# need identification



## flolly (Mar 12, 2009)

What kind of a breed this is? i know it's a tabby.


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

Welcome. 
They do not appear to be any specific breed. Domestic Short Hair (DSH) seems to cover a wide variety of cats. Unless they have a pedigree to show their intentional breeding and background of ancestors in the breeder's pursuit of reaching the breed's standards.
Of all the known and recognized cat breeds out there, all of those genetics are available to the myriad domestic cats in the world. It is the chance meeting and mixing of these genes that create how the cat will look and how some cats resemble certain breeds. Breeds of cats were begun from these very same ordinary cats, being bred like-to-like for whatever features the breeder liked and was trying to re-create until they had bred enough generations to have cats who consistently bred 'true' to the type they were trying to achieve with their breeding program.

Your cats are DSH. They have 'agouti' which is the gene that affects coat patterns and makes the pattern highly visible and distinct. Without agouti, I think they would be solid black (kitty on the left) and solid gray (kitty on the right). All cats are "tabby" cats, even the solid black, gray and white cats. Agouti is the gene that makes the tabby patterns (abbysinian, classic/blotched and mackerel ~ both broken-striped and spotted) visible in the coat. Those two look like spotted mackerel tabbies, to me.


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## Sol (Feb 20, 2003)

Please read viewtopic.php?f=4&t=15252.

Most of the time it's impossible to identify purebred heritage and often there is none. Be proud over your beautyful Domestic Shorthairs.


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