# What kind of cat do I have?



## own3mall (Nov 13, 2008)

We found a starving kitty roaming around the fields when I was young, and it was so cute that we had to keep it. Unlike other cats, she does not play and is easily scared by anything that moves. Today, she is extremely healthy, happy, and is extremely affectionate to the people she knows. I absolutely adore my kitty, and I would like to know more about what kind of cat she is. 

I've attached a picture.


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

Your beautiful cat is a Domestic Short Hair (DSH) Tabby. DSH of course refers to the length of hair coat and tabby describes her markings. I cannot tell for sure, but does she have some orange in her fur? If so, she is a variation of a calico kitty, called tortoiseshell, or 'torbie' when combined with tabby markings. Also, because your kitty is gray in color, she would be classified as a dilute color called "blue". Usually that is used to describe solid (non-tabby) kitties, but I still call grays blue and gray/buff-colored-orange as blue and cream.
Also, tabby describes several different types of tabby markings:
Classic (_has a circle, or target, on their sides_)
Mackerel (_has narrow stripes running vertically_)
Spotted or Broken (_has narrow stripes broken into spots running vertically_)
Abyssinian (_has stripes on extremities (head, legs, tail) but the body fur is banded on all hair shafts and does not make visible stripes_)


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## own3mall (Nov 13, 2008)

Thanks for letting me know. She doesn't have any orange in her fur; it merely was the sun lighting up her beautiful gray complexion.

Is a blue tabby hard to come by? Are they rare?


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

I'm sorry, I wouldn't call them rare, but neither would I call them common. All blue means is it is a black cat with a dilute gene diluting the black to blue (gray). 

The most common is the brown tabby, which in genetic terms, is actually black. Agouti (AA or Aa) is what gives tabby cats their visible markings by marking the agouti hairs in bands of color, alternating between shades of yellow and usually with black tips. All cats have the tabby markings, but in order for them to be visible, the cat must have agouti in their genetics. A solid black or blue (gray) cat has no agouti (aa).

Your cat has A (agouti), B (black pigment), C (maximum pigmentation -not burmese, siamese or albino), d (dilute, D=dense pigmentation, which would be full color and not diluted)...et cetera. There are other genetic markers for ears, haircoat density, shape of individual hairs, tail length, orange (your cat has oo, not orange), number of toes, white markings and tabby patterns.
Sorry if that was too technical...
heidi


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## Smirkitty (Apr 19, 2008)

What you have is a Gotcha Kitty. You've been adopted, and that's the best kind of cat to have.


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

Smirkitty said:


> What you have is a Gotcha Kitty. You've been adopted, and that's the best kind of cat to have.


Oh, yes! Because _they_ picked _you_.


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## Mayte (Oct 15, 2008)

My Kitty Lily which i also found in a yard, and was supper skinny and straving, looks alot like yours, vey much so,but she is a bit younger.


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