also you can contact any lab that does DNA testing on cats and find out if they can tell what the breed is by blood work or DNA sample and testing.
R P CAT
3. TICA shows pictures of all the breeds they currently accept http://tica.org/public/breeds.php
Most vets really don't have a clue about breeds. They just know specific diseases to look for in certain breeds and pretty much rely on the customers to tell them what breed the cat is. And with over 97% of the cats on this entire planet NO particular breed, that will be the majority of cats you're treating.
edit: RP - the last part of your answer didn't make any sense. There are no DNA tests to determine cat breed nor will thetr likely EVER be.
