# I would appreciate your opinion



## phoenixlady (Aug 13, 2013)

I have three rescued babies. two are about 5 years old and one is apparently under 1 year old. I am told the one is a main ****, the other a Siamese and the last one a Bengal. I would love your opinion

Apple:



Tickey:





Whiskey:


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## Jakiepoo (Jan 5, 2013)

If they're all rescued cats, it's very hard to tell, and it's unlikely any of them are actually a purebred cat, or have any of that breed in them at all. The percentage of purebred cats is extremely low compared to the number of moggies. 

Shelters tend to label cats as purebreds, or mixes without actually knowing due to the fact that it grabs the attention of more people, and it can make cats much more easy to adopt out. To many shelters, most pointed cats are siamese (though this isn't the case) and cats with long hair are main coons (also not the case). 

I have no experience with pure bred cats, but I can tell you from looking that I definitely don't think Whisky is a Bengal, nor Tickey a Main ****, both gorgeous though! It is possible Apple might have some traditional siamese heritage, but it is even more possible that there is none and she's just a very pretty seal pointed kitty (I'm pretty sure it's seal pointed)


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## Marcia (Dec 26, 2010)

I agree with Jakiepoo, most likely these are not purebred cats at all. As a matter of fact Ticky and Whiskey look very ordinary to me (except they are quite cute, of course!). Apple may be Siamese. Shelters do like to use breeds when they advertise, because it does make a pet appear "special" in some way. 

If you are overly interested, I would look up the CFA characteristics of each breed and see if your cats overwhelmingly resemble the traits of each breed. I know for instance Siamese cats are very vocal as a rule, but then so are a number of other breeds.


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## Carmel (Nov 23, 2010)

Since they're from the shelter, none are likely to be purebred cats, or for the latter two, they aren't even likely to have a purebred cat anywhere in their past. 

Apple seems like she may have Siamese in her genetic history, however it could be a long way back. There are also other cat breeds that have pointed markings... since you don't have papers for her, the appropriate title would a a seal (coloring) point (pattern) short hair (instead of long) domestic (meaning no discernible breed is present).

Ticky is a gray (blue) with white long haired domestic. Maine **** tends to be listed as every larger or long haired cat, and this could not be _farther_ from the truth. Every cat has the ability to be long haired (although it's a recessive gene), including multiple other cat breeds.

Whiskey looks to a a brown mackerel short haired domestic. A very common color that is not in any way related to the Bengal... as the others mentioned shelters tend to list cats as a breed, and they aren't. It is easier to generate interest in them...

They're all gorgeous, though! And I'm sure you love them, that's what matters.


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## Mitts & Tess (Sep 4, 2004)

When posting on Petfinder they ask for a breed when putting in the listing. Nothing wrong with that. You can put its a mix of a certain breed. Helps narrow down the seach. People like a certain look. Nothing wrong with that either.

Bengals can look like yours without the spots. I saw one from a breeder that looked like yours. They have an athletic temperment.


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## phoenixlady (Aug 13, 2013)

Thank you so much for your opinion. None of them were from shelters though. Tickey, who was given to us first came from a lady who said that she was given some main **** kittens and were giving them away on craigslist. As he got older I asked a vet when I took him for his shots and he said he could very well be part maine **** and one thing to look out for is the short fur over the shoulders and the longer maine. That is all I know about tickey so since then I have labelled him a coonie. Apple was given to us by a friend who rescued him from her neighbor. Apparently the neighbor complained that he was marking his territory indoors. I did not think to ask for papers or anything but I did ask her the other day but her neighbor has moved  so yep, I have no idea about Apple. either! Whiskey we have only had for about two weeks and my daughter rescued him in her apartment. The owners had been evicted and whiskey was left behind, crying for days outside the door. The lady told my daughter before she left that he is an older line bengal...and of course I have no idea what that means, although somebody told me today that they were the very first/original bengal!


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## Marcia (Dec 26, 2010)

Maine **** - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The "longer maine" is more a reference to the length of the coat along a particular part of the body. The Maine in Maine **** is a reference to their supposed state of origin. I don't think the vet was quite accurate. Again, they are all really pretty cats so their particular breed really does not matter much. I found this article quite interesting......


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## Jakiepoo (Jan 5, 2013)

Yeah, sounds like the women was given a litter of kittens with long fur and then was giving them away, labelling them as maine coons in the hopes that they would go faster (so long as she wasn't a byb trying to charge a couple hundred dollars for the kittens, I don't see anything overly wrong with that). I mean, I wouldn't call that the most defining **** characteristic, I'd go with the unusual size, feather duster tails, tufted ears, and I believe tufted toes as well.

And as far as older line bengal goes, never heard of that term before, seems a little strange to me. If I were to think of very first/original bengal I'd think of F1's, F2's and early generation Bengals with very recent ALC history, not like most bengals you see today.

I really don't think they have any purebred in them (with the exception of Apple where there is the possibility just from her head and body shape). That is one area where cats and dogs really differ, while most mixed dogs are the mixture of various, usually mostly discernible pure breds, it is the exact opposite for cats, most purebreds are the result of mixing mixed cats with similar traits, meaning all of those traits in purebreds can be found in the regular population, so most cats have nothing in them, but we love them all the same.

Either way, you probably will never know for 100% sure, but you can be certain that you have three very gorgeous kitties.


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## camskyw (Jan 10, 2012)

They are all beautiful, especially like the 2nd one of Tickey - looks like he could just talk to you!!! ha ha


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## phoenixlady (Aug 13, 2013)

They all have different characters..Tickey is playful and never confrontational. He is as fast as a bullet and will come and lie at the foot of the bed or wherever I am. Apple is my little girls cat. He will jump in our arms if we ask him but more nervous then the other two and Whiskey is the friendliest. He will come up to us and rub himself around us but does not like being picked up. Does anybody have an idea as to how old Whiskey might look?


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## Mitts & Tess (Sep 4, 2004)

You can have a vet guesstimate by looking at their teeth!


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## maewkaew (Jun 27, 2012)

They're all VERY beautiful cats! 
I agree, I definitely don't think any look like "purebred" cats of those breeds. and I think Jakiepoo explained well about cats and breeds

The handsome seal point boy Apple very, very likely has some Siamese ancestry on both parents' sides , since that's where the pointed pattern is known to have originated. But it's hard to say how far back the Siamese may have been. For example, it could be he has Siamese a couple generations back.... or could be his most recent Siamese ancestor was 60 generations ago! I can mention some things that might be signs. but it's not definite. 

The gene for the "pointed" pattern has over the past 100+ years been widely spread through general domestic cat populations in many countries to which Siamese were imported. Since it's a recessive it can be hidden, and can be passed down through many generations of moggies of many different colors & patterns. But not just moggies, it can also have got passed down by some cats of one of the other breeds who originally got it from Siamese. 

So by today there are many pointed cats who have hardly any Siamese. but people mix up the pattern with the breed and call them all Siamese. 

Re* Apple* It is hard to tell from one front view photo just how much he looks like a Siamese. 
He does not look purebred since it looks like he's got a double coat. and boning might be a bit heavy. 
He obviously does not look much like a "modern" Siamese . so my comparison is to the older, moderately oriental type. 

The head shape seen from the front certainly appears to be quite like some Siamese of the older type. ( which do not really have heads shaped like apples, though some mature studs can have such big jowls that it looks like they have a very round head) 
I can't see from this high angle front view photo if he's got typical Old Style Siamese features like a long flat forehead and prominent muzzle. 
Or a body and legs that are more elongated than most cats of Western ancestry. 

And of course i can't hear his voice! If he did have a typical Siamese voice that would increase the likelihood of some fairly recent Siamese ancestry . ( Not having The Voice would not rule that out, though.) 

in the case of Tickey and Whiskey , they might have none of the breeds they were being called, though it's not impossible. 
I really don't see much Maine **** resemblance in Tickey, besides things that are pretty common to longhair cats in general . The MC started as a 'natural breed' - cats in a certain area ( in that case, Northern Maine, USA) developing a look on their own via random breeding and adaptation to their environment. So other cats can turn out to have some similar traits. 
and it can be impossible to tell if a cat is partly Maine ****. 
Tickey may be like some of the foundation cats who were their ancestors. 
actually Tickey has a look that 's sort of between MC and Norwegian Forest Cat. but I dont mean he's a NFC. 

Whiskey.... possibly could have some Bengal ancestry. but could be an attractive broken mackerel tabby. 
I think Whiskey looks like an adolescent. but a vet could make an estimate better by seeing him in person. 


well he sure does not look like a usual SBT Bengal. the ones really considered purebred Bengal, with at least 3 generations of only Bengal x Bengal ancestry. 
He also doesn't look to me like most early generation Bengals. 

but with these exotic hybrid breeds it can be confusing. After all they usually ARE part domestic tabby. And Bengals are very popular; they are the top breed in TICA. so there's a lot of irresponsible breeders and owners as well as the good ones. There are people getting unaltered Bengals and letting them mate with DSHs , not as part of any plan except to pump out kittens they can pass off as Bengals to uninformed buyers. 

....... but also, a lot of people are confusing domestic shorthair tabbies with Bengals especially if they have never seen spotted tabby or classic tabby ( marble) patterns in domestics. think their brown spotted tabby DSH is a brown spotted tabby Bengal, or think their classic tabby DSH is a marble Bengal . 
and also means there are dishonest people selling spotted tabby or classic tabby DSHs as "Bengals" 

Anyway, whatever they are, they're very attractive cats!


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## phoenixlady (Aug 13, 2013)

First of all I would like to thank you for taking the time to explain it all to me. I truly appreciate it. Thank you! I have included three more pics of Apple I found on my daughter's ipad. I was told he is an applehead?


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