Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Cat breed
A cat breed is an infrasubspecific rank for the classification of domestic cats. A cat is considered to be of a certain cat breed if it is true breeding for the traits that define that breed. Only three percent of owned cats belong to a cat breed, and an even smaller percentage of those are suitable as show cats. A breeding certificate proves that a cat belongs to a cat breed by showing the cat's pedigree back to at least four generations. The whole concept of cat breeds is a relatively new one. Two hundred years ago there was no such thing. Today there are almost a hundred cat breeds. Varieties of domestic cat can also be identified by characteristics other than breed.
See selective breeding for more indepth detail on purebred animals.
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