Domestic cats have been diversified by humans into breeds and domestic and wild hybrids. Many such breeds are recognized by various cat registries. Additionally, there are new and experimental breeds, landraces being established as standardized breeds, distinct domestic populations not being actively developed and lapsed (extinct) breeds.
As of 2023, the International Cat Association (TICA) recognizes 75 standardized breeds, the Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) recognizes 45, the Fédération Internationale Féline (FIFe) recognizes 50, the Governing Council of the Cat Fancy (GCCF) recognizes 45, and the World Cat Federation (WCF) recognizes 69.
Inconsistency in a breed's classification and naming among registries means that an individual animal may be considered different breeds by different registries (though not necessarily eligible for registry in them all, depending on its exact ancestry). For example, TICA's Himalayan is considered a colorpoint variety of the Persian by the CFA, while the Javanese, (or Colorpoint Longhair) is a color variation of the Balinese in both the TICA and the CFA; both breeds are merged (along with the Colorpoint Shorthair) into a single "mega-breed", the Colourpoint, by the World Cat Federation (WCF), who have repurposed the name "Javanese" for the Oriental Longhair. Also, "Colourpoint Longhair" refers to different breeds in other registries. There are many examples of nomenclatural overlap and differences of this sort. Furthermore, many geographical and cultural names for cat breeds are fanciful selections made by Western breeders to sound exotic and bear no relationship to the actual origin of the breeds; the Balinese, Javanese, and Himalayan are all examples of this trend.
The domestic short-haired and domestic long-haired cat types are not breeds, but terms used (with various spellings) in the cat fancy to describe random-bred, non-pedigree "moggy" or "household" cats by coat length, ones that do not belong to a particular breed. Some registries such as the Cat Fanciers' Association allow for domestic short hairs and domestic long hairs to be registered for the purpose of outcrossing. They should not be confused with standardized breeds with similar names, such as the British Shorthair and Oriental Longhair.
Breeds BreedImage Location of origin Type Body type Coat type and length Coat pattern Abyssinian Unspecified, but somewhere in Afro-Asia, likely Ethiopia"Abyssinian Profile", Catz Inc.. Retrieved 4 October 2009NaturalSemi-foreign ShortTicked tabby Aegean GreeceNaturalModerate Semi-longMulti-color American Bobtail United States This is a four-volume work, but all entries are alphabetical by breed, so volume and page number citations are superfluous.Mutation of shortened tailCobby Semi-longAll American Curl United StatesMutationSemi-foreign Semi-longAll American Shorthair United StatesNaturalCobby ShortAll American Wirehair United StatesMutationNormal RexAll Aphrodite's Giant CyprusNaturalLean and muscularAllAll Arabian Mau Arabian PeninsulaNaturalModerate and muscular ShortAll Asian United KingdomCrossbreed between the Burmese and Chinchilla Persians Moderate ShortAll without white and without siamese pointing Australian Mist AustraliaCrossbreed between the Abyssinian, Burmese, and Australian short-haired catsModerateShortSpotted or marbled Balinese Developed in United States;foundation stock from ThailandMutation of the Siamese Semi-foreignLongColorpoint Bambino United StatesCrossbreed between the Munchkin and SphynxDwarfShortBlack + white hairless Bengal Developed in United States,but created in AsiaHybrid of the Abyssinian and Egyptian Mau × leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis)Large ShortSpotted, marbled, or rosetted Birman Developed in France;foundation stock from Burma (Myanmar)The original Birman was crossed with the Siamese and the Persian to create the Birman of today.Cobby Semi-longMitted colorpoint Bombay United States and Burma (Myanmar)Crossbreed between the Black American Shorthair and Sable BurmeseCobbyShortSolid black Brazilian Shorthair BrazilNaturalNormal ShortAll British Longhair United Kingdom (England)Natural CobbySemi-longAll British Shorthair United Kingdom (England)NaturalCobbyShortAll Burmese Burma (Myanmar)NaturalSemi-foreign or semi-cobby ShortSolid and Tortoiseshell Burmilla United Kingdom (England)Crossbreed between the Burmese and the Chinchilla PersianSemi-cobby ShortSolid with Shaded Silver and Silver Tipped patterns California Spangled United StatesCrossbreed between the Abyssinian, American Shorthair and British Shorthair ModerateShortSpotted tabby Chantilly-Tiffany(extinct) United StatesNaturalCobbyLongSolid, classic tabby, spotted tabby and ticked tabby Chartreux FranceNaturalMuscular; cobby ShortVarying shades of blue Chausie United StatesHybrid of the Abyssinian × jungle cat (Felis chaus)NormalShortSolid black, black grizzled tabby and black ticked tabby Colorpoint Shorthair United Kingdom (England)Crossbreed between the Abyssinian, Siamese and short-haired cats Foreign ShortColorpoint Cornish Rex Cornwall, England, United Kingdom MutationForeign RexAll Cymric, Manx Longhair or Long-haired Manx Isle of Man, United States, and CanadaMutation of the Manx (shortened tail)Semi-cobby LongAll Devon Rex Buckfastleigh, Devon, England, United KingdomMutationSemi-foreignRexAll Donskoy orDon Sphynx RussiaMutation Semi-foreign HairlessSolid Dragon Li orChinese Li Hua ChinaNaturalNormal ShortTicked tabby Dwelf United StatesCrossbreed between the American Curl, Munchkin and SphynxDwarfHairlessAll Egyptian Mau EgyptNaturalModerate and muscularShortSpotted tabby European Shorthair Continental EuropeNaturalModerateShortAll Exotic Shorthair United StatesCrossbreed between the American Shorthair and PersianCobbyShortAll Foldex CanadaCrossbreed between the Exotic Shorthair and Scottish FoldCobbyShortAll German Rex GermanyMutationSemi-foreign RexAll Havana Brown United Kingdom (England);foundation stock from ThailandCrossbreed between the Siamese and black short-haired catsSemi-foreign ShortSolid brown Highlander United StatesCrossbreed between the Desert Lynx and Jungle CurlModerateShort/longAll Himalayan(Colourpoint Persian) United States and United KingdomCrossbreed between the Persian and SiameseCobbyLongColorpoint Jianzhou cat ChinaNaturalNormal ShortMulti-color Japanese Bobtail JapanMutation of shortened tailModerateShort/longAll Javanese orColorpoint Longhair Developed in United States and Canada;foundation stock from Southeast AsiaCrossbreed between the Balinese (with some Colorpoint Shorthair), Oriental Longhair and SiameseOrientalLongColorpoint (excluding solid black, blue, chocolate, and lilac) Kanaani IsraelHybrid of domestic short-haired cats × African wildcat (Felis lybica) Semi-foreign ShortBlack, chocolate or cinnamon in spotted or blotched tabby Karelian Bobtail Ladoga Karelia, RussiaNatural, mutation of shortened tailMedium Short/longAll Western Khao Manee ThailandNaturalModerate ShortSolid white Kinkalow United StatesCrossbreed between the Munchkin and American CurlDwarf ShortAll Korat ThailandNaturalSemi-foreign or semi-cobby and muscular ShortSolid blue Korean Bobtail KoreaNatural, mutation of shortened tailModerate Short/longAll Korn Ja or Konja ThailandNaturalSmall ShortSolid black Kurilian Bobtail Kuril Islands, RussiaNatural, mutation of shortened tailMedium Short/longAll Western Lambkin United StatesCrossbreed between the Munchkin and Selkirk RexDwarfRexAll LaPerm United StatesMutationModerateRexAll Lykoi United StatesMutationModerate Sparse hairedBlack roan Maine Coon United StatesNatural, crossbreedLargeSemi-long/longAll Western Manx Isle of ManMutation of shortened tail ModerateShort/longAll Mekong Bobtail Developed in Russia;foundation stock ultimately from Southeast AsiaMutation of shortened tailModerate ShortColorpoint Minskin United StatesCrossbreed between the Munchkin, Burmese, Devon Rex, and SphynxDwarfHairlessAll Minuet United StatesCrossbreed between the Persian and MunchkinDwarfShort/longAll Munchkin United StatesMutation of dwarf catDwarfShort/longAll Nebelung United States Natural, mutationForeign Semi-longSolid blue Neva Masquerade (colorpoint Siberian) RussiaCrossbreed between the Siberian and a colorpoint cat This is a revised one-volume edition, and was only available through RC retailers.CobbyLongColorpoint Norwegian Forest cat NorwayNaturalCobby LongAll Western Ocicat United StatesCrossbreed between the Abyssinian, American Shorthair and SiameseLarge ShortSpotted tabby Ojos Azules(extinct) United StatesCrossbreed Moderate Short All Oriental Bicolour Developed in United States and United Kingdom, later in Continental Europe;foundation stock ultimately from ThailandColor variety of the Oriental Shorthair OrientalShort Bicolor Oriental Longhair Developed in United States and United Kingdom;foundation stock ultimately from ThailandCrossbreed between the Oriental Shorthair and long-haired cats OrientalSemi-longAll; if colorpoint is considered to be a separate breed, it is called the Javanese Oriental Shorthair Developed in United States and United Kingdom;foundation stock ultimately from ThailandCrossbreed between the European Shorthair and SiameseOrientalShortAll Persian (modern) Developed in United States and Europe;foundation stock from Greater IranMutation of the Traditional PersianCobbyLongAll but colorpoint Persian (traditional) Greater IranNatural, but some crossbreeding with the Turkish AngoraCobbyLongAll but colorpoint Peterbald RussiaCrossbreed between the Donskoy, Oriental Shorthair and Siamese;before this, it was between the Balinese and JavaneseOrientalHairless, velour, brush, or straight coatAll Pixie-bob United StatesMutation (falsely claimed to be a hybrid of the domestic cat and the bobcat (Lynx rufus) early on)Medium ShortBlack spotted tabby Ragamuffin United StatesCrossbreed between the Ragdoll with limited out-crossing to the Himalayan, the Persian, and other long-haired catsCobbyLongAll Ragdoll United StatesBehavioral mutation in a crossbreed, presumed to be between the Persian or Turkish Angora and the Birman or BurmeseCobbyLongColorpoint, mitted, or bicolor Raas Raas Island, IndonesiaNatural ModerateShort Solid black, blue, chocolate, lilac Russian Blue RussiaNaturalModerate, Oriental ShortSolid blue Russian White, Russian Black and Russian Tabby Developed in Australia;foundation stock from RussiaCrossbreeds between the Russian Blue and short-haired cats from Siberia, RussiaModerate ShortSolid white, solid black and tabby Sam Sawet ThailandColor variety of the ThaiModerateShortSolid Savannah United StatesHybrid of the domestic cat x serval (Leptailurus serval)LargeShortSpotted Scottish Fold United Kingdom (Scotland)Mutation of the bones and cartilage of the earsCobbyShort/longAll Selkirk Rex United States in 1988Mutation/crossbreed between the American Shorthair, Persian, Himalayan, Exotic Shorthair and British ShorthairLarge and cobbyShort/long (semi-long to long)All Serengeti United States Crossbreed/hybrid between the Bengal and Oriental ShorthairOrientalShortSpotted Siamese (modern) ) Developed in United States and Europe;foundation stock from ThailandMutation of the ThaiOrientalShortColorpoint Siberian orSiberian Forest Cat ) Siberian Tundra, Russia.NaturalCobbyLongAll Western Singapura Developed in United States;foundation stock from SingaporePossibly a mutation of a crossbreed (excluding the Munchkin), solving why they are so smallSmallShortTicked tabby Snowshoe United StatesCrossbreed between the American Shorthair and SiameseModerateShortMitted colorpoint Sokoke KenyaNaturalModerateShortTicked tabby Somali United States, CanadaMutation CobbyLongTicked tabby Sphynx Canada, EuropeMutationOrientalHairlessAll Suphalak ThailandNaturalModerate ShortSolid reddish-brown Thai