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What breed (cross) is my cat? (If any).

19 replies

OTheHugeManatee · 16/06/2014 11:57

This is Princess Hedgecat*. She's a rescue cat and was born to a feral mum. We adopted her and her brother when they were about 6 months old. We have been wondering if she's a mixture of hedgecat and something posher.

I've never had a cat this colour, or this eccentric. She is a total princess and refuses to go out if it's wet or cold. She's obsessed with running water and demands that the bath tap be turned on for her. She likes to stick her head under the bathmat while you tickle her tummy. And she plays Fetch.

She's extremely vocal, with a slightly metallic 'Weng! Nyyannnng! Weng!' sort of call mixed with chirrups and special miaows for particular things (such as demands for ham or entertainment). And she has that extraordinary blue-grey velvety fur (looks lavender in some lights) with just the faintest striping all over.

Her brother (the black one in the pic) is adorable but doesn't have her eccentricities. He's just a regular little cat who likes doing regular cat stuff. I know that it's possible for kittens in the same litter to have different fathers, so we've been speculating that Princess Hedgecat might have some exotic ancestry different to his.

Cat experts, what do you think? Looking at her, and based on my description of her behaviour, am I just making up romantic histories for a hedgecat?



*Not her real name.

What breed (cross) is my cat? (If any).
What breed (cross) is my cat? (If any).
What breed (cross) is my cat? (If any).
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PestoSunnyissimos · 16/06/2014 12:03

Isn't she pretty. She looks like she might have some British Blue in her Smile

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OTheHugeManatee · 16/06/2014 12:14

The trouble is she knows exactly how pretty she is Grin

I wondered about Russian Blue, as she doesn't have the snub nose that British Blues have. But OTOH British Blues are often a bit stripy as well.

I dunno, she might just be a hedgecat for all that she puts on airs.

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PestoSurfissimos · 16/06/2014 12:17
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PestoSurfissimos · 16/06/2014 12:18

Oh yes! Definitely more Russian than British

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Germgirl · 16/06/2014 12:31

This is Muppet Pig, my ex Russian Blue. She was a definite character. The legs akimbo pose was her favorite way to sleep.
She was pretty vocal too. With a wide range of noises!

What breed (cross) is my cat? (If any).
What breed (cross) is my cat? (If any).
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Germgirl · 16/06/2014 12:33

Doh! Meant to say, she looks like your Princess!

What breed (cross) is my cat? (If any).
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OTheHugeManatee · 16/06/2014 14:11

OMG! Definitely a resemblance there germgirl. Though our Princess H. Cat has orange eyes, not the grass-green ones pure Russian Blues have.

What a gorgeous cat Smile and so very, very upside-down Grin

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TheOneWithTheNicestSmile · 16/06/2014 14:21

Female cats are such tarts, aren't they? The dad/s could be anything Grin

They are both beautiful, Manatee

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TheOneWithTheNicestSmile · 16/06/2014 14:23

& so was Muppet Pig, Germgirl Smile

(I have a legs akimbo loller too but she is another with mystery father. Mother was elegant calico, mine is dim black moggie]

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DiamondsAndRust · 16/06/2014 14:25

She definitely looks like she's got some Russian Blue in her - growing up I had a gorgeous one (Chloe) who looked very similar. Russian Blues are double-coated, which makes their fur velvety to the touch and almost 'sparkly' in some lights - sort of like a plush toy.

Chloe was very (sometimes annoyingly!) vocal and would follow you around the house making some extremely odd noises. She also had diva-like tendencies - very fussy with food, and much more high-maintenance than our other crossbreed tabby cat.

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TheOneWithTheNicestSmile · 16/06/2014 14:27

Can't find one with neat front paws
This one is "hands up!" Grin

What breed (cross) is my cat? (If any).
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GerundTheBehemoth · 16/06/2014 14:34

She is really stunning. The 'blue' colour in cats is black modified by a double copy of a recessive dilution allele ('version' of a gene). The same dilution turns ginger cats into cream cats.

It is possible there's something fancy in her ancestry but the dilute allele is not that uncommon in the general moggy population. Only cats who have two copies of it show the dilution, but a black mother cat and black father cat would produce 75% black kittens and 25% blue kittens if each of them carried one copy of the dilution allele.

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OTheHugeManatee · 16/06/2014 14:40

So she might just be pure hedgecat, Gerund ? That would stop her prancing about like Queen of Flaming Everything.

What makes me think 'posh ancestor' though is that she has the echt double-coat blue fur, with the guard hairs a different colour from the base ones. And I've never known such a little gobshite. She is particularly fixated on me and follows me round the house yelling until I sit down, so she can jump on my lap and lie there upside-down and dribbling while I tickle her tummy. Or she'll go and sit in her favourite yew tree near the back door and sing at us from halfway up.

LOVE the U-shaped lollercat, TheOne Grin

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Lonecatwithkitten · 16/06/2014 14:54

Look at Chartreux cats I suspect there may lie your answer. Her coat is too sleek for a Russian Blue.

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TheOneWithTheNicestSmile · 16/06/2014 14:58

\link{http://www.laboklin.co.uk/laboklin/IdentityAndParenting.jsp?catID=CatsPar\you can have DNA testing done for ancestry if you really really want to know...}

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TheOneWithTheNicestSmile · 16/06/2014 15:00

\link{http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-07/27/cat-ancestry\maybe this one is more useful}

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TheOneWithTheNicestSmile · 16/06/2014 15:02

'The Veterinary Genetics Laboratory, of which Lyons' lab is a part, also tests for parentage and genetic diseases in alpacas, elks and yaks -- just in case your yak is wondering whether it has been adopted' Grin

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GerundTheBehemoth · 16/06/2014 15:02

I think most cats have a double coat (though the rex breeds don't - they have undercoat only with no guard hairs). The blue colour and coat type on their own don't mean that she has pedigree ancestery but she still might have, especially given her personality.

I had a rescue cat years ago whose mother was a stunning pedigree blue-point Birman, father a random tom. You would not have known to look at her that my cat was half Birman - she was a bog-standard short-haired black cat with white chest and feet. But she had a very assertive and quirky character, and a good set of lungs on her :)

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OTheHugeManatee · 16/06/2014 15:49

just in case your yak is wondering whether it has been adopted.

Grin

From looking at videos of Chartreux and Russian Blue cats I think she looks a lot more like a Russian Blue, as she has more of a Russian Blue profile (sort of a Roman nose) rather than the snub-face.

I don't really mind whether HRH Hedgecat actually really truly has any pedigree ancestors. She's just such a quirky character and so striking to look at I've been wondering. That plus her enormous sense of entitlement, even by cat standards.

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