Page 17 - The Complete Cat Breed Book (DK)

WHA T IS A C A T? 15

Eye color and shape
Domestic cats have large, alluring eyes that
come in a wide variety of orange, green, and
blue tones. Some cats even have odd-colored
eyes, usually with one blue eye and one green
or orange. Eye shapes can vary too, according
Almond-shaped and blue Slanted and green
to the breed of cat. Some breeds—for example,
the Chartreux and the Persian—have round
eyes, while others, such as the Maine Coon,
retain the slightly slanted eyes of their wild
ancestors. In some breeds of Oriental cat,
including the Siamese, the slant of the eyes
is even more pronounced, producing an
almondlike shape. Round and gold Round and odd-colored

Ear shapes
Almost all cat breeds have large, erect ears
shaped like a half-cone, similar to those of their
wildcat ancestors. In some breeds, such as the
Siamese and Angora, the ear tips are pointed.
Hair tufts at the tips, as in the Maine Coon,
further accentuate the ears, so that they Pointed Rounded
tips tips
resemble those of a lynx. Other breeds, such
as the British Shorthair and Abyssinian, have
round-tipped ears. Two breeds have highly
unusual ears caused by genetic mutations: the
American Curl has ears that curl backward away
from its face toward the rear of the skull; in the
Scottish Fold, a fold in the ear cartilage bends the
ears down toward the front of the head. Curled Folded

Coat types
Coats are generally made up of three types of Hairless Short-coated
hair: down, awn, and guard. Soft, wavy down
and fine, mid-length awn form an insulating
undercoat, while the longer, stiffer guard hairs
form a protective outer coat. The lengths and
proportions of these types of hair vary among
breeds, and not all breeds have all three types.
Most cats are shorthaired, like their wild
ancestors. Long hair is caused by a recessive
gene. In Persians the hair may reach up to 5in Curly coated Long-coated
(12cm) long. Curly, or rexed, coats are caused by
genetic mutations; there are now several rexed
breeds, including the Cornish Rex and American
Wirehair. There are also breeds, such as the
Sphynx, with mutations that cause hairlessness.