Cat Breed Assessment Guide: From Breed Standards to Practical Experience, Help You Become a Cat Breeding Expert

Cat Breed Assessment Guide: From Breed Standards to Practical Experience, Help You Become a Cat Breeding Expert

Assessing the breed of a cat is like evaluating a painting, seemingly simple, but it actually requires a discerning eye and rich experience. For breeders, mastering cat breed assessment skills is crucial, as it not only helps you accurately identify the strengths and weaknesses of your cats, but also guides you in developing scientific breeding plans, breeding excellent cat offspring, and finding the right owners for your cats.

Why is it so important to assess the breed of a cat?

Scientific Breeding: Accurate assessment can help breeders establish sound breeding plans, select excellent cats for mating, and improve and enhance the overall breed of cats in the cattery.
Rational Selection: Assessment results can help breeders decide which cats are suitable for breeding and which are suitable for sale, maximizing the value of each cat.
Price Reference: An objective assessment of the cat's breed can provide potential buyers with clear reference information and provide a basis for the cat's price.

Learning to classify cat breeds: from beginner to expert

Learning how to score and rate cats is not a one-day process. For beginners, mastering the following key steps can quickly enhance your assessment skills:

1. Start with Breed Standards

Familiarizing yourself with the breed standards of the cats you are breeding is the cornerstone of assessing cat breeds. It is recommended that you refer to the standards of different associations and observe award-winning cats from different years to learn the characteristics of excellent cats.

CFA Breed Standards: You can refer to the CFA official website or related books to learn CFA breed standards and pay attention to CFA official cat shows to observe award-winning cats.
Standards of other associations: In addition to CFA, other associations such as TICA, GCCF, etc. also have their own breed standards, which can be referred to.

2. Develop a Scoring List

Create a detailed assessment list, breaking down the scoring for each part of the breed standard and adding other factors that you think are important to the breeding plan. For example, you can add scoring for temperament, health, etc.

Detailed scoring: Refine each characteristic to 1-10 score levels for a more accurate assessment of the cat.
Record scores: Record the score results for each cat and record the reasons for the score for future reference.
Regular assessment: Regularly assess each litter of kittens and record score changes to track the cat's growth trajectory.

3. Take Photos for Records

Take photos of your cats regularly, from birth to weaning, then to adulthood, taking photos every so often. Photos can visually record the cat's growth process, helping you more clearly understand the changes in the cat's breed.

Record growth: Organize photos and score results into documents for future comparison and analysis.
Predict development: By observing photos and score records, you can predict the future development trend of the cat.
Bloodline analysis: By comparing cats from the same litter or bloodline, you can analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the bloodline and develop a more reasonable breeding plan.

4. Compare and Analyze

After each photo session, use your assessment list to re-rate your cat and compare the new rating to the previous rating.

Score changes: Observe the trend of score changes and analyze the direction of improvement in the cat's breed.
Keep selection: Assessment results can help you adjust your selection of cats to keep.
Predict potential: Through score changes, you can predict the cat's future development possibilities.

5. Practice Makes Perfect

Assessing cats requires a lot of practical experience, the more you practice, the more accurate your assessment skills will be.

Assess other cats: You can try to assess the cats of other breeders, especially cats from different bloodlines than yours, which can help you gain more experience.
Keep learning: Continuously learn and stay abreast of the latest breeding information to continually improve your assessment skills.

Cat Breed Grading

Common cat breed grades include:

Pet Grade: Primarily for pet keeping, not suitable for breeding.
Breeding Grade: Can be bred, but may have some breed defects.
Show Grade: Meet breed standards and can participate in cat shows.
High Show: Excellent breed, able to win excellent results in cat shows.

It should be noted that breeders may have different definitions of breed grades, but using the same labels is generally beneficial for communication and communication.

Impact of Popular Factors

Cats with certain specific appearances may be more popular in competition, which can become a trend in a breed, which in turn affects how different people assess the same kitten.

Personal preference: Each person has a different understanding and aesthetic standard of cat beauty and cuteness.
Domestic standards: In recent years, domestic cat breeding levels have been steadily improving, and new breed standards may emerge in the future.

Summary of Experience

Assessing cat breeds is a continuous process of learning and accumulating experience, requiring you to constantly observe, analyze, compare, and summarize. Ultimately, breeders who are able to accurately assess cat breeds are not only able to breed excellent cat offspring, but also able to find suitable owners for their cats, ensuring that the beautiful companionship of cats continues.

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