Thread: Could Echo be a Maine Coon mix?

What lovely pics of Echo. She looks a cutie pie with her shiny fur and kiss-able furry paws!

On cat forums your question gets asked very often … what breed is my cat … could she have this or that breed mixed in?

The reality is, cats that belong to a breed are quite rare. They are only about 4% of the owned cat population – and that is not even counting strays and ferals. The breeding of pedigreed cats is still pretty much in its infancy, and most cat breeds are less than 50 years old. Consequently there aren’t many cats that belong to a breed, and equally few cross-breds (or “mixes”).

Unlike dogs and horses, who are either purebred or a mix of various breeds, the vast majority of cats – perhaps well over 90% – are breed-less and don’t have any breed in their ancestry. They are “generic” cats. In the UK they are called moggies, in the USA domestic shorthairs (DSH) or domestic longhairs (DLH). And in my country we call them either “house, garden & kitchen cats” or “farm cats”.

It is highly likely that your lovely Echo is one of those “generic” domestic longhairs – an age-old breed not created by humans but by Mother Nature herself. Give her a cuddle from me, I think she’s a peach.