Do you want a cat that is considered to be a sacred animal? Many people think that the beautiful Birman cat breed originated from cats that guarded the Burman temples. This breed is even rumored to have helped the Burmese monks fight off attackers when a Birman’s coat turned the golden color of the goddess the monks worshiped, except for his paws which stayed pure white. Of course, less fanciful cat lovers say the Birman is simply a French relative of the Himalayan cat breed.

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If you’ve always wanted to own one of the dangerous and powerful big cats, but don’t want to risk endangering your life, you may want to consider a domestic cat that looks like the deadly black panther, the Bombay. After all, the breeder who developed the Bombay created this breed so that she could have a cat that looked like a miniature panther.

The Bombay cat gets its jet black coat color from its American Shorthair ancestors and its body shape from its Sable Burmese ancestors. This breed has very short hair that has a very smooth and silky feeling. This cat breed must have enormous copper colored eyes that have a round shape. Cats that do not develop the copper eye color or have eye color that fades as they age are automatically disqualified. These cats should be jet black, but occasional sable kittens still appear. For the small size of its compact body, the Bombay is no lightweight, weighing in at six to eleven solidly built pounds.

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If your home has a rodent problem, then you must not own a British Shorthair. These big cats may look placid and lazy, but they are actually great hunters. After all, the British Shorthair is descended from Britain’s barn and house cats.

This breed was created in the late nineteenth century. Despite its early popularity, the British Shorthair almost became extinct in the mid twentieth century, as other breeds were developed. Luckily, a few Shorthair fanciers were determined to save this wonderful, historic breed and the British Shorthair was saved. In the late twentieth century, these cats reached the United States, where they immediately became extremely popular.

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When people first see a Balinese cat, they often think that this elegant looking cat must be haughty and unsociable. However, nothing could be further from the truth. This breed may look refined, but it is actually incredibly friendly and fun loving.

The Balinese has a graceful body that can move in unusual ways and helps it get into all kinds of places. This flexibility and ability to escape from seemingly impossible places causes many people to compare the Balinese breed to the great magician Houdini.

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Do you want a cat that has a distinctive and unusual looking appearance? If so, you may want to consider the American Wirehair. This breed has hair that looks like colored steel wool, although it doesn’t feel quite so coarse to the touch.

The American Wirehair started with a litter of kittens born in a farmer’s barn. When he noticed one of the kittens had an unusual coat, he consulted a cat fancier, who decided to try to breed cats with the wirehair trait. Unfortunately, this trait was not truly dominant, so there was quite a lot of inbreeding, and any cat who showed even the slightest tendency to be a wirehair was used for breeding. Concern that the breed would become susceptible to hereditary diseases and weaknesses led the people working with the American Wirehair to cross it with the American Shorthair, one of the other cat breeds to be developed in America.

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If you aren’t familiar with pedigreed cats, you may be under the impression that the American Shorthair is a fancy name for an alley cat. However, the American Shorthair, which was called the Domestic Shorthair until the nineteen sixties, is a pedigreed cat that meets a specific standard.

These cats, which are classified as a part of the Championship Class by the Cat Fancier’s Association, are on the large side, weighing in at eight to fifteen pounds. The Shorthair has a wide face with prominent cheeks and a powerful well muscled body. His tail is slightly thicker at the base than at the tip and is shorter than his body. His eyes are big and have an alert expression.

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The first time you see an American Curl, you may think that the cat has a deformity. After all, cats don’t usually have ears that curve back toward the back of their heads. The American Curl has varying degrees of curl to the ears, from ears that barely tip back to ears that curve so far back that they form a crescent shape. Only cats with ears that form a crescent curve are suitable for showing, but all American Curls make delightful pets.

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If you want a friendly cat and don’t mind that the breed you’ve chosen is a bit of an upstart in the cat world, since it only has existed since the nineteen sixties, you may want to consider the American Bobtail.

The American Bobtail is one of only three breeds in the Cat Fancier’s Association’s Provisional Class, which is where cat breeds are placed until they show that they are able to stay true to their standards. This breed is a lightweight compared to many other breeds, weighing in at seven to fifteen pounds.

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If you’ve always thought cats were too snooty and unaffectionate, you haven’t met an Abyssinian. These cats are very personable and affectionate animals that love to interact with their families.

The Cat Fancier’s Association classifies the Abyssinian as a part of the Championship Class, along with thirty six other cat breeds. This breed is often smaller than many other cat breeds, weighing in at only nine to sixteen pounds.

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During the mid nineteen hundreds, an American breeder developed a cat breed that was so laid back and relaxed that it would hang limply like a cloth doll when people held it. This breed was developed from a Birman cat and a longhair cat with an unknown ancestry. The breeder called these cats the Ragdoll because of their calm, relaxed nature. Although the Cat Fancier’s Association did not recognize these first cats as the Ragdoll, their descendants became the gentle Ragdolls we know today.

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