Top 10 Cats That Are Adorable And Irresistible

Cats are insanely beautiful and cuddly. Being fastidious groomers, they keep themselves clean. The cat is incredible. In North America and Europe, there are now more pet cats than dogs- 17 million. But there are more unowned or feral cats than owned felines. The domestic cat remains a self-sufficient, independent species and is the least understood domestic animal. Our lack of understanding is simple. The way cats think is geometrically different from how we think it is true that selectively bred cats are at ease in human company, that we have enhanced the “kitten” in adult cats. Still, the domestic cat is the world’s most successful feline because it has the genetic plasticity to adapt to the environment of the world’s most successful primate, us. this relationship is at its most intense emotionally when a cat is unwell. It is up to us to ensure their physical and emotional well-being.

Typical Phsiology of Cats

Origins

• Domestic cats first appeared 6000 years ago
• Temperamental changes helped ensure successful cohabitation.
• Popularity in Egypt mage the cat an exportable product

Skin, coat, and hair

• Skin and hair have important life-preserving functions
• Environmental differences are reflected in a cat’s coat
• Skin is a cat’s first line of defense

Bones and Joints

• Cats are built for speed
• Three kinds of joint allow for superb flexibility
• Breeding programs have caused skeletal problems

Muscles

• Fast-acting muscles that are highly flexible ensure graceful movements
• Cats are fast sprinters, but poor endurance athletes
• Handling falls from a great height is possible in cats because of the righting reflex

The Brain and Endocrines

• A fifth of the blood pumped by the heart is taken by the cat’s brain
• Bodily functions and feline behavior are regulated by hormones
• Cats can learn-Not all cat behavior is instinctive

The Nervous System

• The central nervous system is made of the spinal cord and the brain
• Parts of the nervous system are under the cat’s control
• Cats rarely suffer from neurological problems

Vision

• Cats are partially color blind
• The cat’s eyes can focus sharply
• Low-light vision is a specialty

Hearing and Balance

• Even the slightest of noises can be heard by cats
• They can detect a much wider range of frequencies than humans
• Hearing is important for balance too

Scent, Taste, and Touch

• The mouth and nose make up a dynamic scenting duo
• On its tongue and throat a cat has 10 million taste buds
• A cat’s body is touch sensitive

Breathing and Circulation

• Different parts of the body require different amounts of blood
• Arteries carry oxygen, veins waste carbon-dioxide
• Most cats are blood type A

Consuming and Elimanating

• Meat is a vital part of a cat’s diet
• A cat’s teeth and togue are perfect tools for its carnivorous diet
• The digestive system is adapted to eating little and often

Ensuring the Future

• Puberty in cats occurs in five to nine months
• Unneutered males are always ready to mate
• Feline mating can be a noisy, aggressive affair

Immunity

• The immune system defends the body from disease
• Sometimes the immune system misinterprets instructions
• Allergies and auto-immune diseases in cats are on the rise

Let us draw the curtains open.

1, Persian Cat

Picture Credits: https://www.petmd.com/cat/care/what-you-need-know-bringing-home-persian-cat

Sublime beauty is how a Persian is best presented.

The Long hair Persian cat’s first documented ancestors were imported from Persia into Italy in 1620 and from there to France. For the next 200 years, their descendants were status symbol pets in Britain. In the late 1800s, the Persian was developed within the guidelines of Harrison Weir’s breed standards, and by the early 1900s, it was recognized by all registries.

 the Persian cat is the quietest and least active cat breed and the one most likely to accept other cabs into its home. However, the Longhair will guard its territory and catch prey surprisingly easily. 

The coat needs daily care and weighs 3.5 27 kg. By temperament, it is an interested observer.

• Head The head is massive, round, and broad 
• Eyes The eyes are large, round, and widely spaced.
• Ears Ears are small, round-tipped, and set low in the head 
• Body the body is large and cobby with good muscling. 
• Coat The coat is long and thick without being wooly. 
• Tail The tail is full and short but not disproportionally so.

The CFA’s best cat of the year in 2014 was a calico Persian.

2. Birman

Picture Credits: https://www.catster.com/cats-101/all-about-the-birman-cat-breed

Birmans are striking beauties.

Daily grooming is a must.

Their heritage is not known.

The Birman is a strikingly marked breed whose silky hair requires daily grooming. Neutered males demand attention, while neutered females can be bossy.

At the end of World War II, to perpetuate the breed, which had only two living, they were outcrossed. Outbreeding brings about hereditary problems but other than skin and nerve disorders, nothing further was reported.

Tradition has it that Birmans descended from the temple cats of Burma, specifically from Sita, a pregnant female brought to France in 1919.

They can weigh between 4.5 to8 kg and are temperamentally friendly and reserved.

• Head They have rounded and broad faces with full cheeks and strong chins,
• Eyes Deep blue color and almost round.
• Ears Medium-sized and well-spaced.
• Coat Silky.
• Tail Full and evenly colored.

3. Abyssinian

Picture Credits: https://pixabay.com/photos/abyssinian-kittens-abyssinian-cat-4921486/

The Abyssinian is of North African origin and one of the top 5 breeds in North America. They are attention-seeking athletes.

This breed’s coat is perfect camouflage in Noth Africa’s sunburnt habitat. The founding cats were brought from Abyssinia (now Ethiopia) in1860s and adapted in the 1862s. The breed was almost extinct in Britain in the early 1990s. But by 1930, it was established in the US. They are now among the top five.

This breed’s ticked coat pattern is due to a gene that gives each hair several bands evenly spread on a lighter background. Although Abyssinians are almost silent, Their personalities are far from quiet.: they are natural climbers, athletes, and investigators. Occasionally they can suffer inherited forms of retinal atrophy, blindness more common in dogs.4.5 to 7 kg and have an attention-demanding temperament/

They weigh around 4.7 to 5 kgs and temperantly can be best describes as attention demanding.

• Head It has a wedge-shaped face.
• Eyes Rounded, almond-shaped eyes; dark rims set in “spectacles” of lighter hair.
• Ears Large and cupped, ideally with tufted tips.
• Body Medium-sized and muscular
• Coat Close-lying, fine but not soft.
• Tail Generally tapering; the same length as the body.

4. Bombay

Picture Credits: https://www.bombaycat.eu/

The Bombay is a heat-seeking feline.

It has a low-maintenance coat and resembles a black panther.

In the 1950s, a Kentuck breeder tried to create a “mini black panther” from black American Shorthairs. By the 1960s, she had produced cats with black coats, muscular bodies, rounded heads, and copper eyes. Bombay was recognized in 1976.

This majestic beast thrives on human company and is a real heat–seeker. The Bombay’s brilliant copper-colored eyes can fade or turn slightly green with age, while the jet-black coat is almost maintenance-free: a rubdown with a chamois, or even your hand, is all that is needed to keep its sheen. Although the litters are large. Bombay remains rare, especially outside North America.

Bombays weigh around 2.5 to 5 kg and have a genial, relaxed, and gregarious personality

• Head Rounded in all aspects with a short to medium muzzle
• Eyes Wide at the base with rounded tips.
• Ears Close-lying with sain-like structure
• Body Large, rounded, and widely spaced
• Tail Medium length and thickness

5. Selkirk Rex

Picture Credits: https://www.vetstreet.com/cats/selkirk-rex

In 1987, In Montana, a female calico kitten was born, the only one in a litter of seven to have curly hair and whiskers. Miss DePesto, as she was called, was bred, and three in her litter of six had curly coats, indicating that the rexed coat was genetically dominant. The breed recognized by the TICA, was named after the nearby Selkirk mountains.

Rexing is apparent in the soft coat of this breed immediately after birth, but then it disappears, only to appear at eight to ten months. While the coat needs routine grooming, excessive brushing straightens the hair. Selkirks come in two versions, the plush shorthair and the more dramatic longhair. In body shape, these cats resemble the British Shorthair.

They weigh 3-5 kgs and are temperamental and patiently tolerant.

• Head Rounded with a distinct stop to nose, full-cheeked.
• Eyes Round and widely spaced.
• Ears Medium and pointed. Set well apart.
• Body Medium in build, coddy, with good musculature.
• Coat Thick, medium length, in loose curls.
• Tail Thick, tapering to a rounded tip.

6. Balinese

Picture Credits: https://www.zooplus.co.uk/magazine/cat/cat-breeds/balinese

A Balinese is a remarkable escape artist. They are Longhaired Siamese and delicate as a dancer.

A Longhaired Siamese was registered with the CFA in Britain in 1928, but it was only in the 1950s that a program began in the US to breed them. Longhaired Siamese was recognized in 1961 and named Balinese by a breeder who thought the cats reminded her of Balinese temple dancers. The breed arrived in Europe in the mid-1970s.

Happiest at the center of activity or investigating cupboards and shopping bags, the Balinese is also superb escape artists. A talkative cat, it sometimes appears, like it’s cousin, the Siamese, to talk to itself. 

The Balinese do not have very long hair, and from a distance, some might be mistaken for a Siamese were it not for the graceful plume of a tail.

A Balinese weighs 2.5 to 5 kg. By temperament, they are energetic and exhibitionist.

• Head Long and wedge-shaped, with elegant lines.
• Eyes Widely spaced and Oriental in shape and set.
• Ears Large, broad at the base, and pricked.
• Body Medium-sized, lithe and graceful.
• Coat Medium-long, delicate and silky, lying flat.
• Tail Long and plumed.

7. Siamese

Picture Credits: https://www.purina.co.uk/find-a-pet/cat-breeds/siamese

Siamese are chatty cats. They reach sexual maturity early and are elegant beauties.

Siamese originated in a mutation in Asia more than 500 years ago. Revered by Buddhist monks and royalty in Siam (now Thailand), they made their way to the West in the late 19th century. The breed remains the most popular CFA shorthair. New colors and tabby stripes have augmented the original four Siamese colors since the 1960s.

In recent decades, selective breeding has altered Siamese cats considerably. Indeed, some early standards’ requirements (crossed eyes) are now regarded as faults. Siamese has a svelte body, long, slim legs, and long head. They also have a gregarious, chatty nature: this is the most vocal breed, even strident in its talking. It is also one of the most precocious, often mating by five months of age.

On average, Siamese can weigh 4.6-5 kg. Their temperament is demanding and devoted.

• Head Long, narrowing to muzzle in straight lines, with a long, straight nose.
• Eyes Oriental in shape, slanted in the set.
• Ears Strikingly large, following lines of the face outward.
• Body Medium-sized, long, and svelte.
• Coat Very short and fine, with no undercoat.
• Tail Long, tapering, and free of kinks.

8. Somali

Picture Credits: https://www.aspcapetinsurance.com/resources/somali/

A Somali may be considered s a Longhaired Abyssinian. They are excellent hunters and love the outdoors.

In 1963, a Canadian breeder entered one of her longhaired Abyssinian cats in a local show. The judge, Ken McGill, asked her for one to breed one, and the first official Somali was McGill’s May-Ling Tutsuta. Evelyn Nague, a US Aby breeder, was also developing longhairs, which she named Somalis. By the late 1970s, the breed was fully accepted in North America. Somalis appeared in Europe in the 1980s.

Like its Abyssinian forebear, the Somali has a ticked coat: each hair on its body hs three to twelve bands of color that produce a vibrant shimmer when the cat is in full coat. The striking facial markings resemble eyeliner. The Somali is a natural hunter who thrives on outdoor activities and will only accept confinement if introduced to it early.

They can weigh 3.5 to 5.5 kgs and have a quiet but extrovert temperament.

• Head Moderate wedge, with smooth lines and slight nose-break in profile.
• Eyes Large and almond-shaped; amber, hazel, or green in color
• Ears Wide-set, large, cupped, and tufted.
• Body Medium-sized, lithe, and muscular.
• Coat Soft and fine, medium length.
• Tail Long, with a full brush of hair.

9. Angora

Picture Credits: https://www.petinsurance.com/healthzone/pet-breeds/cat-breeds/turkish-angora/

The Angora was developed in Britain in the 1970s, following the mid-1960s following the mating of a sorrel Abyssinian to a seal-point Siamese in an attempt to produce a Siamese with ticked points. The descendants inherited both the cinnamon trait and the gene for long hair which eventually led to the Angora.

The breed is similar in temperament and type to the Oriental breeds-lively and inquisitive with long and lean limbs. In mainland Europe, it is called Javanese to avoid confusion with the Turkish Angora, but some North American associations use Javanese for certain colors of Balinese. In North America it has been called Oriental Longhair, with the misleading implication that it is descended from the Oriental Shorthair.

It is hoped that Angoras can simply remain Angoras from now on.

Angoras weigh between 2.5 to 5 kgs and are energetic exhibitionists.

• Head Moderate, triangular wedge 
• Eyes Green in all colors of Angora except white.
• Ears Large and following lines of the wedge.
• Body Medium-sized, svelte and muscular.
• Coat Medium length, fine and silky, with no woolly undercoat.
• Tail Long, tapering to a fine end.

10. Japanese Bobtail

Picture Credits: https://www.britannica.com/list/the-10-best-types-of-cat

Japanese bobtails are still very rare outside Japan. They have a tail like a pom-pom and their motto appears to be “entertain me or else!”

Examples of short-and-longhaired Bobtails can be found in Japanese art going back over the last three centuries. A natural variant of the shorthaired Japanese Bobtail, these longhaired cats would have an advantage in the cold climate of Japan’s northernmost areas.

Shorthaired Bobtails were brought to the United States in 1968, carrying with them the longhaired gene, which was noticed in the early 1970s. It has yet to gain recognition in Britain.

This sociable and inquisitive breed exists throughout Japan. The short tail, which makes a full, fluff pompom, does not carry spinal or bone deformities with it. Highly gregarious, The Japanese Bobtail is easily bored and, when bored, can be mischievously destructive.

They weigh between 2.5 and 4 kgs with a vibrantly alert temperament.

• Head Broad, with noticeable whisker-dip and gentle dip at eye level in profile
• Eyes Large and oval, with definite slant when viewed in profile
• Ears Large, set wide apart and upright
• Body Long, straight, and slender, but well muscled
• Coat Semi-long, soft and silky
• Tail Short pompom, either straight or curled

Author’s Note

Content to a large part taken from The Cat Owner’s Manual by Dr. Bruce Fogel with kind permision.