Help! What breed is this!

[silkieloverz123]

Unless people are in the habit of dumping rare, expensive, intact purebred cats at barns, he has no recent purebred ancestry. His parents would be mixes, their parents would be mixes, and he definitely a mix. You didn't see a Siamese, you saw a pointed cat. That is a color, not a breed. That would be like calling any calico or tortoiseshell cat a special breed, when they're not. If you truly want to know what might be mixed in there, you can spring for a Cat Ancestry genetic test. You order their kit, get a good cheek swab using the included supplies, and send it off.

Because he is not purebred, there are no specific health concerns you can look out for. Just keep in mind the normal ones for any cat. Get into the habit of brushing his teeth now, to prevent gingivitis. I wish I'd gotten my housecat as a kitten so it wasn't such a battle to get her teeth done everyday. Feed him a high quality wet food. Or if you want to take it up a higher notch, a balanced raw meat diet (either ground, frankenprey, or whole prey. Whole means you don't have to worry about organ meat and bone ratio)

Why wet? Domestic cats are obligate carnivores who were domesticated from desert cats. That means two things, they need a diet of only animal protein, and they get nearly all of their water needs from their food. Dry cat food is full of plant carbohydrates (even the high quality kinds still need to use some plant matter a binder), and it will also lead to chronic dehydration. A cat will never drink enough water from a bowl, sink, or fountain to make up for what they aren't getting on a dry diet. Under hydration leads to renal problems, such as infections, crystals, and stones.

Dry food is also not good for their teeth. Don't let people convince you that wet will rot their teeth. Dry will equally rot their teeth. Just like eating potato chips doesn't clean you teeth, eating dry food won't clean their teeth. What will clean their teeth is a soft toothbrush and some feline toothpaste, no matter what they eat. A raw diet with whole prey or bone in frankenprey will clean teeth some, too. If you've ever seen a cat gnaw a raw rabbit haunch to bits, the raw bone really scrapes their teeth well.

He gets wet and dry. Meow mix and Purina. I just wanted to know if you saw characteristics of a certain more strongly. I understand that his heritage with being a barn cat would be nearly impossible.

 

[Stacykins]

He gets wet and dry. Meow mix and Purina. I just wanted to know if you saw characteristics of a certain more strongly. I understand that his heritage with being a barn cat would be nearly impossible.

The dry Purina and Meow mix are perhaps the worst things you can feed for long term health. Look at the ingredients. Then compare the ingredients to a food like Evo or Orijen. You'll see no grains in the latter two, and meat in the first ingredients. Cats are obligate carnivores, not cattle. They should never have corn or wheat in their diets.

The wet versions are...better. At least they do something for hydration. They still have flour grains in there, but meat will be on the top of the ingredients list (normally in the form of by products).

 

[silkieloverz123]

The dry Purina and Meow mix are perhaps the worst things you can feed for long term health. Look at the ingredients. Then compare the ingredients to a food like Evo or Orijen. You'll see no grains in the latter two, and meat in the first ingredients. Cats are obligate carnivores, not cattle. They should never have corn or wheat in their diets.

The wet versions are...better. At least they do something for hydration. They still have flour grains in there, but meat will be on the top of the ingredients list (normally in the form of by products).

Okay i have never heard of Evo or Orijen. What about Blue? And should i just take him completely off dry and give him only wet?

 

[silkieloverz123]

He sure is a cutie! It's a possibility that he has what is termed "fever" coat in which case there's a good chance he'll shed the gray and end up a beautiful, black cat. Good luck with him; he already looks like he has quite the personality.

Oh boy. I just looked up fever coat and it seems to be an illness contracted when the baby is the utero. Should i be concerned about him being ill? He seems to be perfectly healthy besides the fleas. And he will be fixed and vaccinated when he comes of age so there arent and poor little babies from him.

 

[silkieloverz123]

Sorry for muli-posting but i was also wandering what i do should about the fleas. We have given him several baths with Dawn original and picked and killed them with tweezers but we can seem to get them all.

 

[Trefoil]

There are many routes to go about getting/keeping rid of fleas. Once he's older than 8 weeks flea collar or monthly drops are probably the best. If he's an indoor cat you probably only need to do this for a couple of weeks until the fleas in you house and on him are all gone.

 

[silkieloverz123]

There are many routes to go about getting/keeping rid of fleas. Once he's older than 8 weeks flea collar or monthly drops are probably the best. If he's an indoor cat you probably only need to do this for a couple of weeks until the fleas in you house and on him are all gone.

Thats the problem we dont know how old he is but the vet said he isnt old enough for the drops. How much are flea collars?

 

[Naliez]

Stay away from anything from "Hartz". I always bought flea drops from the vet and they're so expensive, I thought I'd save a couple bucks one month by picking up Hartz flea drops at Walmart. That weekend, I spent $800 at the vet. The flea drops gave my cat seizures and the flea collars can too. My vet said the stuff should be outlawed with as many animals as he's seen get sick from it.

 

[silkieloverz123]

Stay away from anything from "Hartz". I always bought flea drops from the vet and they're so expensive, I thought I'd save a couple bucks one month by picking up Hartz flea drops at Walmart. That weekend, I spent $800 at the vet. The flea drops gave my cat seizures and the flea collars can too. My vet said the stuff should be outlawed with as many animals as he's seen get sick from it.

Wow, sorry to hear that. Its a shame that such popular brands seem to have more issues sometimes. My mom said she had a friend that uses a really popular flea med and her cat actually died. I don't remember brand it was though.

 

[silkieloverz123]

Simon also has been wheezing a little. Any suggestions?