Over of Cat Breeds
About 5000 years ago, cats were found firstly in a household in Egypt and were one of the last animals to be domesticated. Today the most popular household pets are cats and they outnumbering dogs by over two to one.
Probably, Tabby was the earliest cat to be domesticated and they are from the wild Tabby cat.
In 1871, the first cat show was held in London and they were 17cat breeds listed in the show. Currently over 37 distinct breeds are recognized in United States.
Dog were bred initially for specific jobs like hunting, herding and pulling, while cats were basically for looks only. These desired physical traits unfortunately carry undesirable defects.
Cats like Manx cats (which are tailless) are mostly born with malformed urinary tracts.
Persians are common with lethal defects of eyes, noise and jaws.
Siamese and Persian are common with high incidence of cleft palate, and those with blue-eyes are often born deaf and generally sickly.
The first level of classification is coat type, longhair or shorthair after which breeds are divided into accepted color classes.
The ordinary housecat known as the domestic longhair or shorthair is the most popular and common breed which is not a breed at all. Their common name is tabby cats and actually this term is referring to specific markings and colors.
Persian, Maine Coon and the Siamese are currently the most popular and are purebred cats.