We all know that there are hundreds of dog breeds. But did you know that there are also cat breeds? Honestly, we knew that, but we didn’t realize just how many there are. While we’ve heard of the Maine Coon Cat, a Persian, the Manx and the Sphinx, did you know that there are between 40 and 70 different cat breeds?
In fact, it seems that it just depends on who you were asking when it comes to how many breeds of cat there are. The Cat Fanciers Association or CFA apparently only recognizes 42 breeds of cat. However, the International Cat Association, apparently recognizes that there are 71 breeds of cat.
Looking at the multiple breeds of cat, we see something very similar to what we see with the dog breeds. Different breeds have a very specific set of characteristics that are associated with that specific cat. And these characteristics are considered a standard, especially at competitive shows.
What are some of the cat breeds out there?
According to the Animal Clinic of Woodruff, there are any number of characteristics associated with these different cats. Whether we’re talking their hair, their ears, or their personalities every cat is a little bit different. So what are some of the cat breeds?
Obviously, we’ve already mentioned a few of the cat breeds that we are familiar with. However, we did some more research into the different breeds of cat and found it interesting just how many there are. So beyond the Sphinx and the Manx, what else is there?
Some of the other cat breeds recognized include the Cornish Rex, the British Shorthair, a Bombay, the Ragdoll, the Russian Blue and of course the Siamese. We’re not really sure how we forgot about the Siamese, because we grew up with Disney’s Lady and the Tramp.
With so many different cat breeds, we may need to do more research on all of them. Because we had no idea that there are over 40 different breeds of cat, at least. And we know so few of them, that it just makes sense to do a bit of a deep dive.