{"id":634666,"date":"2024-08-02T10:00:32","date_gmt":"2024-08-02T14:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/?p=634666"},"modified":"2024-08-17T03:56:38","modified_gmt":"2024-08-17T07:56:38","slug":"lets-hear-it-for-the-moggies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/felines-weekly\/lets-hear-it-for-the-moggies\/","title":{"rendered":"Let\u2019s Hear It For the Moggies! An Ode to Mixed-Breed Cats"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hi, I\u2019m Dr. Karyn!\u00a0Read my introduction<\/a>\u00a0to learn more about me and meet my five hilarious cats: Clutch, Cyril, Alex, Zelda, and Zazzles.<\/strong><\/p>\n

You know that feeling of rage you get when someone refers to your pet as \u201cjust a dog\u201d or \u201cjust a cat\u201d? Well, I feel the same way when someone uses the phrase \u201cjust a moggie\u201d. If you\u2019re not familiar with the term, \u2018moggie\u2019 is basically the feline version of mongrel. They are also known as Domestic Shorthair, Domestic Medium hair, or Domestic Long haired cats. Whether they are a DSH, DMH, or DSH, there is nothing \u2018just\u2019 about these marvelous cats.<\/p>\n

There are five cats in my house and not a purebred among them. I don\u2019t have anything against a pedigree puss, but I\u2019ve always been a sucker for the less ostentatious feline variety.<\/p>\n

\"Torti
Torti Zazzles<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Over the many millennia that they have deigned humans worthy of their company, cats have mostly been spared the major physical manipulations that selective breeding has bestowed on dogs. In the vast majority of cases, feline breeds are largely differentiated by their coats and temperaments, with relatively few alterations to their anatomy. With the exception of the squishy-faces of Persians, cartilage abnormalities of Scottish Folds<\/a>, and dwarfism in the Munchkin breed, most cats have the same basic form and function. But, as with any animal that has been selectively bred, there are also some invisible traits that are seen more commonly in purebreds, such as cardiac disease in Maine Coons, diabetes in the Burmese, and kidney disease in Persian cats.<\/p>\n

So when asked the question \u201cwhich cat breed is considered to be the healthiest?\u201d my answer is always going to be the moggie.<\/p>\n

\"Clutch
White Clutch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s All About Hybrid Vigor<\/b><\/h2>\n

When a population of cats is allowed to breed without interference, the ultimate result is, quite literally, the opposite of inbreeding. The cats that win the right to reproduce are the healthiest individuals with the strongest genetics, which means that the physical traits that we humans might prefer are rapidly diluted within a few generations. The resultant population contains a mixture of genes that give the greatest chance of survival, and this is known as \u2018hybrid vigor\u2019 – strength through outbreeding.<\/p>\n

If you look at a population of feral cats<\/a> – and I\u2019m talking about proper, free-ranging cats, not just the local strays – you might notice that they tend to be mostly short or medium haired, with tabbies, tortoiseshells, black, and white being the most common colors seen. The genes for these coat colors are dominant, so when cats aren\u2019t being selected for breeding from a limited gene pool, they will eventually take over.<\/p>\n

\"Ginger
Ginger Alex flanked by Cyril and Clutch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

House of the Dominant Genes<\/b><\/h2>\n

In my little gang, we have all the dominant coat colors represented:<\/p>\n