Rare breeds of cats

The Cat Lovers 'Association (Cat Fanciers' Association, abbreviated CFA) annually publishes statistics on the number of registrations of cats of different breeds in the world. Only cat breeds that are recognized by CFA (currently there are 42) are counted.
The next report was published in February 2016 and is based on registration data of cat breeds from January 1 to December 31, 2015. The breeds that ranked last 10 in this report can be called the rarest breeds in the world. It is only necessary to make a reservation that these are the rarest of the recognized CFA rocks. For example, the smallest breed of cats in the world Scythian toy-bean, bred in Russia, has not yet been recognized as CFA.

10th place. American curl. This breed, bred in the USA in 1981 and distinguished by special, curled back, ears, has two varieties: semi-longhair and short-haired. Some cat associations recognize these two species as separate breeds. The American Curl is quite famous in the USA, but rarely occurs in other countries.

9th place. European Burmese cat. The CFA distinguishes between the Burmese cat itself and its variety, bred in the UK, calling it the European Burmese cat.

8th place. Havana. The breed was bred in England in the middle of the last century by crossing between Siamese and black British cats. Until the end of the 90s, the number of nurseries breeding this breed did not exceed 12, and the number of cats and cats of the Havana breed in the world did not exceed 130. Recently, the popularity of the breed is growing, but it still remains one of the rarest in the world.

7th place. American Bobtail - a large breed of domestic cats, bred on the basis of wild North American cats in the 60s of the last century, and in 1989 recognized by three associations of cats, including CFA.

6th place. Korat. In size and color, this breed resembles a Russian blue cat, but the ancestors of this breed are not from Russia, but from Thailand, from where they were brought to the USA in 1959. In Europe and America, only those representatives of the korat breed, who were taken from the eponymous province of Thailand, are valued. But only specialists can distinguish them from blue shorthair Burmese or bluish-silver Oriental shorthair.

5th place. Burmilla. The breed was bred in the UK in 1981 as a result of unplanned mating of Persian chinchilla and lilac Burmese cat.

4th place. American hair cat. This breed was the result of a spontaneous mutation of the American Shorthair cat in 1966. It soon became clear that the mutation is dominant and it is easy to breed such cats. Another name for the American Wire-haired breed is wire wool for the appearance of wool. The degree of effect of such wool is different. Hair hair can be bonded to each other, or else bent. Therefore, if a cat of that breed is combed, the effect of the “spring” will disappear.

3rd place. Turkish van (other name - turkish van cat) - one of the oldest breeds of domestic cats. This is a semi-long-haired large cat with a muscular elongated body. It is one of the largest breeds of cats. The length of males from nose to tip of tail is from 90 to 120 cm, height at shoulders is 35-40 cm, weight is from 6 to 9 kg. Females are smaller and weigh 4.5 to 6 kg.

2nd place. Laperm - breed of cats with curly hair, which appeared in the United States in the 1980s as a result of free crossing. The breed was officially recognized in 1996. Laperm is one of the most expensive cat breeds.

The rarest breed of cats in the world - Dragon lee (other name - Chinese Li Hua). The CFA recognized this breed, originating from Chinese wild cats, only 6 years ago - in 2010. Outside China, cats of this breed are almost impossible to acquire. In China itself, the breed is also few. The popularity of this breed does not add the fact that in appearance it practically does not differ from ordinary purebred cats.

What is the rarest breed of cats?

The rarest breed of cats is considered american hair cat.

This cat first appeared in the United States in 1966, as a result of crossing with the American Shorthair. She is not much different from her "relative".

She has the same head shape, square snout with a small nose, golden eyes, ears of medium size, the same shape of the body and legs. But wool is clearly different from the American Shorthair breed. It is a little longer and slightly curly, so that it is impossible to confuse. There are only 22 cats of this breed in the USA (which are registered).

Rare cat breeds: top 10

So, as we found out in the first place is American Wire-haired (in the photo above you can see her slightly curled wool).

• Burmilla is the second of the rarest breeds of cats. She appeared as a result of crossing Chinchilla and Burmese breed. Silky fur, expressive look, small ears and grace - what makes a cat special.

• Glitzy californian The cat appeared in 1980. She was taken out in order to achieve a leopard color, but she does not have leopard genes. The breed was obtained as a result of repeated crossing of different breeds. Currently, this breed of cats is not so popular, as they prefer the Bengal cat.

• Elf– very rare breed of cats, obtained by crossing the American curl and the Canadian Sphynx. This cat is distinguished not only by its bald head, but also by ears rolled back. Someone likes such an exotic "miracle cat", someone disgusts, but for someone he is terrible.

Learn also about breed types: shorthair cats and longhair cats.

• Turkish van–a beautiful fluffy cat, which is distinguished by its color: the white color of the body and the red color of the tail and ears. These rare cats, unlike all others, are very fond of water.

• Kao-mani - breed, which is known as the "diamond eye". This breed of cat was bred in Thailand for the royal nobility. Her multi-colored eyes - something that defies explanation, since it seems like it's someone's joke. Many people assume that the cat's eyes are photoshop, or some kind of lens for the cat, since it is rather difficult to believe that the eyes are really such.

• Singapore– a rare breed of cats, around the origin of which there is a lot of controversy, as the first breeder confused something when he gave information about her roots. Green bulging eyes, a short neat coat, a small muzzle - that is characteristic of this breed of cats.

• Snow shu - Breed known as "snow shoes", which speaks of its main feature - the white legs. This breed is a hybrid of Siamese origin, which appeared in the 1960s.

• Manx– tailless breed (although sometimes there is a short tail). Due to the fact that the cats of this breed has no tail, they resemble cubs, especially those that are too fluffy.

• Closes 10 of the rarest breeds of cats laper– curly cat. This rare breed of cats is distinguished by its curled hair. These "lambs" are very popular with children, as they are especially similar to a toy unkempt cat.

Cat in the history of mankind

After all, these pets will not tolerate humiliation, they only allow a person to love yourself and care for your feline persona. Even in ancient manuscripts about the life of high-ranking people, one can find mention of their favorite cats.

In ancient Egypt, even the goddess Bast existed with the head of a cat, responsible for femininity, beauty and home. Egyptians built tombs to their soft-clad darlings.

Time passed, but man’s love for cats did not pass, it only got stronger. People learned to breed new breeds, learned how to preserve old species. Breeders are trying to surprise their customers, to offer them new, unusual feline. Let us examine the rarest breeds of cats with photos and names.

What breeds are rare?

What does the concept of "rare breed" include? It is wrong to assume that these breeds have appeared recently (although, for the most part, this is so). Some cats of rare breeds have been carefully protected by breeders for centuries and have come down to us from ancient times.

Although, most often the unusual cat is still a product of selection, brought to perfection. Indeed, every person, including a geneticist, has his own idea of ​​beauty. Someone likes fluffy purring homebody, and someone wants to domesticate a wild cat, leaving a dexterous disposition and habits of a predator. And cats of rare breeds are derived (we will present a photo of each of them in the article).

It should immediately be said that the average breeder is incapable of breeding such a breed, crossing, for example, the Thai cat and the Angora cat. This is considered a gross violation of the rules. Cats of rare breeds are derived over the years - this is quite a complicated technology.

What are they for? Breeders have two goals: aesthetic and financial. Agree that a cat with eyes of different color looks very unusual, and how short-footed pet touches everyone. Tailless, not covered with wool, with fancy ears, like a miniature leopard - a lot of options. And of course, for the pleasure of having an unusual pet in the house, you will have to pay generously.

The rarest breeds of cats - the pleasure is not cheap (starting price of 20 thousand dollars). But people who want to have such pets, an unusually large. Behind some rocks even queues are lined up.

So, let's start listing the rare breeds of cats. With photos and their names, we will introduce readers. Tell you about the history of the breed, the nature of the character, care and susceptibility to disease.

A cat with unusual eyes - kao-mani. It differs from its relatives by the fact that it has a different color of the cornea: green and blue. In the English-speaking countries, these beauties are also called the “diamond eye” - the diamond eye. This breed is originally from Thailand. Even in the texts of the XIV century, the description of these white-boiled cats is mentioned, which, by the way, only royal persons were entitled to start. Surprisingly, for the general public, Tao-mani became known only in 2009.

These curious, very intelligent cats have a slender, muscular body, covered with white, well-fitting coat, rather short. Tao-mani have a very distinctive genotype, so not every pure-white cat with multi-colored eyes will belong to this breed. By the way, the color of the eyes may be absent. Individuals with the same green iris color are quite frequent. Bred them in Thailand and a few US states.

These cats need the company as a person and their own kind. Communication is very necessary for them. They do not play around strangers, tolerate children.

Tao-mani - can boast excellent health. The “weakest” place is the ears. There are individuals that are deaf to one of the ears, although breeders carefully monitor this: they cross only cats that are healthy in both ears.

Turkish van

Another rare cat breed in the world is the Turkish van. Its uniqueness is determined primarily by the love of water. Turkish baths are excellent swimmers, they love to run in shallow water or catch small fish at shallow depths.

This is not the only distinguishing feature of the breed. Turkish vans belong to a large, medium-sized wool. In addition, she is completely devoid of undercoat - this explains the breed's love for water. Characteristic color - pure white with red and chestnut spots at the base of the ears, the same color of the tail. There are often cases when there is a bright spot on the shoulder.

The cat's body is like a real swimmer: a muscular chest, powerful paws (moreover, the front ones are noticeably longer than the hind ones), and the tail is shaped like a brush. To determine the male and female is quite simple: the males are much larger.

The Turkish van is a breed that gets along well with people, they are brilliantly trained, very playful. There are no problems with walks either: it can be either a harness, to which Turkish wans quickly learn, or an open-air cage, or a free range with the owner.

Munchkin and Napoleon

Munchkins are very rare breeds of cats. This is a kind of dachshund of the feline world. The paws of these cats are disproportionately short in relation to the body.

Their posture in a standing position is also interesting: they lean on the base of the tail and hold the front legs in front of them. In such a posture, more typical of kangaroos, the munchkins can spend a very long time.

The uniqueness of these unusual cats is also in the fact that short legs are not the fruit of breeders' labor, but a natural genetic mutation. Thus, the breed came out of quite ordinary domestic cats, in the genotype of which a special dominant gene of “short-leggedness” appeared. This explains the variety of shades, colors and lengths of wool.

Munchkins do not have good health, it is difficult enough for them to survive in their natural environment.

Napoleon is the name of a rare breed of cats that appeared by crossing the Munchkins and Persians. A characteristic feature in addition to short legs - dwarfism. The maximum weight of Napoleons is only two kilograms.

Serengeti - one more cats of rare breeds. Their population in the world is just a few hundred! Brought the Serengeti in the United States. The pioneer breeder wanted to present to the world such a breed that, repeating the external qualities of an African serval, would be absolutely handmade and homely. Years of searching were crowned with success: the result was a graceful, extraordinarily beautiful cat.

Surprisingly, in the Serengeti genotype there is not a single wild serval gene. However, she is unusually like him in appearance. But the nature - homely, calm, friendly. Cats have a muscular body, long legs and powerful legs. The color is allowed to be black or smoky with pronounced spots of a rounded shape (stretching horizontally is allowed) or black with barely noticeable spots. Another feature - a large wedge-shaped head, resembling the head of a wild representative of the cat. Moreover, this feature is already manifested at birth.

Serengeti - this is a smart, graceful, very stubborn nature. These cats will not tolerate the appearance of someone in their home. They are the center of everything. Another feature is unsurpassed talkativeness and convivial spirit.

The most common breed disease is urolithiasis.

Very rare breeds of cats include Caracals. And these are not cats at all, but real wild lynxes, only of small size (compared to other representatives of the species). Caracals live in the wild in the steppes and savannas (hence the name "steppe lynx").

These cats differ from a usual lynx in a coloring: wool is thick, rather short, a coloring of brick color (sometimes sandy), characteristic spots are only on a muzzle. Caracal in Turkish means "black ear" - this is true. His ears are crowned with charming black tassels. These cats are very fit, muscular, with very long legs.

At home, the life of Caracal reaches 18 years. However, having decided to start it, it is necessary to realize that these are not domestic purring cats - wild predatory habits remain for a lifetime.

Want to have a homemade tiger in miniature? Then the toyger is what you need. His literal translation from English "toy tiger." The only thing these kittens are well: from 10 thousand dollars. What is unique toyger? Its colors, contrasting throughout. The most important thing is tiger black stripes, moreover, they are monochromatic, devoid of any color transitions. They stand out against a reddish brown background. The tips of the paws and tail are always black. Body toned, muscular. By the way, do not overfeed toyger - this is one of the mistakes of the owners. The front legs are crowned with thick powerful pads.

Toygers are very sociable cats, they get on well with children. Well amenable to education and training. At the same time, toygers are calm and docile enough, they will not demand regular games, much more these rare breeds cats like to sit on the hands of the owner.

The appearance of this breed is associated with a rather scandalous history, and its “creator” is still being sought by the police. The fact is that in 2007 specialized (and not only) publications began to be replete with information that “the rarest breed of cats in the world” was derived. These extremely clever and devoted to man soft-eyed creatures are also completely hypoallergenic.

However, after a series of genetic examinations, it was found that Ashera is nothing but a kind of savannah - cats are also a rare breed, but known to the public. But before the truth was established, many people had already fallen for such an exotic bait, having laid out 20 thousand dollars for the kittens.

Asher is truly a giant of the feline world, because, according to the creators, the genotype of the serval, Asian leopard and domestic cats is embedded in it. Indeed, their height reaches one meter. There may be several colors, the rarest ones (there are only four kittens on average per year) have golden-orange spots, the other is ashen and the most common is with black spots like a leopard.

Winner Rating: Home Serval

Итак, мы разобрали самые редкие породы кошек, фото и названия их также привели. Однако существует тройка победителей. Итак, домашний сервал. Порой создается впечатление, что эта кошка и не живет вовсе с человеком, а лишь зашла из леса погостить. Отчасти это так и есть, потому что специально породу для дома никто не выводил, просто люди поняли, что сервалы прекрасно одомашниваются.

Однако повадки остаются дикими. Сервалы – прекрасные охотники, они любят бегать, прыгать, настигать добычу. Заводчикам стоит это учитывать. It is unlikely that this breed will get along in a regular apartment - more to her taste will be a mansion with high ceilings, because Serval's jumps reach three meters upwards.

The next most rare breed of cat in the world is savanna. We already touched her when we talked about Asher. Savannah was bred in the 80s of the last century. The creators wanted to give people a real home leopard. Then, they thought, wild cats would be left alone, they would not be kept in captivity - in mansions and apartments.

There were savannas from the crossing of the already known to us serval and Siamese cat. As a result, from the first they got the habits of a predator and spotting, and from the second they have a rather agreeable temper and indefatigable talkativeness.

Savannas are perfectly trained, and they perform commands that are rather difficult for the cats: “aport”, “bring” or “alien”.

At the top of the rating "Rare breeds of cats in Russia" (and indeed all over the world) stands, in the opinion of many, Chausi. These cats can boast a completely unique genotype and an outstanding appearance.

Chauzi is the fruit of a natural (initially) cross between a wild reed cat and a domestic cat. Only after a long time, connoisseurs of soft-lapdies noticed how beautiful these kittens are. It was decided to start breeding a new breed, a reed cat, but affectionate and domesticated. Only in 2003, was able to fix a new breed. However, to this day, its elimination does not go smoothly, it is too difficult to combine genes.

Standard fixed three color: black, silver or tabby. The last two are ticked, i.e. color uneven, interspersed with strips. A prerequisite is a clear pattern on the head, also on the ears and the tip of the tail.

Chawzi are excellent companions for their owners, but the predatory habits of the reed cat remain: they swim and hunt in water, make stocks, when the owner does not see, they jump well. These cats do not accept dry food, even exclusive, in the diet should be only meat. The gastrointestinal tract of Chausi simply does not digest cereals and vegetables.

Himalayan cat

This breed is very similar to the Persian, but differs in blue eyes and color-point coloring (a light body with a dark muzzle, paws, ears and tail). This breed was bred in 1950 in the USA. Himalayans are affectionate, obedient and friendly cats with a calm character. A kitten of this breed will cost $ 500–1,300.

Scottish lop-eared

The business card of this breed is cute ears that don’t stick up like regular cats, but hang. This unusual detail of their appearance is the result of a gene mutation. These are clever cats that get along with all family members and never mind playing. Another distinctive feature of this breed is that they can stand on their hind legs and look at what interested them. A kitten costs between $ 200 and $ 1,500.

Peterbald, or Petersburg Sphinx, was bred in Russia in 1994. These elegant cats have a slender body, a long head shape and large ears divorced to the sides. The body can be bald or fluffy. The nature of the cats affectionate and sociable, they are easy to train. This kitten will cost $ 400-1,200.