About Catopedia
Catopedia is a free bilingual (Vietnamese - English) encyclopedia about cats, for people who live with cats, plan to adopt one, or simply love them.
Content and sources
Every breed page is written by Catopedia from the standards of the major cat registries (the organisations that keep pedigree records and set each breed’s standard, such as CFA in the US or GCCF in the UK), veterinary and welfare organisations, and published research. Every fact is cited at the bottom of the page. Wikipedia is used as a reference only; no text is copied. Not sure what an abbreviation means? See the glossary below.
Photos
Cat photos come from Wikimedia Commons (Wikipedia’s free media library), using only licences that allow free reuse (CC0, public domain, CC BY, CC BY-SA), always crediting the author and licence. See Photo credits & licences.
Health information
Content is for reference only and does not replace a veterinary diagnosis.
Glossary
Abbreviations and technical words you will meet on Catopedia, explained in plain language.
Cat registries
- CFA (Cat Fanciers' Association)
- The world's largest registry of pedigree cats, based in the US. It keeps pedigree records, writes breed standards and runs cat shows.
- TICA (The International Cat Association)
- An international cat registry based in the US and one of the largest. It often recognizes newer breeds before CFA does.
- FIFe (Fédération Internationale Féline)
- The International Feline Federation, an umbrella body of cat clubs, mostly in Europe.
- GCCF (Governing Council of the Cat Fancy)
- The UK's oldest pedigree cat registry (since 1910).
- WCF (World Cat Federation)
- The World Cat Federation, based in Germany, an umbrella body for cat clubs in many countries.
Vet and welfare organisations
- iCatCare (International Cat Care)
- A UK charity dedicated to cat health and welfare.
- AAFP (American Association of Feline Practitioners)
- The US association of cat-focused vets; it writes care guidelines for veterinarians.
- ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals)
- A US animal welfare charity that also runs a pet poison helpline.
- WSAVA (World Small Animal Veterinary Association)
- The world association of small-animal vets; it publishes global nutrition and vaccination guidelines.
- VetCompass
- A Royal Veterinary College research programme that studies anonymised records from hundreds of UK vet clinics.
Health terms
- HCM (Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy)
- A heart disease where the heart wall thickens; the most common heart disease in cats.
- PKD (Polycystic kidney disease)
- Inherited kidney disease where fluid-filled cysts grow in the kidneys; a gene test exists.
- PRA (Progressive retinal atrophy)
- An inherited eye disease that slowly worsens sight and can lead to blindness.
- FIP (Feline infectious peritonitis)
- A serious disease caused by a mutated feline coronavirus; needs a vet.
- FLUTD (Feline lower urinary tract disease)
- Problems of the bladder and urethra: painful, difficult or bloody urination.
- FIV (Feline immunodeficiency virus)
- A virus that weakens the immune system, spread mainly by bites in cat fights; not contagious to people.
- FeLV (Feline leukaemia virus)
- A virus spread through saliva between cats (grooming, sharing bowls, bites); a vaccine exists.
- BAER (Brainstem auditory evoked response)
- A quick, painless test that measures the brain’s response to sound to check whether a cat can hear.
- Brachycephaly
- Having a flat face and short nose; can cause breathing trouble, runny eyes and difficulty eating.
- Pyruvate kinase deficiency
- An inherited condition that makes red blood cells break down, causing bouts of anaemia; a gene test exists.
- Osteochondrodysplasia
- Abnormal cartilage and bone growth causing painful, stiff joints and tail; linked to the folded-ear gene.
- Brachycephalic
- A flat face and short nose; can cause breathing trouble, runny eyes and difficulty eating.
Genetics and statistics
- Colorpoint
- A pale body with darker face, ears, legs and tail, like a Siamese.
- Ticked coat
- Each hair has alternating light and dark bands, so the coat looks flecked rather than striped.
- Cobby
- A short, compact, sturdy body with a broad chest and short legs.
- F1, F2…
- Generations from the wild ancestor: an F1 has a wild parent (such as a serval), an F2 a wild grandparent.
- Autosomal
- The gene is not on a sex chromosome, so males and females are equally likely to inherit it.
- DNA
- The genetic material in cells; a DNA test shows whether a cat carries a disease gene.
- Median
- The middle value: half the cats lived shorter than this, half lived longer.
- Interquartile range
- The middle spread of the data: the middle half of the cats fall in this range.
- Pedigree
- A record of a pedigree cat's ancestors over several generations, issued by a registry.
- Dominant gene
- One copy from either parent is enough for the trait to show.
- Recessive gene
- The trait only shows when a cat gets the gene from both parents; carriers look normal.
- Outcross
- Breeding with another breed or a house cat to widen the gene pool and improve health.