Typical domestic shorthaired cat. This cat has a black mackerel tabby coat.

A Domestic shorthaired cat is the proper name for a shorthaired cat that does not have a pedigree or belong to a recognised cat breed.

Domestic shorthaired cats are characterised by a wide range of colouring and typically 'revert to type' after a few generations, which means they express their coats as a tabby. This can be any colour or combination of colours. They also exhibit a wide range of physical characteristics, and as a result, domestic shorthaired cats in different countries tend to look different in body shape and size, as they are working from differing gene pools. However, they are all recognizable as cats, and any male (tom) cat could successfully breed with any other female (queen), meaning they are the same species.

See also

• Cat coat genetics