How many cat breeds are there in the world? Domestic purebred cats - how many varieties are there? How many cat breeds are there on earth?

Many cat lovers are interested in the question: how many cat breeds are there in the world? It is not easy to answer. The debate on this matter does not subside even for a minute!

Before answering the question about cat breeds, you should figure out who is responsible for registering the pedigree of fluffy and graceful pets, who is responsible for the breed standard, for the name, monitors the legality of their breeding and who can be proud of the breeding of a new breed. Not everyone can cross two different representatives of the cat family and become the author of a new breed.

A purebred cat is a cat that has a pedigree and all the relevant documents. All pedigrees can be issued only by professional organizations of fellinologists. And nurseries for breeding purebred cats must register with such organizations.

There are clubs of the association of fellinologists that carry out their duties: in the clubs they breed purebred cats, improve color, exterior, character, breed new breeds, and the associations register everything that happens.

Each association of fellinologists determines which breed should exist and which should not, and which breed certain cats should be classified as. Also, employees of fellinological organizations establish all the animal parameters that cats must comply with. Cat shows around the world are organized only with the knowledge of fellinological associations, which approve the procedure and time.

The only drawback of such associations is that there are a huge number of them and each has the right to fulfill its duties. All of them work internationally, have an excellent reputation and experience in the cat industry. There are also many small organizations that, taking advantage of the inexperience of newcomers, breed “new breeds” and make money from it. It is beneficial for nurseries to have the support of well-known world associations so that every buyer can verify the authenticity of all documents for a kitten.

The European association WorldCatFederation (WCF), which has many years of experience, is considered the most authoritative; the Americans have The CatFanciers’ Association (CFA), whose opinion is taken into account by many other organizations. Each of these organizations has its own list of recognized breeds, so it is difficult to ascertain the number of cat breeds.

The WCF has more than 70 recognized cat breeds, while the CFA has more than 40, and each breed has a different coat color, paw length, tail size, etc.

Breeding a new breed of cat requires a lot of time, money and confidence in your business. The new breed must have all the necessary parameters, meet all standards and, most importantly, receive the approval of the most prestigious cat associations. Workers of fellinological associations have their own views on the breeding of new breeds, the severity of which does not please everyone.

With the development of modernity, all organizations have “copies”, that is, organizations that were created by scammers to scam ignorant people out of money. The work of such authorities is to sell simple yard cats, but with false documents about the breed. To avoid getting hooked by scammers, you need to study everything about the breed before purchasing: standards, color, sizes and other features. It is knowledge that will help distinguish a real purebred cat from an ordinary one.

The aristocratic origin of cats can be checked in the association of fellinologists. By purchasing an animal from an unverified organization, you become an unwitting participant in the breeding of “pedigreed cats” and those kittens that could not be snatched in are simply thrown out onto the street and they begin to breed a “new breed”. Fraudsters make a lot of money from gullible citizens!

To breed a new breed of cats, you need to know a lot, have a love not only for cats, but for all animals, be able to care for them, and even after the sale, be interested in the living conditions in the new home, and help in their future life. All cat breeders and cattery owners have the great happiness of watching how the cutest creatures on the planet are born and grow! To make sure of the number of existing cat breeds, try to visit exhibitions more often and read scientific literature!

For thousands of years, cats coexisted alongside humans, serving as rodent hunters, acting as divine beings and messengers of evil spirits. They eventually became domestic companions, although most retained their hunting instincts and continue to use it successfully.

Cats, regardless of natural or artificial origin, are divided into breeds. Some of them are related, while others are completely different from the others, with different types of coats and colors. The vast majority of them were bred by American breeders, although not all of them come from America.

Over the decades, some breeds have become in demand, while others have lost interest. Many of the world's existing cat breeds were on the verge of extinction. Breeders put effort and spent years in obtaining individuals with the desired characteristics, achieving recognition. And now, there are already more than 100 different breeds, about 80 of them are recognized by felinological organizations.

How many cat breeds are there?

First of all, you should understand the concept of “thoroughbred”. This concept implies the presence of a pedigree. Pedigree animals are bred in accordance with certain rules and taking into account the standards established by felinological organizations. If a cat and its ancestors have the characteristics of a particular breed, then it is called a purebred. The main difference between a purebred and a domestic cat is breeding; in the latter, the reproduction process is uncontrolled, and purebred cats are crossed with specially selected individuals.

There are many felinological organizations. The most famous include CFA, WCF, TICA, CFF, FIFe, GCCF. Each felinological association has its own conditions of recognition. External data is taken into account, including body build, color, eye color, temperament, health, as well as the number of individuals of the new breed. Therefore, the number of those recognized varies greatly.

The CFA currently recognizes 42 breeds. But since April 2016, Bengals have been exhibited in a class that does not allow them to receive awards. The GCCF recognizes 38 cats, the WCF - 45, the CFF - 32, which includes provisionally recognized and experimental ones. There are 45 recognized animals and 4 provisionally recognized animals on the FIFe list.

If you look at TICA, there are 71 cat breeds. Additionally, TICA recognizes 4 as Advanced New Breeds and 1 as Preliminary New Breeds. Minskin is at the preliminary stage of registration.

The classification of animals in different systems creates confusion for those interested in how many cat breeds there are in the world. Some breeds are transferred from one status to another, others are combined, and others are divided. For example, some associations consider the British Shorthair and Longhair to be one breed, differing only in the length of their coat, while others classify them as two different breeds with separate standards. And the Himalayan is recognized by some associations as a separate breed, while others consider it a variety of the Persian, since the differences relate only to color. It was very difficult for the minuet (Napoleon) to be recognized by only two associations TICA and CFF, because other associations do not consider the minuet healthy due to short legs and Persian ancestors. As you know, Persians are predisposed to numerous hereditary diseases.

It would seem such a simple question: how many cat breeds are there in the world? However, it can cause a huge amount of controversy. Why?

To find the answer to this question, first of all you need to find out who exactly is responsible for registering existing breeds, describing their standards, and including new names in the list. Not every person can cross two cats and claim that he has invented a new breed!

Only a cat that has a pedigree can be considered a truly purebred animal. Pedigrees are issued by special clubs of cat lovers. Clubs unite into felinological organizations. Each nursery of purebred cats must be registered with one or more such organizations.

It is important to understand the difference between a club and an association of felinologists. Clubs and nurseries are mainly engaged in breeding animals, improving their breed qualities - exterior, color, character. Sometimes they introduce new breeds or color variations, but they must be approved by the large organization to which the club belongs.

These large organizations determine which breeds can be recognized as existing and how cats belonging to them are assessed. All parameters that the animal must meet are also described by felinological associations. In addition, they are in charge of all cat shows, the time and order of their holding.

The difficulty lies in the fact that there are not one or two such organizations - there are many of them. In addition to a dozen international ones that enjoy honor and respect in any country, there are also many small, “homemade” associations that base their work mainly on deceiving newcomers. Therefore, it is better for nurseries and buyers to cooperate with well-known associations.

This is why it is difficult to unambiguously answer the question of how many cat breeds exist in the world - each association has its own views on this, its own list of recognized breeds.

If we talk about the most prestigious organizations, then WCF has about 70 cat breeds, and CFA has a little more than forty. In addition, there is a significant difference in the colors of different breeds, of which there are more recognized in some places and fewer in others.

The emergence of new breeds is a labor-intensive task, since it is necessary not only to achieve stability of the acquired characteristics, but also to wait for recognition in prestigious cat associations, and they are distinguished by a certain conservatism. Oddly enough, it is the American systems that turn out to be more strict in this matter, although in other respects they keep up with the times.

Unfortunately, playing on human gullibility and lack of information, many scammers pass off ordinary yard cats as true aristocrats. For example, they offer to buy “a kitten of the rarest color - Abyssinian platinum.” If you decide to get a truly purebred pet, first carefully study the standards, make sure you can distinguish a purebred animal from a fake.

Of course, love is not measured by the purity of blood, but by buying so-called kittens of a rare breed (but in fact, a non-existent one), you support scammers who, without hesitation, throw unsold kittens into the trash heap, and continue this conveyor belt of death for their own benefit.

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.