Cats are pets living in many families. The list of their breeds is very extensive. For some owners, the unusual nature of the breed to which their pet belongs is of fundamental importance. Such breeds, as a rule, are distinguished by specific external features that are not characteristic of most of the other tamed representatives of the cat family. Before you get a pet like this, you should carefully read the lists of the most non-standard cat breeds, their appearance and character.
Top breeds with curly hair
The first sign, unusual for domestic cats, is curly hair. Often breeds with such a "fur coat" are regarded by breeders as the most unusual. They also have expressive almond-shaped eyes and rather large ears. According to these characteristics, animals are classified as rex and can be represented by a list of the following breeds:
- Devon Rex
- Selkirk Rex;
- Oregon Rex
- Cornish Rex
- Ural Rex.
Rex - a breed that appeared not so long ago - The official year of their registration is 1967, with the Cornish Rex variety being the first to be bred. However, the story goes that the first kittens with such unusual hair appeared 17 years earlier in England. The mistress attributed the unusual offspring to the veterinarian, and he, not finding any ailments in the animals, concluded that such coat was the result of a gene mutation.
The owner of the kittens, in turn, wanted to consolidate this unusual result, which laid the foundation for the creation of a whole breed.
Types of Hairless Cats
But for some individuals, a characteristic such as a complete or almost complete absence of hair on the body is characteristic.Representatives of such breeds are known throughout the world as sphinxes. The following varieties of sphinxes.
- Canadian, whose body is sometimes covered with light, almost imperceptible fluff. It has fairly smooth features. An interesting feature of such cats may be the absence of a mustache.
- Ukrainian Levkoy, a characteristic feature of which, in addition to the absence of a fur coat, are also hanging ears. This variety was registered in 2007 in the city of St. Petersburg. Long legs combined with a rather flexible body give these cats grace. The tail of such cats is quite massive, resembles a whip and can sometimes be covered with a small fluff.
- Another variety of bald cats with the original shape of the ears, resembling shells, are elveswhose name was just invented on this basis. Such cats have a massive chest, which creates the illusion of curvature of the front paws, and rather large eyes. This breed was bred in the 90s by crossing individuals of the American Curl and the Canadian Sphinx.
- A completely hairless body is characteristic of such a breed of sphinxes as Don. It is because of this sign that many allergy sufferers prefer such kittens.
- In St. Petersburg, the breed was bred peterbolds, which subsequently gained great popularity among fans of hairless cats.
The nature of the sphinxes is usually kind and affectionate. They show a strong affection for the owners, love to play. During the breeding of these representatives of the feline world, such a quality as aggression was reduced, so it is extremely rare to see the Sphinxes as evil.
Breeds with a unique body shape
One of the criteria for the unusualness of a feline breed is the shape of the body of the animal. There are cats that have non-standard body proportions, which attract the attention of breeders.
In the early 90s, a very unusual breed was created - munchkin, which is also known as a dachshund cat. The reason for its appearance was a rather rare genetic mutation. Since then, short-legged cats with an elongated body have touched the owners with their appearance. The limbs of such pets are half that of other cats, and the only difficulty for them is to overcome the height.
However, the rest of their body is functioning absolutely normal.
A fun way to look at something at a distance is to put such cats on their hind legs. At the same time, they rest on the tail and lower the forelimbs. Representatives of this breed get along well with people, as they are generally very flexible. It is worth noting that such cats are friends with other pets, although in case of danger they are always ready to stand up for themselves.
PA derivative of the munchkin breed is another miniature breed - Napoleon. Such cats are famous for their neat shapes and beauty, with the aim of achieving which they were bred in 1995 by Joe Smith. The result was obtained by crossing Machkin with a Persian, due to which the breed Napoleon can be seen charming, slightly flat muzzle and long hair with a magnificent tail. Currently, it is very difficult to breed such kittens, because most of their offspring do not meet the ideal requirements of the breed.
Therefore, you can only buy such a kitten at a very high price.
Another short-legged breed is Minsk. These cats are the result of crossing the sphinxes with the Machkins. The muzzles of these animals possess mainly the features of the sphinx, while they inherited the short legs and the shape of the body from the Machkin. The hair of these cats is present. By nature, they are quite active and sociable, but from time to time they need privacy in a secluded corner.
Non-standard nuances of the structure of the skeleton can also include the absence of a tail in a cat or the presence of a very short tail.The first case is a breed such as Manx cats. According to legend, such an unusual cat sailed on a ship and after the crash ended up on the Isle of Man, where over time the same tailless kittens began to appear until an entire breed was formed. Vertebrae in the caudal region of these animals, as a result of a natural anomaly, are either completely absent or have been preserved in the smallest amount.
For cats from the Isle of Man, very thick hair, a rounded back of the body, a wide chest and a round head shape are characteristic. All these features make the appearance of the pet very voluminous, such cats seem incredibly soft.
Moreover, the animals have very powerful hind limbs, which makes them excellent swimmers and jumpers.
The nature of the bobtail is docile. This trait, combined with natural intellectual potential, makes it possible to raise a smart pet with good manners. These cats love communication and movement.
The number of caudal vertebrae in bobtail reaches 7, but sometimes it is less. Moreover, the average cat in this area contains approximately 23 vertebrae. Also, the body features the representatives of this breed is the ability to publish, in addition to two main sounds - purring and meowing, also bizarre twitter, as well as a sound resembling barking.
Kurilian bobtail cats also lack the ability to retract their claws. This trait makes them related to predator ancestors.
A unique breed is the pixie-bob. Its exceptional feature is multi-fingered, which is manifested by the presence of more than 5 fingers on the limbs of the animal. This sign does not interfere with the pet, but it is not found in all cats of this breed. Such animals have a short tail, and there are small tassels at the ends of the ears.
It is noteworthy that the nature of the breed is calm, unobtrusive and tact. But at the same time, such a pet is never against active pastime. Many owners of such cats note that animals are very unpretentious in maintenance. They show extraordinary devotion to their owner, while with strangers they remain quite cold.
The list of cats with non-standard color
Another distinctive feature of uniqueness may be the coat color of a representative of the cat family. It is on this basis that many unusual breeds are distinguished. However, before listing them, it is worth mentioning that the tone of a fur coat is determined in some animals not only by breed, but also by gender, such as, for example, tortoiseshell coloring, characteristic only for females, or age.
In the period up to six months, the color of the hair of a kitten is not always final.
The resemblance to a leopard immediately draws attention to Bengal cats. The breed was bred in the middle of the last century as a result of the birth of a kitten from a domestic cat in a wild Bengal cat. The dominant genes of the wild breed made the hair of the kittens spotty, like a predator, but the nature of the animals was quite gentle and friendly. This rare combination was used in order to continue this breed.
Another breed with a “predatory” coat color is the shroud. She appeared as a result of crossing a wild serval with a domestic cat. The result was golden wool with alternating dark spots and stripes, the pattern is diverse and is largely determined by the color of the domestic cat. Such a cat is classified as large, especially kittens from crossing the first generation, which grow up weighing up to 14 kilograms and are able to overcome a jump height of up to 2.5 meters.
The character of such pets, despite a slightly predatory appearance, is quite kind and faithful. Some compare it with a dog, because shroud cats can follow their master on the heels. They willingly spend time on a walk, and also love water.
Among the representatives of the British and Eastern breeds there are individuals with a purple color. It is called this because gray wool combines bluish and pink shades, due to which it looks very noble.
- Monochrome chocolate is considered a rare color of a fur coat. It is found in Persian cats, exotics, British and Rex. Breeders deliberately breed cats with similar hair among these breeds, while Abyssinian beauties can have this color by nature.
- Also, breeders are intensely engaged in crossbreeding cats to achieve a golden shade of wool. It is the result of mixing Persian, British and other breeds. At the same time, the tone of the coat is not always the same; in addition to gold, white areas may also be present.
Thus, among the representatives of the cat family, there are many original breeds that attract cat lovers with both their unusual appearance and interesting character. Having got such a pet, you will get not only a beautiful pet, but also a good friend.
About the most unusual cat breeds, see the next video.
