logo for pictures-of-cats.org
Great Pictures of Cats. All the Breeds:-

Home

Beginning A-H
Beginning J-P
Beginning R-T
Fringe Breeds
Wild Cats
Feral Cats
Cat Facts
Cartoon Cats
Cat Videos
Cat Appearance
Pictures of Cats
Cat History

Cat Health
Cats & the Law
PoC Admin
PoC Site Map


[?] Subscribe To This Site

XML RSS
Add to Google
Add to My Yahoo!
Add to My MSN
Add to Newsgator
Subscribe with Bloglines

TwitThis

Breeds Discussed
Rare Cat Breeds
Domestic cat size
PoC Updates
Choose a Cat
Declawing Cats
Cat Sounds


Dwarf Cats
Helmi Flick Photog
Abyssinian
Siamese Trad
Siamese Modern
Maine Coon
Persian
British Shorthair
Bengal
Warrior Cats
Purebred rescue




LEFT for pictures-of-cats.org

Domestic Cat

Non-purebred cats

domesti c cat
Domestic Cat Megan Photograph © Helmi Flick





We'd love to hear from you on any subject to do with cats, particularly moggie cats!...If you would like to share your story, please click on this link:
***Submissions***

Introduction

I am writing about my true favorite (probably), the good old Moggy (Moggie) or non-purebred cat. The Moggie could also be called a "Mixed Breed" cat. A Moggie can technically, it seems, be pedigreed, however (see below).

Although all the show cat breeds are also domestic cats, for the vast majority of us the non-purebred is the cat with which we are most familiar.

The word Moggie can also mean a stray cat and a stray cat can be a pedigreed cat, although unlikely. So there is a bit of an overlap there.

The non-pedigreed or non-purebred (these terms are not the same - see below) domestic cat is my favorite because she the sort of cat that I have always lived with. This "breed" of cat is also the most commonly encountered cat worldwide, by far, obviously.

domestic cat moggie
Photo of Kallie © Helmi Flick
domestic cat moggie
Photo of Twist © Helmi Flick



The non-pedigreed domestic cat has also the most chance of being the healthiest as the "gene pool" from which she stems is extremely wide (as wide as it is possible to be). A purebred cat needs to be bred with a cat of the same breed or breeds that are allowed by the registries. This results in a pure-bred cat but a narrow gene pool. However, in some feral colonies there may be inbreeding so it is not always the case that non-purebred cats are more healthy.

This potential conflict (purity of breed -v- health) is very much in the minds of breeders and associations and (effectively?) dealt with though a balanced approach to breeding including some widening of the gene pool (out crossing) when required at an early stage in development of the breed. This would make the cat non-purebred for a while but still a pedigree cat, however (see below).


domestic cat
Photo of Kallie © Helmi Flick



The word "Moggie" apparently derives from the word "Maggie" to describe old farmyard cows. This term came to be used in the cities to describe mangy, feral cats and then domestic cats generally.

To an outsider there is a profusion of technical terms and some confusion about the meaning of the terms. There is an overlap in the use of the terms sometimes too.



This is a short video of some great looking mixed-breed cats.
All the photographs are by and copyright, Helmi Flick.

Terminology

Purebred cat: a cat whose parents and grandparents are all of the same breed. There are then 3 generations in total of cats of the same breed. A purebred cat has to have the characteristics of a recognized breed.

Pedigree cat: 3 generations of this cat must be registered with a recognized cat registry such as the Cat Fanciers Association (USA) or the GCCF (UK). The parents or grandparents need not necessarily be cats of the same breed.

The difference between these 2 terms is all about registration of the cat. Registries have different views on what is a breed.

Moggy:
Technically, a non-purebred cat or Moggy can be a pedigree cat on the above definition. The word pedigree meaning a recorded and registered history. In contrast, the ordinary domestic cat that we know has parents of, usually, unknown or mixed breed and there is usual no record. This cat is therefore neither purebred nor pedigree. But we love 'em the most.

In practice we think of purebred cats as pedigree cat as this will most often be the case (i.e. purebred cats are often registered). Likewise we think of non-purebred cats as non-pedigree cats, which is almost all the time, the case.

domestic mixed breed cat
Photograph of Bonkers © Helmi Flick


Click here to see a big, high quality, slide show of these superb mixed breed cats


The Moggy and Purebred - characteristics

The purebred cats have well defined appearances, while the Moggy, being of mixed decent hasn't. The purebred cat, particularly the top show cat, as illustrated by Helmi Flick on this website has an eye catching and highly attractive appearance. Not all pedigree or purebred cats are as amazing as some of the cats on this website though.

The variation in appearance of the the mixed breed domestic cat comes from the variation in coat color and pattern, the most common, of which, is the tabby coated cat (and tabby and white). Another frequently encountered coat is the tuxedo (black with a white spot on the chest). White spotting affects very many cat breeds none more so than the mixed breed cat. A discussion on the solid and white cat coat and many other coats can be seen on the subdomain to this site, ABOUT CATS AND CAT BREEDS (use the labels or the search facility)

The Moggy being a mixed breed cannot have such a well defined appearance. This cat is usually a short haired (dominant gene) cat of various coat colors and has a standard body conformation.

As mentioned there is a greater prospect (minimized with careful and considerate breeding) for ill health with purebred cats due to the inherited health problems and narrow gene pool. The non-purebred domestic cat has hybrid vigor.

In short the purebred cat is more cosmetically attractive but the Moggy more durable. And lets not forget that cats can be sociable cats.


domestic cat moggie
Photograph of Olive Oyl © Helmi Flick


Your submissions

I would love to hear from you if you live with an ordinary and beautiful moggie cat.

Please tell us about your experiences with your non-purebred cat. I would love it, if you shared! Please scroll down for submissions

Enter Your Title

Tell Us Your Story! [ ? ]

Upload A Picture (optional) [ ? ]

Add Picture Caption (optional) 

Author Information (optional)

To receive credit as the author, enter your information below.

Your Name

(first or full name)

Your Location

(ex. City, State, Country)

Submit Your Contribution

Check box to agree to these submission guidelines.


(You can preview and edit on the next page)

What Other Visitors Have Said

Click below to see contributions from other visitors to this page...

My Final Farewell to My Teacher, Pal and Best Friend  starstarstarstarstar
This is a story about my very first cat as an adult. I was always a dog owner till this ball of gray fur entered my life twenty years ago. I named him ...

Thomas the Miracle Boy  starstarstarstarstar
Thomas came to us 3 years ago when his previous owner who had rescued him as a tiny kitten, passed away. She was a very dear friend of mine, & was only ...

Moscow Cat Theatre  starstarstarstarstar
Lets remind ourselves what the Moscow Cat Theatre does. Here is a photo and two videos: Here is one on YouTube: OK it’s a ...

I don't Know What Breed Sunny Is  starstarstarstarstar
My cat is sort of a faded orange/yellow. I think its an Egyptian Mau because he has sort of a pouch of fat in between his thighs and looks a lot like one....

Mickie the Unknown Moggie  starstarstarstarstar
I'm a long-time, self-proclaimed 'dog guy' who took in my first stray cat, a very tiny kitten in my backyard mewing like crazy for its mother. It was ...

My Mpoukitsa "Tiny Bite"  starstarstarstarstar
Abour 2 years ago, a tiny tiny kitten came outside my work place meowing (probably for food). She was the tiniest kitten i have ever seen, and also skinny ...

Miss Lucy Queen of the Castle  starstarstarstarstar
I adopted Lucy 8 years ago from our local Humane Society when she was about 2 y.o. She had been rescued from a snare trap. When I got her she was very ...

Yay for Moggies!  starstarstarstarstar
I love mixed breed cats!

All of the cats i've ever had in my entire life (and now!) have been mixed breed cats! I mean, purebred cats are nice and all....

Boy Cat That Likes To Bark  starstarstarstarstar
My cat, Dakota likes to chase dogs, play fetch and even walks me to the bus stop in the morning and comes to meet me from it at night, much to the admiration ...

Finnigan Fitzsimmons.  starstarstarstarstar
Hi, I adopted a 3-month-old male kitten this past April from a New York City shelter. When I first saw him, he was so cute and tiny and I automatically ...

7 Cats  starstarstarstarstar
I have 7 moggies. One of which is pregnant and due to give birth any day (16/4/2009. Mum is a mixed tabby and is very temperamental. Although she is generally ...

Dilute Calico Cat  starstarstarstarstar
Hi, My name is Jana and we found our cat under a car in a vacant lot. We have been trying to find out what breed she is but with the help of your web site ...

Cat Wool Sucking   starstarstarstarstar
Cat wool sucking is unnatural and is caused by an interruption to the natural and gradual process of a kitten coming off drinking mother's milk and ...

Scruffy our Spoiled Rug of a Cat  starstarstarstarstar
About 2 years ago my husband was working and saw some kittens that had got down in a ditch half full of water. They were very wet and hungry. My husband ...

This Cat Needs A Vacation  starstarstarstarstar
Time for a quick break under the shade.

Jun Lim

My Cat Double Trouble  starstarstarstarstar
Hello: Got this bundle of fur on his 5 week old birthday and was cute and short hair. As he got older, now he is 13 months old he is all fur that is soft ...

Don't Forget the Elderly Shelter Cats  starstarstarstarstar
All children should at least once during their childhood experience the fun and joy of raising a kitten. That's probably one of the reasons that the shelter ...

TJ The Crackhead  starstarstarstar
I got my precious Moggie not even a year ago and I like to call him my lil cow since he's got the spotting of a cow. He ran all over the house at first ...

Xolie  starstarstarstar
I found her as a kitten 13 years ago. She thinks she's the queen of the house! Her family was all killed in a factory fire, I happened to catch this one ...

Honey AKA Honey Buns  starstarstarstar
I am not sure exactly when she was born because I got her from a local shelter. On her first visit to the vet back in March, he said she was around 6 ...

Cat Training Problems  starstarstarstar
We should ask ourselves if cat training problems are, in fact, human expectation problems. What do we want and expect from our companion cat? I know ...

My Cat Jumong  Not rated yet
Our cat has been with us for 3-4 years already..I'm not quite sure about it. she's very playful like all of my cats..every time someone would ask what ...

Can You Identify A Cat?  Not rated yet
This is an email I received from David, a visitor to this website: I was wondering if you could help me identify a cat that my ex-roommate had. He is a ...

Barney My Special Cat Companion  Not rated yet
Let me tell you a little about Barney my special cat companion. He was born to a feral cat mother on October 24th 2008. An elderly lady found him and ...

Best USA Cities for Cats  Not rated yet
The ten best USA cities for cats, according to a website called, catalystcouncil.org are: Tampa, Phoenix, San Francisco, Portland (Ore.), Denver, Boston,...

Origin of word Moggy  Not rated yet
Moggy or moggie is an old British affectionate term for a domestic cat, but is also used as alternative name for a mongrel or mixed-breed cat whose ancestry ...

Tabby and White Stray  Not rated yet
Well, after my old Black Moggie Raz was killed in a RTA, I said no more cats then five weeks back, about eight years after losing poor Raz, a kitten found ...

Mad Cats  Not rated yet
People search for mad cats . First a slightly serious point. "Mad cats" can mean one of three things:
a cat that is acting oddly to us, perhaps in ...



Registries and Moggies

TICA: Non-pedigrees. Moggies are known as Household Pets in the Cat Fancy. They do not need to be registered by the TICA to be shown at a TICA show.

However, if you want to go on and win some rosettes in TICA shows, you should register with them and your Moggy will have to be "altered" (neutered or spayed). TICA say that Household Pets that have been altered are accepted for registration regardless of their appearance and parentage.

GCCF: This registry (the biggest in the UK), call all unregistered cats with one or more parents who are unregistered, Household Pets. This will nearly always mean Moggies, but of course could mean the purest of purebred cats that had a complete parentage history but who was simply unregistered.

Household Pets can be shown at all shows and without a guiding standard are judged on condition and temperament. They have there own class at the Supreme Show. The Moggies that you see at the Supreme Show are very special looking cats much like the ones you see on this page.

CFA: This registry (the biggest at Jan 2008) has a Household Pet Class. Moggies can be shown without registration and if older than 8 months must be altered. There is no CFA standard (as is the case for all purebred cats) but they are judged on the things that count in the show world, such as disposition, unusual markings and overall uniqueness.

Breeders 

Of course there are none unless you factor in careless people who fail to neuter their cats.

You can pop down to the nearest rescue center and find the most beautiful moggy you saw and you will fall in love and spend a thousand precious and tender moments together over the long years ahead.


From Domestic Cat to Home page


Sources:

  • CFA
  • TICA
  • myself





footer for pictures of cats page