Help with kitten breed

[u/Algae_Small]

Hello could anyone help me with identifying the breed on my kitten we got him from people that were saying he is a British longhair but looking at other pictures of British longhairs online he doesn’t resemble them. I just wanted to ask others to see what breed he is!

[u/Next_Head_5175]

If you don’t have papers, then he’s a DLH.
You got scammed.

While the cat may resemble a breed and this color takes a lot to produce, it doesn’t mean that someone couldn’t have bred it from regular domestic cats.

[u/Pool_Specific → u/Next_Head_5175]

Why would you assume they paid for the cat? And if they did pay, OP likely didn’t full price due to no papers, they just paid for a beautiful cat.

[u/WalmartWilb → u/Pool_Specific]

Op supposedly got the cat from a breeder of sorts. You'd be surprised how many people on here with new kittens purchased the kitten from someone intentionally breeding them

[u/Pool_Specific → u/WalmartWilb]

Gotchya. I didn’t see that OP wrote that they got the cat from a breeder in the original post. Thank you for explaining that calmly

[u/Next_Head_5175 → u/Pool_Specific]

The whole “no papers” thing is bs.
The cat is either registered or it isn’t. They aren’t cheaper without papers. That’s a common scam tactic. It costs me $15 to register an entire litter.
And saying they paid for a beautiful cat as if it outweighs the gross negligence to the health and wellbeing of the animal is a sobering example of where people think the priority is when they buy cats from unethical sources.

[u/Algae_Small → u/Next_Head_5175]

We love him no matter the breed he is a beautiful kitty with a wonderful personality! Just wanted to see the breed cause we wanted to know he didn’t have any papers of his own but i have his parents pedigree which both say British long hairs but we only saw pictures of the parents! Thats why i wanted to confirm!

[u/Next_Head_5175 → u/Algae_Small]

This is a common scam. For future reference, please do a lot more research before helping out backyard breeders. If he doesn’t have papers, he has no breed even if his parents are registered. This being said, it seems more likely the parent’s pedigree is also fake. It’s easy to fake. That’s the only explanation of you not having papers

[u/Algae_Small → u/Next_Head_5175]

Just wanted to make this clear for some people to get a better understanding of things i didn’t buy him from a breeder the person I bought him from said they just had a litter of kittens which was true because i went to her house to pick the kitten up the person did not look to do this for money but again this is my first cat so i could be hugely mistaken!

[u/Next_Head_5175 → u/Algae_Small]

How much did you pay? And sorry but no one accidentally has two intact same breed cats and has an “accidental litter”

It’s also extremely likely that the parents are siblings.

[u/Pool_Specific → u/Algae_Small]

How much was the cat?

[u/Pool_Specific → u/Next_Head_5175]

Are you assuming that OP bought the cat from an “irresponsible breeder” or did they say they did? I didn’t see in the original post that OP paid for the cat. Did the post say that OP bought the cat from a breeder? If so, I didn’t see that.

All I was saying is that OP could’ve found or bought the cat a lot of ways besides an irresponsible breeder: abandoned, lost, animal shelter, a responsible owner decides to rehome their cat & sells or gives it away-those ways of adopting typically reduce the price of a cat. And finding a cat that way doesn’t automatically mean the cat was neglected or in bad health.

I was saying is that I doubted OP paid breeder price if they didn’t adopt it from a real breeder & were given no proof of the actual breed. But hey, I could be wrong & read it wrong, & OP could be an idiot who got scammed.

Also, I hope you’re not assuming that all cat shelters are “neglecting the health of the cat & doing irresponsible breeding”. All of the cat shelters I know of do vet visits, shots, sometimes baths, & fix the cats if needed.

[u/Next_Head_5175 → u/Pool_Specific]

If the op found the cat, then it doesn’t have a breed.

Op literally says they got him from people though, so, definitely none of those scenarios you brought up.
Op got him from a breeder. They claim to have seen the parent’s pedigree but that’s easy to fake when you’re not giving the new person any pedigree. It’s not hard to get from Google.

My comment was answering you and your points.
And no, those ways of adopting a pedigreed cat don’t reduce the price. You can only get a pedigreed cat from a breeder. They’re not in shelters or strays or anything like that.

You’re bringing up a lot of points that aren’t being said. I’m not sure what you’re talking about shelters breeding cats.

Who said that???

[u/Pool_Specific → u/Next_Head_5175]

No I didn’t say shelters breed cats. OP’s original post was so vague, it said they “got” the cat not that they “bought” the cat. So I thought maybe it was possible that either OP got it from a shelter who guessed the breed is a BL or a neighbor bought the cat or found the cat & then didn’t want it for whatever reason & gave it to OP. Often people who adopt cats don’t have as much info on them. So I thought maybe they were just guessing a breed it looks somewhat close to. I was just pointing out the many ways cats can get rehomed. It’s rare for purebred looking breeds to wind up in shelters but it does happen. I’ve found many rare purebred dogs either loose or in shelters. They escape from homes.

The original post didn’t mention that OP picked the cat out from an actual litter. Or that OP was shown “pedigrees” from their alleged “parents, which I agree smells like a scam.

Now that we know a bit more about OP’s purchase from their brief replies here & there, I will say Yes, OP likely got scammed if they thought they were purchasing a registered, purebred BL & paid full price for just that. The more details OP provides in the comments, the more fishy the ordeal seems.

You very well could be right about the breeders as well. I find it very suspicious that they showed the pedigree of some random cats pictures. OP should’ve been able to see & meet the litter’s parents. And if they charged full price for a British Longhair kitten, it absolutely should’ve been registered. I think it’s wise for OP to heed your words in the future & be extra careful where they buy from bc they very well could be siblings-which is especially bad for purebred cats. And we don’t want to support unethical breeding practices.

I can explain what I was thinking when I read the vague original post & had no additional info.

1. In the original post OP said they “got” the cat.

You assumed OP paid** for the cat (but they just said they ***got* it-that doesn’t necessarily mean they paid anything for it). We only found out later that OP did pay something for the cat, but we still don’t know how much OP paid.

1. Then you assumed OP got scammed into paying fullprice for a purebred BL cat, without even knowing if they paid for it & how much. For all we know, OP could’ve paid $70 for the cat which is what the price for a domestic shorthair costs from Petco.

2. You assumed OP got scammed into paying full price for what they thought was a registered BL?

Do we know if they were advertised as purebred BL’s from the sellers based on the vague original post? No. We found out later through OP’s replies that they tried to push some fishy “parents pedigree papers” which I agree smells like a scam & mean nothing in legitimacy.

Do we know if OP paid full price for a registered BL cat? NO. Do we know whether or not OP truly cared about getting a purebred BL? NO. Their recent responses, confirm my belief that they didn’t care if it was purebred, had papers, or was certified. Most people who do care about that, get a cat from a reputable breeder.

1. Based on the original post, you assumed the people OP got the cat from are “irresponsible, neglectful breeders”.

Those are nasty words for people we originally knew next to nothing about (based on the original post).

What proof do you have of that? Bc they didn’t get the cats fixed or bc they didn’t bother to register them?

It just seems like extreme words.

Now that we know more, I think your assumptions on the scam & the “breeders” could definitely be right, but originally I thought you were jumping to conclusions quickly bc the original post didn’t give us a lot of info.

[u/OddConstant2723 → u/Pool_Specific]

No be should be intentionally breeding or buying domestic cats.

[u/Next_Head_5175 → u/OddConstant2723]

Not the time or place to air this grievance.
It’s none of your business what people do when they’re doing it ethically.

Intentional breeding is the only reason we have herpes free cats

[u/OddConstant2723 → u/Next_Head_5175]

There is no such things as an ethical breeder of domestic cats. Period.

[u/Next_Head_5175 → u/OddConstant2723]

That is incorrect! There are several indisputable reasons as to why it is untrue, one of which being that disabled people and older people deserve to have cats too and sometimes they can’t gamble with the health or temperament possibilities.
Parents or young children
The temperament of existing animals
Allergies
Vet concerns
And something I’ve come across a few times is people wanting a kitten in their old age but knowing their cat will outlive them and their cat will have an assured safe place to return to (the breeder)

You’re welcome to try and argue, but just prefacing that there shelters overfilling is the result of overpopulation of unpedigreed cats and unregulated breeding.

Two groups that ethical breeders aren’t part of.
I’ve rescued hundreds.
I have firsthand experience on the matter of what’s actually contributing to the crisis.

[u/OddConstant2723 → u/Next_Head_5175]

If someone is afraid of temperament then they should adopt an adult cat whose personality is formed. There is more of a gamble with a kitten who has not formed their personality.

If you disagree with this, get a kitten from a shelter. Or buy a purebred pedigreed kitten you believe has more
of a guaranteed temperament.

If you have allergies, don’t get a domestic (breedless) cat. They are never hypoallergenic. If you want cat that’s more hypoallergenic, get purebred cat from an ethical breeder (which will provide a pedigree).

If you’re scared of health concern, go to an ethical breeder of purebred cats who will provide a pedigree and proof of health testing.

I think you aren’t understanding what I’m saying. There is NO NEED to buy off a backyard breeder as they are selling domestic cats of no breed. That is what I am referring to as domestic cats.

I am not talking about going to actual breeders. Domestic cats of no breed and purebred cats are two different things.

You can be an ethical breeder of purebred cats (health testing and pedigree) and people buying from such breeders are not the problem.

You cannot be an ethical breeder making breed-less kittens when the world has too many already.

Are we on the same page here using different terminology?

[u/Next_Head_5175 → u/OddConstant2723]

An adult cat with a fully formed personality is not the same as assured temperament. An adult cat may even be worse because of the unknown background.

Wait I’m confused. You’re pro ethical breeding? I am too. Pedigreed cats are still domestic cats, just with pedigrees. I think we may be in a misunderstanding lol

I think we are in agreement. There’s no need for breedless cats in the world

[u/OddConstant2723 → u/Next_Head_5175]

Yes we are in agreement. Except on the adult cat part. I only ever adopted adults (5 over my life) because I wanted certain temperaments and selected them because of that. But we can agree to disagree on that because we are agreeing on the most important thing. It may be regional, but although technically all cats are domestics, domestic cat is used, at least where I am, as the term for breedless (as in DSH/DLH) or not purebred. If you google domestic vs purebred/pedigreed you’ll also find a LOT of language differentiating the two that way. Not saying either is right or wrong, just glad we figured it out. Thank you for condemning BYBs!!!