How to Identify Your Cat’s Breed: Size, Ears, Tail, Coat and Color

Figuring out a cat’s breed without papers is tricky, but this article can help. We’ve gathered all the telltale signs that will help you identify a breed from a photo.

Distinctive breed traits:

• Large size
• Small size
• Unusual ears
• Short tail
• Short legs
• Very long coat
• Long, curly coat
• Short, curly coat
• Hairless
• Siamese (pointed) coloring
• Blue coat
• Sandy (ticked) coat
• Wild (spotted) coat
• Brown coat

To start, take this quick test to narrow down the breed faster:

• Is your cat built differently from other cats?
• Does your cat have noticeable differences in the shape of its legs, ears or tail?
• Is your cat’s coat different in texture from an ordinary cat’s?
• Is your cat’s color different from the usual colors?

So let’s do a little detective work and try to identify your cat’s breed by its traits and photos. Keep in mind that most cats in American and British homes are mixed-breed “domestic shorthairs” or “domestic longhairs”; a resemblance to a breed doesn’t make a cat purebred. If you’re really curious, a cat DNA test can estimate your cat’s ancestry.

You may also find these articles helpful:

• Fluffy cat breeds
• White cat breeds
• Black cat breeds
• Spotted cat breeds
• Gray cat breeds
• Flat-faced cat breeds
• Cat breeds that look like lynxes
• Tabby cat breeds
• Cat breeds with no tail
• Cat breeds with bent ears

Is Your Cat Large?

An ordinary house cat is fairly average in size: a body about 20 to 30 inches long, a tail around 12 inches, and a weight of about 9–13 lb for males and 5–10 lb for females. But some breeds don’t fit those inches and pounds and qualify as feline giants.

How can you tell a cat’s breed by its size? To be honest, it’s pretty difficult. There are about a dozen breeds whose cats regularly weigh more than 13 lb, and some big individuals top 20 lb!

Maybe your pet is one of these giants:

1. American Bobtail, a breed developed from free-roaming North American cats;
2. Kurilian Bobtail, a natural breed from the Kuril Islands;
3. Chartreux, a breed the French call the “dog-cat”;
4. Pixiebob, an American-made breed that looks like a bobcat;
5. Norwegian Forest Cat; males can weigh about 20 lb;
6. Turkish Van, one of the oldest breeds on earth;
7. Siberian;
8. British Shorthair;
9. Ragdoll, the “rag doll”;
10. Maine Coon;
11. Savannah.

Is Your Cat Small?

Small pedigreed cats are those that weigh under about 6.5 lb. The smallest of the small was a truly tiny Munchkin named Fizz Girl, who never grew taller than 6 (!) inches.

Measured your cat and ready to call the Guinness World Records people? Let’s try to identify the breed from photos:

1. Munchkin. You won’t strut down a runway on legs this short, but those little legs left a big mark on the history of small breeds;
2. Napoleon (now often called the Minuet), a Munchkin-Persian cross. Usually weighs about 5.5 lb;
3. Bambino, a cross between short-legged Munchkins and hairless Sphynx cats. Can weigh as little as 5 lb;
4. Lambkin, a “lamb cat” with a curly coat. An adult Lambkin may weigh just 4 lb;
5. Skookum, with Munchkins and LaPerms (the cats with the long, wavy coats) among its ancestors;
6. Dwelf, a hairless breed made from a Munchkin + Sphynx + American Curl formula. These little ones rarely weigh more than 6.5 lb;
7. Singapura, a breed that came from Singapore to the US and then to Europe;
8. Minskin: no fur, not much height and very little weight;
9. Kinkalow, a very rare breed with only a small number of cats worldwide. For the record, a Kinkalow can weigh as little as 3 lb;
10. Toybob (originally called the Skif-Toy-Bob), the record holder and the very smallest domestic cat breed; its name means “toy bobtail.”

Does Your Cat Look Different from Ordinary Cats?

How can you tell a cat’s breed from its looks? Most mixed-breed cats fit one golden standard: medium-length legs, a medium-width chest and hips, and a round head topping off all that standard splendor. But we’re talking about exceptions, right? So which exceptional features might hint that your cat has some pedigree?

Ears

1. American Curl. These cats are famous for ears that curl backward, sometimes dramatically;
2. Ukrainian Levkoy. Hairless or slightly fuzzy, the Levkoy differs from… well, from everyone in every way. You can recognize it by its ears, which are folded forward;
3. Scottish Fold. Sometimes it looks like a Scottish Fold has no ears at all, but it’s actually the cartilage, which folds so much that the ear seems bent in half. The fold ranges from barely noticeable to lying almost flat against the head;
4. Elf Cat. Americans Karen Nelson and Kristen Leedom developed this breed with remarkable curled ears. It’s impossible to miss a cat with ears this big and shapely;
5. Poodle Cat (Pudelkatze), an exotic man-made breed. In fold-eared Poodle Cats the ears don’t lie flat against the head, and the bigger the drooping ears, the more beautiful the cat is considered.

Short tail

Cats with a stubby tail (or none at all) are prized. Unlike tail docking in dogs, a cat’s short tail is a breed trait:

1. Cymric, the longhaired Manx, often completely tailless. Its hind legs are longer than its front legs, which gives it a hopping, rabbit-like gait;
2. Manx, another tailless cat. Not all of them, though: Manx cats can have no tail, a stubby tail or even a fairly long one;
3. Pixiebob, a mini-bobcat developed in the 1980s. The tail can be anywhere from about 1 to 6 inches long;
4. Kurilian Bobtail, a natural bobtailed breed from the Kuril Islands;
5. American Bobtail, which shows off its personality with a tail that reaches about to the hocks;
6. Japanese Bobtail, the classic short-tailed cat. Its tail is usually no longer than about 3 inches and kinked or curled like a pom-pom.

Short legs

When breeders began creating short-legged breeds one after another, there were concerns that these cats would have mobility or spine problems. Breeders say their cats compensate with a more flexible spine and live normal, active lives, though vets still debate the long-term effects.

Are your cat’s legs much shorter than the neighbor’s cat’s? Here are several breeds to choose from, most of which you’ve already met above.

1. Skookum, a dwarf LaPerm with a long, wavy coat and a distinctive ruff. The breed’s original name was “poco chino” (“little curly one”);
2. Dwelf: no fur and no long legs;
3. Munchkin;
4. Napoleon;
5. Minskin;
6. Bambino.

Does Your Cat Have a Special Coat?

Remember Colonel Meow, the internet-famous grumpy-faced cat? He once held the Guinness record for the longest fur on a cat: about 9 inches. That’s a lot of grooming; no wonder he looked grumpy! Even longer fur, about 10 inches, belonged to a cat named Sophie.

Grab a ruler and see who your pet resembles:

Very long coat

1. Himalayan, a Persian-type cat with the Siamese color gene;
2. Napoleon. Our old friend has mastered the “baby face” and wins thousands of hearts with it;
3. Norwegian Forest Cat. The breed’s standard wardrobe: a long coat, ear tufts, britches and a winter ruff;
4. Turkish Van. Take a close look at your pet. Is it white? Is there a spot on its shoulder? And another on its head? According to legend, you have the cat that defeated the devilish mouse gnawing a hole in Noah’s Ark;
5. Turkish Angora, the snow-white longhaired beauty from Ankara;
6. Ragdoll;
7. Persian;
8. Neva Masquerade;
9. Maine Coon;
10. Birman: French-style charm with a cozy winter coat.

Long, curly coat

“Here, Rex!” If your cat has a wavy coat, you can confidently call it a rex. No, you don’t have to change its name; most curly breeds simply happen to be rexes:

1. Bohemian Rex. This breed came from what was then Czechoslovakia. Its ancestors are Persians, but unlike them, the Bohemian Rex has a coat that’s not only long but curly;
2. LaPerm. Did someone put this cat in curlers? That’s exactly how it looks. The tail is especially gorgeous;
3. Selkirk Rex.

Short, curly coat

1. German Rex. Born in East Prussia, this breed won over cat lovers with its short coat of plush curls;
2. Devon Rex. Its coat looks and feels a bit like suede or astrakhan. Fans say Devon Rexes are wonderfully touchable;
3. Cornish Rex. Built like a greyhound, with a coat like a rex rabbit;
4. American Wirehair, a cat whose coat is so crimped that even its whiskers are curly.

Hairless

You knew it, didn’t you? You always suspected your bald cat wasn’t hairless for nothing. There’s something special about it; let’s figure out what from the photos:

1. Bambino;
2. Donskoy. Huge ears, wrinkly skin and expressive eyes: yes, that’s this young hairless breed;
3. Sphynx (the Canadian hairless breed);
4. Peterbald, or St. Petersburg Sphynx. Taking a little from the Orientals and a little from the Sphynx, it ended up looking like no one else;
5. Ukrainian Levkoy. You can’t mistake this breed for any other. Ever seen an alien? No? Look at a hairless Levkoy.

Does Your Cat Have a Special Color?

As we’ve seen, identifying a breed by its coat, meaning its texture and length, is fairly easy. But can you identify a cat’s breed by its color?

Siamese (pointed) coloring

1. Siamese. Almond-shaped blue eyes and the classic pointed coloring are the breed’s gold standard;
2. Balinese, which must be colorpoint;
3. Himalayan. Blue eyes, a light body with darker legs, face, ears and tail, and a long coat all hint at Siamese roots;
4. Neva Masquerade;
5. Birman, the “Sacred Cat of Burma,” with its signature white “gloves” on a pointed coat;
6. Ragdoll;
7. Snowshoe, named for its white “snow boots,” often with an inverted-V marking on the face.

Blue coat

1. British Shorthair;
2. Chartreux;
3. Korat: a blue coat with silver tips and green eyes are the breed’s hallmark;
4. Russian Blue;
5. Nebelung.

Sandy (ticked) coat

1. Abyssinian, one of the oldest known breeds. A warm undercoat and dark ticking are typical of this ancient breed;
2. Somali.

Wild (spotted) coat

1. Bengal;
2. Egyptian Mau. Amazingly, the Mau’s wild spots show not only in its coat but even on its skin;
3. Siberian;
4. Kurilian Bobtail;
5. Savannah;
6. Serengeti.

Brown coat

1. Chantilly-Tiffany. Thanks to its color and personality, fans call it “a chocoholic’s delight”;
2. Havana Brown. The breed was originally called the “Chestnut Brown Oriental,” a name that says it all about its color.

Congratulations if this article helped you figure out which royal family your purring prince belongs to. And congratulations, too, if your cat has no pedigree at all and is still the most beloved and beautiful cat in the world!