How Many Cat Breeds Exist In The World?
Have you ever wondered how many cat breeds exist in the world? Answering this question is not easy, because the total number varies greatly depending on the classification criteria used. We will try to do it anyway.
It must be emphasized that all the information presented in this article is limited to the domestic cat only ( Felis silvestris catus ): we have voluntarily chosen to leave out all breeds of feral cats. We are sure that the registered variety will surprise you!
About the cat and its domestication
It has long been believed that the first feline domestication dates back to 2000 BC, in Ancient Egypt, but today new studies refute this idea. In 2004, in fact, the fossil of a cat next to a human corpse was discovered in a tomb located on the island of Cyprus. Think that these geological remains date back to 9.5 billion years ago.
It seems that the forerunner of all the domestic cat breeds we know today was the African wild cat ( Felis silvestris lybica ). Humans are thought to have chosen to tame cats because they needed to get rid of rodent parasites and prey cats to hunt.
Starting from this ancestral association, different breeds of cats have emerged over the years, with specific morphological traits caused by human genetic selection. It should be noted that, however different they may be, two specimens of different breeds can reproduce with each other and therefore are considered to belong to the same species.
How many cat breeds are there?
As we mentioned earlier, the total number of cat breeds existing today largely depends on the source consulted. Here are some indicative numbers:
- The International Cat Association (TICA) estimates that there are a total of 71 recognized breeds.
- The Cat Fanciers’ Association (FCA) lists 44.
- A total of 43 breeds are recognized by the Fédération Internationale Féline (FIFe).
- Finally, the lowest number is indicated by the Encyclopaedia Britannica, with a total of 15 official domestic cat breeds.
As can be seen from these figures, the disparity between the various federations is very large. This numerical chaos responds to various classification criteria. For example, some of these entities do not recognize as their own those breeds that do not have an actually registered pedigree.
In other cases, some organisms choose to include different types of felines in the same breed. Examples are some colourpoint cats (with limbs and muzzle of one color and the rest of the body of another), which can be classified separately on the basis of their origin or in the same “mega-breed”.
It should be noted that characteristics such as “short hair” or “long hair” do not in themselves constitute a classification criterion for breeds, as they are criteria based on the external appearance of the animal.
Are there new cat breeds?
The answer to this question is: yes. For example, in 2018 the FCA introduced two new breeds: the Lykoi cat and the Khao Manee. Despite this, these classification systems tend to remain unchanged over the years, as they require very strong evidence for a variety of domestic cats to end up being considered a breed in their own right.
The difficulty of classification is also justified by the desire to protect pets and the search for their well-being rather than novelty. In fact, many of the domestic cat breeds share genetic traits that are related to certain congenital diseases or simply have not been sufficiently explored.
This is why federations pay great attention to promoting crossbreeding and genetic selection to give rise to different breeds. We must not forget that animal welfare comes first.
Therefore, the number of existing cat breeds is by no means stable, as it depends on a series of classification criteria imposed by the associations that deal with registering the variety of these animals. Despite this, we can say that the number of feline breeds is much lower than that of dogs, since the figure of the latter is around 350 breeds.
