Did you know that there are some types of cats that are often thought of as breeds, but are actually color types or color pattern types and not breeds? There are 31 popular types of cats hidden in the word search puzzle below. Can you find all of them? Extra points if you know which are breeds and which are color or pattern types!
How did you do? Did you know which of the types of cats in the Word Search puzzle are breeds and which are color/pattern types? Here are the answers:
ABYSSINIAN is a breed.
AMERICAN BOBTAIL is a breed.
AMERICAN CURL is a breed.
AMERICAN SHORTHAIR is a breed.
BENGAL is a breed.
BIRMAN is a breed.
BOMBAY is a breed.
BRITISH SHORTHAIR is a breed.
BURMESE is a breed.
CALICO is not a breed. A calico cat can be any breed of domestic cat, and a tri-color coat is what makes her a calico. Most commonly, a calico cat is 25% to 75% white with either large orange and black patches or large cream and grey patches. Calico cats are almost always female.
CORNISH REX is a breed.
DEVON REX is a breed.
DOMESTIC SHORTHAIR is not a breed, which can be confusing since American Shorthair and British Shorthair are breeds. A domestic shorthair is a short-haired cat that does not belong to any recognized cat breed. (In British English, they are sometimes referred to as “moggies”.)
EGYPTIAN MAU is a breed.
HARLEQUIN is a coat pattern which can be found in several different breeds. A harlequin cat has a bi-colored coat pattern which is predominantly white with random solid-colored markings on 1/4 to 1/3 of the cat’s body (including its tail).
HIMALAYAN is a breed.
JAPANESE BOBTAIL is a breed.
MAINE COON is a breed.
MALTESE refers to any cat whose breed cannot be determined and whose fur is completely or primarily gray or blue.
MANX is a breed.
PERSIAN is a breed.
RAGDOLL is a breed.
RUSSIAN BLUE is a breed.
SIAMESE is a breed.
SPHYNX is a breed.
TABBY is a domestic cat coat pattern identified by a distinctive ‘M’ shaped marking on the forehead, along with stripes by the eyes and across the cheeks, along the back, and around the legs and tail, and may include characteristic striped, dotted, lined, flecked, banded or swirled patterns on the body—neck, shoulders, sides, flanks, chest and abdomen.
TONKINESE is a breed.
TORTOISESHELL is a cat coat coloring that gets its name from its similarity to tortoiseshell material. Tortoiseshell cats (often called “torties” for short), like calicos, are almost exclusively female. Torties combine two colors other than white, either closely mixed or in larger patches. The colors are often described as “red” (which can include orange, yellow, or cream) and black (which can include chocolate, gray, tabby, or blue). Tortoiseshell cats with the tabby pattern as one of their colors are sometimes referred to as a “torbie”.
TURKISH ANGORA is a breed.
TURKISH VAN is a breed.
TUXEDO is a coat pattern for a bicolor (or piebald) cat where there is low-to-medium grade white spotting limited to the face, paws, throat and chest of an otherwise black cat, making the cat appear to be dressed up in a tuxedo!
