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 in the United States (estimated at 68 million in 1996 refernce- (Feline) kings of the castle. By: Cravatta, Matthew. American Demographics, Aug97, Vol. 19 Issue 8, p30, 2p, 1c; (AN 9710132348))belong to a cat breed, and an even smaller percentage of those are suitable as show cats. As in other domestic animals, such as dogs, purebred animals are registered by organizations that set breed standards for cats. In order to register an individual kitten with a cat fancy association, the kitten must have two parents of the same breed - both registered with that same organization, and meet the breed standard.
In the case of dogs, breeds have been widely recognized for centuries and are selected for a number of body traits, coat colors, hair textures, and even complex behaviors such as pointing the tail at hunting prey or retrieving. The domestic cat has a smaller range of variable characteristics that the domestic dog, and so the difference in average size between the biggest healthy individuals of the largest cat breed (the Maine Coon), and the tiniest healthy individuals of the smallest cat breed (the Korat) is on an order of 3 (in terms of lean weight), wheras the same relationship in dogs is something like a 100.
Some biologists have speculated that cat breeds are really only a matter of different coloring, except for a few structural features, like the concave face of an extreme Persian. Stephen Budiansky, in expressing this view, has said " genetically, any given cat breed represents nothing more than the fixing of a particular few of the color and coat genes in a breeding line so that they are passed on consistently to the offspring" (reference for quote: The Character of Cats: The Origins, Behavior, and Strategems of Felis silvestris catus Viking, Penguin Group, New York, 2002, ISBN 0-670-03093-7, page 60)
In Europe and North America, the whole concept of cat breeds is a relatively new one. Two hundred years ago there was no such thing, however today there are almost a hundred cat breeds. Varieties of domestic cat.
See selective breeding for more in-depth detail on purebred animals.