How many breeds of cats are there on earth? How many cat breeds are there currently? How many cats are there in the world?

The ancestor of all cats in the world was a steppe species (according to another version - a forest one), which began to be domesticated 12,000 years ago. It was from then on that selection arose, during which an animal acquired certain traits beneficial to humans and lost others. Now it is difficult to answer how many breeds of cats exist in the world, but it is possible to understand this issue.

The uncertainty in the number of breeds occurs due to the fact that there are simultaneously 3 largest felinological organizations in the world:

• WCF is the World Federation, the largest and most authoritative at the moment. It was founded in 1988 in Rio de Janeiro and has more than 540 clubs.
• FIFe is one of the participants of the World Felinological Congress. Created in 1950 in Belgium.
• TICA is an International Association, founded in 1979 in the USA, but later acquired an international format.

The main difficulty is that these organizations do not register and recognize breeds at the same time. Most often this happens over time, but sometimes a species recognized by one organization is never confirmed by others. In addition, several breeds are constantly at the stage of preparation and documentation.

Each organization applies its own criteria and parameters to determine purebredness. Most often these criteria are:

• body shape and body proportions;
• eye color;
• temperament and character;
• characteristics of wool;
• health characteristics, etc.

Currently the most varieties are registered in the WCF: about 74, 9 of which are recently registered. FIFe and TICA declare 51 and 73 varieties respectively.

Classifications

The main classifications of cat species are divided according to 4 main criteria:

• by physique;
• by coat;
• by color;
• according to the drawing.

By physique

According to this parameter, cats are divided into 6 main groups:

• Animals with a powerful physique (heavy type). These include the largest representatives. They have the thickest and strongest tail, powerful stable paws and a large short neck. Typical representatives are Maine Coons or Siberian cats.
• Kobby (stocky). They have a dense and stocky build. The skeleton is characterized by a wide chest, a large head with a short and wide nose is placed on a shortened neck, which sometimes seems almost absent. Usually the paws are not very high, and the tail is short with a blunt end. An example would be exotics or Manx.
• Oriental. They have a graceful structure with high paws. There is a graceful neck and a narrow long tail. The head and muzzle are always tapered towards the nose. Typical Orientals are Javanese and Balinese cats, as well as Siamese cats.

• Foreign. Flexible body with pronounced muscles. High paws and long tail, wedge-shaped head, oval or almond-shaped eyes. Ears may be elongated. The Abyssinians serve as an example.
• Semi-foreign. Those with average parameters are more common than others. Representatives are American Shorthairs or Russian Blues.
• Half-cobby. Slightly stockier breeds than the previous type. A typical representative is the British Shorthair.

By coat

According to this parameter, cat breeds are divided into 5 varieties:

• long-haired with hair up to 15 cm long (Burmese, Siberian, Persian cats);
• shorthair (Egyptian Mau, Chartreuse, Russian Blue);
• curly coat (German Rex, Cornish Rex);
• Wirehaired (American Wirehair);
• without wool (, bambino, sphinx).

By color

There are a huge number of colors, but they are all divided into the following main types:

• single-color (korat, havana);
• two-color (Norwegian forest, ragdoll);
• motley (color-point, angora);
• with specks (Persian chinchilla or American shorthair cat);
• multi-colored or tortoiseshell (bobtail, sphinx, Persian).

According to the drawing

The main variants of patterns that form the breed:

• solid pattern (red, black, brown, gray, etc. breeds);
• zonal color (striped, marbled or spotted tabby);
• white spotting (mostly a whole color with spots of different colors);
• solid white;
• color-point (light body and dark limbs);
• silver (smoky, silver, chinchilla and cameo).

Some of the drawings can be viewed in the gallery:

Description of the main breeds

The main types of cats were derived from the earliest, but not always the most widespread, breeds. And now breeders continue to experiment with these species, achieving new results.

• British. They became the founders of two main lines: British Longhair and Shorthair, the older of which is the Shorthair. Both species are characterized by ideal hair, which is very easy to care for: it does not mat and does not shed as actively as other representatives of the cat world.
• . Their color resembles wild rabbits, which is why they got their first name - “rabbit cats”. Very easy-going, with a good disposition and graceful body.
• Scottish. There are 2 main forms - straight-eared and lop-eared. The basic one was straight-eared, and lop-eared was the result of genetic experiments, during which it was possible to fix the gene responsible for the regression of cartilage tissue.
• American Curl. The main distinguishing feature is the ears, which bend inward or backward at different angles. The inner surface of the auricle is densely pubescent. American Curls are very active animals; their playfulness and activity remain in them until old age.
• European Shorthair. Experts believe that this breed was formed with minimal human intervention. It is quite difficult for a non-professional to distinguish these cats from ordinary yard cats, since they are as close as possible in genotype and appearance.
• Angora. There is an opinion that she became the predecessor for all long-haired pedigree groups. A distinctive feature is the absence of undercoat and a thick collar around the neck.
• Egyptian Mau. Of all the species currently known, the Mau is the most ancient. Her image was first drawn 3 thousand years ago. Her eyes look very unusual: they seem to be lined with eyeliner, and a “W” pattern is visible between her ears.

Cats are considered the most common domesticated animals. Indeed, there are so many of them that each person can choose the right cat for themselves. They are all unique and amazing creatures. For any color, size, with or without fur... Many people are interested in the question, how many breeds of cats exist in the whole world?

Who can answer this question?

Of course, today in the Internet world you can enter this question into a search engine, and you will be shown entire lists of various cat breeds. However, they may not be entirely accurate, because in practice, even the most experienced specialist will not be able to indicate the exact figure.

Moreover, a lot of disputes have been held between breeders about their breeds, because many cats have existed for a long time, but are still not officially recognized.

Naturally, such a process is very serious, otherwise anyone could cross two pets and demand that their offspring be registered as a new species of kittens. For example, all pet lovers know the mixed breed cat, but some people who have formed their own circles claim that they have a different name - a designer breed.

Therefore, special organizations deal with this issue.

Also, no one will ever be able to say for sure the exact number of common breeds for the reason that such official registrations are still being carried out to this day.

Many lovers of furry four-legged animals are concerned with the same questions: what breeds of cats are there? What breed is the most common? How do new animal species appear? However, let's first deal with another issue.

Which cats can be considered purebred?

It is clear that not all cats can be included in the list of purebred cats. The Murki and Barsiki we all know are ordinary street cats. However, thoroughbreds are those who have a pedigree and it is written down in their document.

And such a document is issued by a special club, the so-called felinological organizations. Felinogoli are those people who are engaged in the breeding, maintenance and selection of cat breeds.

Therefore, such an organization includes various clubs, and your purebred lady should be in one of them. Such organizations are very well developed and serious, and they need to be distinguished from ordinary associations of felinologists.

Only the club breeds purebred cats, and it distributes animals according to:

• breeds;
• coat color;
• patterns on wool;
• sizes;
• semi;
• character;
• age.

It is the club that develops and breeds existing breeds, but it also happens that they manage to breed a breed that is familiar to everyone or a completely new one with a non-standard color. But the club cannot approve this on its own, because such an issue will be dealt with by the highest organization to which this club belongs.

That is, let's repeat it again! Only large organizations, which include pet breeding clubs, can establish kitten breeds.

First of all, they consider the question of how many such individuals were born. This is necessary so that there are no various incidents. For example, they could recognize the cat as a new species, which is only one, and over time it died. It turns out that this is where the story of the new breed ends? For these reasons, there should be at least 2 new kittens.

Next, if the kitten fits the list of purebred species, then the associations describe it and decide whether it can participate in exhibitions. It is after going through all these processes that new species of cats are recognized. But that's not all. It seems that it is enough to officially register the animal and that’s the end of it, but this is not so.

A suitable organization is needed that can register the appearance of a pet, but there are a lot of them. There are many large associations, not to mention the fact that there are also various regional ones.

For these reasons, that there are too many organizations, it is impossible to establish the exact number of purebred males and females.

After all, some of them are based on deception, that is, they don’t care about the standard, quality, or how the cat appeared, the main thing is that they get paid. That is why the number of registered kittens is completely different everywhere.

As you can see, it is not possible to accurately determine the figure. For example, an organization called WCF has 70 different varieties of purebred cats. In others, completely different numbers.

The main thing is to remember that only professional breeders in specialized clubs have the right to crossbreed animals. And this is very painstaking work. Therefore, pay attention to the clubs, how many years they have already worked, documents, standards and quality of service before buying a pet from them.

Of course, if a person really loves purring animals, then he will be glad to have any new friend. After all, love and relationships with a pet are not based on whether it has a document with a pedigree or not. But, think about it, is it worth supporting scammers who deceive people and make money dishonestly?

It is not possible to count all the cats living on Earth, if only because they constantly reproduce and die. With long or short hair, large or small, with a round or wedge-shaped muzzle, with or without a tail - each variety includes an innumerable number of individuals. From the article we will find out how many cats there are in the world: wild, domestic and purebred.

Wild cats

It is also impossible to determine how many cats are in the wild on planet Earth. Their representatives live on all continents except Antarctica. Some species have fully adapted to being close to humans. Thus, the lynx totals about a million individuals in the world. But some cat populations are dying out before our eyes, despite constant offspring, and therefore it is difficult to say exactly how many cats there are on earth. This is due to human activity and environmental degradation.

There is such data on endangered species.

• lion - currently lives less than 20 thousand;
• cheetah - less than 15 thousand;
• tiger - no more than 6 thousand;
• Asian leopard - approximately 100 individuals;
• snow leopard - a snow leopard with the most beautiful fur in the world - less than 100 individuals;
• white lion - several dozen.

Domestic (mongrel) cats

Studies have been conducted that have shown that over 400 million cats are kept at home. An adult cat gives birth to up to seven kittens at a time. Not all owners limit the breeding of ordinary cats. Village pets regularly bear offspring about three times a year. Only the reproduction of purebred individuals is constantly monitored, and therefore the number of cats in the world is difficult to accurately calculate.

The number of stray cats in populated areas around the world cannot be counted. Stray animals live near markets and warehouses, in the basements of residential buildings, and sometimes in garbage dumps.

Pedigree cats

Today there are quite a few cat breeds. These animals were first bred in Asia. Breeds have always been registered by International Phenological Universities. They also monitor the purity of the breed. There are 40 breeds officially registered by the American Association. Of all domestic cats, only 3% are purebred. What is meant by thoroughbred? First of all, specific exterior characteristics:

• unique color and pattern;
• presence or absence of wool and its type;
• length of body, tail and paws;
• skull shape;
• structure of the ears;
• chest width;
• eye color type.

There are also secondary signs, for example, features and habits. It is possible to confirm that a cat is a representative of a particular breed only with the appropriate document. It is issued to every phenologically typical purebred animal. For cats, the supporting document is a pedigree, and for newborns, a certificate.

Standards

For each cat breed there are standards drawn up by the Association of Felinologists. The standard specifies all primary and secondary requirements and possible deficiencies. The standard explains which conformation characteristics are grounds for disqualification. The variety of breeds is great.

Just by type of wool there are a large number of:

• shorthair: Thai cat, British cat and many others;
• long-haired: Persian cat, Siberian and others;
• hairless cats: Donskaya, St. Petersburg and Canadian Sphynx, Ukrainian Levkoy.

They take the classification of cats and sizes as a basis.:

• small, weighing within four kilograms: toy bob, balinese, minskin and others;
• large (up to 15 kg): bob-tails, Maine Coon, Turkish Van, Chausie, Siberian, Norwegian Forest.

In all countries of the world, clubs require owners of purebred animals to approve each mating, as they monitor their frequency. Pre-registration is required for expensive cats, although not everyone can afford them. Mating of these cat breeds is not carried out just like that, without an order.

Unfortunately, even the World Cat Congress does not name the exact number of purebred cats. After all, each individual Association and each club maintains its own records of purebred cats, and the number of cats on the list of one organization may not coincide with the list of another. So, from the article the reader learned that there are approximately 40 breeds of cats in the world and they are all different in standards and classification.

July 13, 1871 is a date that everyone who professionally breeds cats knows. The first English exhibition showed 170 cats in 1871, but never definitively answered the question of how many cat breeds there are in the world. The fact is that the organizer of this event was Harrison Ware, who almost single-handedly compiled a classification of cat breeds, made all the descriptions of color, shape, and size.

According to the exhibition in London, Harrison Ware managed to collect 25 breeds. For the first time, Europeans could see Siamese cats among all the animals on display. It seems that at that time it was not possible to objectively assess the compliance with the standards of the cats presented at the exhibition and how many cat breeds there were in total.

There were only 3 people on the jury, including Harrison’s brother, his friend, and the same Harrison Ware himself. By the way, he also put his blue tabby up for trial. In his memories of this exhibition, Ware proudly noted that no one could surpass his favorite in the brightness of its color, either then or later.

But we must pay tribute to Ware, since after this event, cat shows began to be held regularly. The price of such a pleasure as maintaining a purebred individual has increased significantly. Actually, Harrison Ware, whose main occupation was painting, did not set out to calculate how many cat breeds there are in the world. He just wanted to draw people’s attention to the beauty and grace of these animals, to instill love for them.

Today, special international organizations have been created - associations of cat lovers, which keep strict records of existing breeds and their characteristics. There are 26 of these around the world. Some of the associations are members of the most important body - the World Cat Congress (WCC).

But, unfortunately, even this serious organization will not indicate the exact number of cat breeds there are. After all, each individual organization maintains its own records of purebred cats, where an accurate description of the standard is documented. Therefore, each felinological organization has an individual list, the number in which may not coincide with another of the same body.

If any of the international structures has the right to enter the World Cat Congress, then they recognize the pedigrees, judging, and standards of this association. Each association, in turn, includes a certain number of cat lovers clubs that are engaged in breeding a particular breed.

Each association makes its own decisions on the timing of exhibitions of purebred cats, their number, organization of judging, prize fund, etc. A purebred cat is considered only if it has a pedigree, which is issued by a cat lovers club. Therefore, it is simply not possible to name the exact number of breeds.

However, there is still a figure for the approximate number of cat breeds in the world. If we take into account different sources, the range ranges from 237-256. Therefore, more often, in order not to be mistaken, the number of purebred cats is “more than two hundred”.

It is not uncommon for amateurs in the field of cat breeding to cross two purebred individuals and demand their recognition as a new breed. The association, before recognizing a “new phenomenon,” takes into account a certain number of similar individuals over several years, in which the same characteristics are repeated. This painstaking process can only be done by professional breeders.

If you want to purchase a purebred cat, you need to not only check whether the animal has documents, but also whether the club has status. Even in these organizations there are cases of fraud. You need to understand that the same breed can have varieties: long-haired, wire-haired, short-haired. These are not separate cat breeds.

As many cat breeds exist, there are as many traits as there are. An important factor is not only the size, but also the color of the coat. Some breeds may only have one or two colors, while others recognize a wide variety. Thus, a Siamese cat must be silver-white, with blue eyes and dark markings on the face, ears, tips of the paws and tail. And the Bombay purebred cat has only black color.

It happens that, based on all the characteristics, a cat can be classified as a purebred cat, but the wrong eye color or athletic defect is discovered. Such an individual will not even be allowed into the cat show; they will be rejected. For example, the Thai Khao Mani cat can only have blue and yellow eyes. It is considered normal even if one eye is blue and the other yellow.

If it is not easy to answer the question of how many cat breeds there are in the world, then it is even more difficult to calculate how many purebred varieties there are. Experts give an approximate answer - over 700. It is not at all easy for an ignorant person to understand such a quantity. To choose a purebred pet, it is best to contact a proven, reliable organization. Otherwise the money will be wasted.

Of course, most cat lovers do not love their pets because they are so exceptional. But when a cat is purchased for subsequent business on its offspring, you need to be extremely careful when choosing. Such pleasure costs from 300 to 7 thousand dollars. How many breeds of cats are there that are recognized as the most expensive, we can say more precisely.

The most expensive breeds are considered to be “savannah”, “chausie”, “kao-mani”, “safari”, “Bengal”, “American curl”, and about a dozen more cats, including the well-known British and Russian blues, Scottish fold, hairless sphinxes.

On the list of the most expensive you can find a breed of curly cat - Laperm, which appeared quite recently (1996) in the process of involuntary crossing. The high cost of such a cat is explained not only by its exotic appearance. It does not cause allergies.

Felinologists, specialists in the field of establishing cat standards, testify that for each breed, in addition to its characteristic external characteristics (color, coat length, size of the animal, the presence and length of a tail, head shape), certain character traits are also inherent. When choosing an animal for your home, they also need to be taken into account.

Once upon a time, cats were wild animals. Even now, there are individuals that prefer to live in the steppes and forests rather than near humans. We domesticated them, thanks to which now mustachioed pets calmly coexist with us. Gradually, work is underway to universalize animals, in other words, new breeds are being developed - diverse, having not only different appearance, but also character, habits and other important factors.

A breed is a group of animals that differ from other members of a family or species by a set of certain characteristics. It is clear that for each of us who is the happy owner of a funny furry animal, it makes no difference what breed it is. We just love him, and pedigree has nothing to do with it.

A cat is classified as a specific breed if it has and passes on to its offspring traits characteristic of that breed.

However, you need to know that the total number of purebred cats among pets does not exceed 3 percent. Here are the requirements that a particular breed must meet:

Pedigree	Compliance	No disqualifying features
Pedigree refers to documents issued by the relevant club. It can exist only in one case - if the cat is a carrier of all the genetic characteristics of its breed, which are passed on from generation to generation. The pedigree includes a description of the parents.	This refers to external signs, thanks to which you can accurately determine whether an animal belongs to a particular breed. There are quite a lot of such factors: head shape; the structure and length of the ears; body length; coat length or lack thereof; coat color; eye color; tail length and position. In addition to these signs, there are many more secondary ones. So matching the breed is not such an easy task for a pet.	The description of the standards necessarily includes positions in which a cat cannot be considered a purebred cat. These are the so-called disqualifying characteristics. For example, an animal is considered purebred, but its ear structure or face shape is different, its color is disturbed, etc. Mostly this is a consequence of a “mongrel” or genetic abnormalities. It is important to understand that not all deviations from accepted breed standards can cause disqualification. Minor defects only reduce the value of the item. This is usually expressed in a reduction in price. Existing defects must be indicated in the documents.

It seemed that there could be no simpler way to answer this question. You just need to look on the Internet or flip through the corresponding reference book. But in reality it's not that simple. The vast majority of specialists are unlikely to be able to give an exact figure, not to mention ordinary amateurs.

Why are there certain difficulties here? The thing is that breeds are not taken out of thin air - they are bred, appropriate standards are developed, documentation is prepared, and a new variety of cats is registered. Naturally, this is done by specialists of a specific profile. They all work in felinologist organizations.

Organizations of felinologists

This is a special structure that brings together specialists in the keeping, breeding and selection of cats.

This organization is the only one of its kind that has the right to recognize a new breed. The Association is studying the number of individuals of the new species, on the basis of which an appropriate decision is made. If there are enough of them, then they begin to draw up standards for this type of animal.

Organizations of felinologists are the only one of its kind that has the right to recognize a new breed

Today there are a large number of similar associations. Some of them are very famous and, in fact, set all the rules regarding the classification of domestic cats. These, for example, include the WorldCatFederation (WCF) and the American The CatFanciers’ Association (CFA).

There are also less well-known organizations, but this does not mean that they do not have the right to stipulate the standards of existing and new breeds. Another thing is fake associations, which, unfortunately, also exist. They are not interested in the quality of the breeds, they only need money. For an appropriate reward from the cat's owner, they are ready to recognize him as perhaps the rarest specimen in the world of the most ordinary street Barsik. Of course, it is strongly not recommended to cooperate with such grief specialists.

Special clubs

Most of those who own a pet furry cat know what a cat club is. These are organizations where you can buy a cat, receive the relevant documents and certificates, which organize exhibitions, etc.

But only a few know that clubs are an integral part of felinologist associations. In fact, this is their structural unit. Each such organization can include either one or dozens of clubs, depending on the degree of its development. In turn, the clubs include nurseries.

The task facing the clubs and their member nurseries is obvious - breeding cats in accordance with existing standards. That is, these structures are responsible for maintaining the breed.

Cat clubs are organizations where you can purchase a cat, receive the appropriate documents and certificates

Club specialists select animals based on parameters such as:

• appearance;
• color;
• character;
• temperament;
• wool pattern, etc.

Sometimes, during the selection process, it is possible to obtain a pet that is not similar to other representatives of its species, but at the same time does not have obvious disqualifying characteristics. In this case, the question of recognizing a new breed may arise. Naturally, the club does not do this - it transfers the necessary information to the association of felinologists, which makes the appropriate decision.

Classification and types of breeds

The most popular breeds:

• Himalayan;
• Persian;
• Angora;
• Siberian;
• Abyssinian;
• Thai;
• British;
• Ukrainian Levkoy;
• sphinx;
• Norwegian forest;
• Maine Coon.

Why is it so difficult to say how many cat breeds there are in the world? The thing is that there are a lot of organizations of felinologists. And only a small number of them work according to the same classification. That is, different associations define breed standards differently. For example, one organization believes that the Himalayan cat is a separate breed, while another classifies it as a subspecies of the Persian. And there can be many such examples.

• coat type;
• body features;
• origin.

The easiest way to determine a cat's breed is by its fur. It can be either long or short, or even absent altogether. The first include Angora, Persian and Siberian cats. They need regular grooming because their fur is really long and thick.

The most famous shorthair cats are British, Abyssinian and Thai. Caring for them is much easier, since the wool does not need to be brushed and washed regularly. As for hairless pets, this is still truly exotic for us. Popular breeds are Ukrainian Levkoy and Sphynx. It is clear that these are purely domestic animals, since they are very afraid of the cold.

As a rule, the weight of an adult cat ranges from two to five kilograms. But there are also unique specimens belonging to breeds such as the Norwegian Forest or, for example, the Maine Coon. Their weight can reach 10 kilograms.

Breeding and breeding is a complex science. Today there are approximately 70 officially recognized breeds, but this number is rapidly changing, and in different directions. So it is impossible to answer unequivocally how many cat breeds there are in the world.