🧬 What Breed Is My Cat?
No photo upload, no black-box AI — just the method breed judges use: look at the cat. Answer eight questions about coat, pattern, ears, tail, build, legs, texture and face, and this key scores your cat against 40 breed profiles. Fair warning, delivered with love: most pet cats are not any breed at all, and if that's your cat, you'll get the honest verdict — plus their full, glorious pattern name.
Question 1 of 8
Why a looking-key, not a photo app?
📸 Photo apps guess; keys reason
Photo identifiers notoriously label every tabby a "Maine Coon mix". A trait key follows the same features a breeder checks — ear set, coat texture, tail, proportions — and shows you WHY it landed where it did. Your photo also never leaves your device, because there isn't one.
🏠 'Domestic' is a complete answer
Roughly 95%+ of the world's pet cats are domestic shorthairs or longhairs — no breed, all cat. That's not a failed result; it's the accurate one, and it comes with your cat's proper pattern name (a "brown mackerel tabby" sounds like royalty because it basically is).
🧭 It points you somewhere useful
A likely breed match tells you what to read next — size, temperament, grooming load, the honest watch-outs — in our 40-breed directory. A domestic verdict points you to the pattern and coat care that actually applies.
Questions, answered
Can this prove my cat's breed?
No — only pedigree papers or a DNA test can speak to ancestry, and even DNA tests are fuzzy for cats. This key identifies what breed(s) your cat's appearance matches, which is what most people actually want to know. A rescue cat who "matches" a breed is best described that way: "looks like a…", not "is a…".
Is a tabby a breed?
No — tabby is a coat pattern, found in dozens of breeds and in domestic cats. Same with calico, tortoiseshell and tuxedo: they're patterns and colours, not breeds. The key handles this properly: a tabby pattern adds points to tabby-marked breeds, but a plain wonderful tabby usually (and correctly) lands on the domestic verdict.
Why did my long-haired cat get 'Domestic Longhair' instead of Maine Coon?
Because long hair alone isn't a breed signature — Maine Coons add size, ear tufts, a particular muzzle and tail. If your cat has several of those, the key will say so. If she just has a magnificent coat, 'Domestic Longhair' is her true and honourable title.
An appearance key for curiosity and education — not a pedigree determination, and not a substitute for a DNA test if ancestry genuinely matters (breeding, breed-specific screening). For health questions tied to breed, talk to your veterinarian.