The most unusual cat breeds

Cats are pets that live in many families. The list of their breeds is very extensive. For some owners, the unusual breed to which their pet belongs is of fundamental importance. Such breeds, as a rule, are distinguished by specific external characteristics that are not characteristic of most other domesticated representatives of the feline family. Before acquiring such a pet, you should carefully read the lists of the most non-standard cat breeds, the features of their appearance and character.

The first symptom, unusual for domestic cats, is curly hair. Often breeds with such a "coat" are regarded by breeders as the most unusual. They also have expressive almond-shaped eyes and rather large ears. On these grounds, animals are classified as Rex and can be represented by a list of the following breeds:

• devon rex;
• Selkirk Rex
• Oregon Rex;
• Cornish Rex
• Ural rex.

Rex is a breed that appeared not very long ago - the official year of their registration is 1967, and the Cornish Rex variety was the first to be bred. However, the story says that the first kittens with such an unusual coat appeared 17 years earlier in England. The owner took the unusual offspring to the veterinarian, and he, not finding any ailments in the animals, concluded that such wool was the result of gene mutation.

But for some individuals, such a sign is characteristic as the complete or almost complete absence of hair on the body.Representatives of such breeds are known throughout the world as Sphynxes. There are the following types of sphinxes.

• Canadian, the body of which is sometimes covered with light, almost imperceptible down. It has fairly smooth features. An interesting feature of these cats may be the lack of whiskers.

• Ukrainian levkoy, a characteristic feature of which, in addition to the absence of a fur coat, are also hanging ears. This species was registered in 2007 in the city of St. Petersburg. Long legs combined with a rather flexible body give these cats grace. The tail of such cats is quite massive, resembles a whip and sometimes can be covered with a small downy.

• Another type of bald cats with original shape of ears, resembling shells, are elves, the name of which was just invented on this basis. These cats have a massive chest, which creates the illusion of curvature of the forepaws, and rather large eyes. This breed was bred in the 90s by crossing the American Curl and the Canadian Sphynx.

• A completely hairless body is characteristic of such a breed of sphinxes as Don... It is because of this sign that many allergy sufferers prefer such kittens.

• The breed was bred in St. Petersburg peterbalds, which later became very popular among fans of hairless cats.

The nature of the sphinxes is usually kind and affectionate. They show strong affection for their owners and love to play. During the breeding of the breed, these representatives of the feline world reduced such a quality as aggression, therefore, it is extremely rare to see sphinxes as evil.

One of the criteria for the unusualness of the cat breed is the shape of the animal's body. There are cats that have non-standard body proportions, which attract the attention of breeders.

In the early 90s, a very unusual breed was created - the Munchkin, which is also known as the dachshund cat. The reason for its appearance was a rather rare genetic mutation. Since then, short-legged cats with an elongated body touch their owners with their appearance. The limbs of such pets are two times smaller than those of other cats, and the only difficulty for them is overcoming the height.

A fun way to see something in the distance is to stand on their hind legs. In doing so, they lean on the tail and lower their forelimbs. Representatives of this breed get along with people quite well, since in general they are very flexible. It is worth noting that such cats are friends with other pets, although in case of danger they are always ready to stand up for themselves.

NSDerived from the Munchkin breed is another miniature breed - the Napoleon. Such cats are famous for their neat forms and beauty, for the purpose of achieving which they were bred in 1995 by Joe Smith. The result was obtained by crossing a machkin with a Persian, due to which the Napoleon breed can be seen with a charming, slightly flat muzzle and long hair with a lush tail. Nowadays, breeding such kittens is very difficult, because most of their offspring do not meet the ideal breed requirements.

Another short-footed breed is the Minskin. These cats are the result of crossing sphinxes with mackinas. The muzzles of these animals have mainly the features of a sphinx, while they inherited short legs and the shape of the body from the machkin. These cats have wool. By nature, they are quite active and sociable, but from time to time they need solitude in a secluded corner.

The absence of a tail in a cat or the presence of a very short tail can also be attributed to non-standard nuances of the structure of the skeleton.The first case includes such a breed as the Manx cats. According to legend, such an unusual cat sailed on a ship and after the crash ended up on the Isle of Man, where over time the same tailless kittens began to appear, until a whole breed was formed. The vertebrae in the caudal region of these animals, as a result of a natural anomaly, are either completely absent, or are preserved in a very minimal amount.

Isle of Man cats are characterized by a very thick coat, a rounded back of the body, a wide chest and a round head shape. All these features make the pet look very voluminous, such cats seem incredibly soft.

The character of bobtails is flexible. This trait, combined with natural intellectual potential, allows you to raise an intelligent pet with good manners. These cats love communication and movement.

The number of caudal vertebrae in bobtails reaches 7, but sometimes it is even less. Moreover, the average cat contains about 23 vertebrae in this area. Also, the peculiarities of the organism of representatives of this breed is the ability to produce, in addition to the two main sounds - purring and meowing, also fancy chirping, as well as a sound resembling barking.

A unique breed is the pixie bob. Its exceptional feature is multi-toed, which is manifested by the presence of more than 5 fingers on the extremities of the animal. This sign does not interfere with the pet at all, but it is not found in all cats of this breed. Such animals have a short tail, and there are small tassels at the ends of the ears.

It is noteworthy that the character of the representatives of the breed is distinguished by calmness, unobtrusiveness and tact. But at the same time, such a pet is never against active pastime. Many owners of such cats note that the animals are very unpretentious in keeping. They show extraordinary loyalty to their owner, while they remain rather cold with strangers.

Another distinctive feature of uniqueness may be the color of the cat's coat. It is on this basis that many unusual breeds are distinguished. However, before listing them, it is worth mentioning that the tone of the fur coat is determined in some animals not only by the breed, but also by sex, such as, for example, the tortoiseshell color, characteristic only for females, or age.

The resemblance to a leopard immediately draws attention to Bengal cats. The breed was bred in the middle of the last century as a result of the birth of kittens from a domestic cat in a wild Bengal cat. The dominant genes of the wild breed made the kittens 'fur spotty, like that of a predator, but at the same time the animals' disposition was quite affectionate and friendly. This rare combination was used to continue the breed.

Another breed with a "predatory" coat color is the shroud. She appeared as a result of crossing a wild serval with a domestic cat. The result is a golden coat with alternating dark spots and stripes, the pattern is varied and is largely determined by the color of the house cat. Such a cat is classified as large, especially kittens from the first generation of crossing, which grow up to 14 kilograms in weight and are capable of jumping up to 2.5 meters in height.

The character of such pets, despite the slightly predatory appearance, is quite kind and loyal. Some compare it to a dog, as cats of the savana breed can follow on the heels of their master. They like to spend time for a walk and also love water.

Among the representatives of the British and Oriental breeds, there are individuals with a lilac color. It is called this because gray wool combines bluish and pink shades, due to which it looks very noble.

• A rare color of a fur coat is a monochromatic chocolate. It is found in Persian, Exotic, British and Rex cats. Breeders specially breed cats with a similar coat among these breeds, while Abyssinian beauties can have such a color by nature.
• Also, breeders are intensively engaged in crossing cats to achieve a golden shade of wool. It is the result of a mixture of Persian, British and other breeds. At the same time, the tone of the coat is not always the same; in addition to gold, there may also be white areas.

Thus, among the representatives of the cat family, there are many original breeds that attract cat lovers both with their unusual appearance and interesting character. Having got such a pet, you will not only get a beautiful pet, but also a good friend.

For the most unusual cat breeds, see the next video.