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katzenzeitung
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Size - Body structure - Structure - Type
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 | Why do such descriptions exist in dogs, but in cats not? One of the standard answers is: But dogs fulfill another function, they are working dogs, guard dogs, hunting dogs, etc. This answer is very superficial and is not really correct. Many dog breeds are companion or so called toy dogs, their only use is to accompany humans, as cats also do. |
| Is it unimportant in cats to know, what their minimum weight
shall be? One standard answer is: But cats are not judged according to their weight, they are judged according to their entire appearance and proportions. Also this answer is very superficial and convenient. If one looks for example at several breeds, like Abyssinian, Birman, Persian, etc., one has to realize that these breeds have become smaller significantly over the last years, and thus also have become lighter. When a Persian male had 7-9 kilos 10 years ago, and Persians had been a large breed, as it is written in the standard, modern typed Persians have become significantly smaller, and a Persian male has now 6-7 kilos (if it has so much). |
| Is it obviously more difficult in cats to define such weight
ranges? One has to raise the question, why it is possible in dogs to define such weight ranges, and why it is not possible in cats. It is a simple question to collect statistical data about the various cat breeds over a certain period to define an average weight or a minimum weight. But the cat world has its problems, when it comes to statistics, one does not like to hear the word 'statistics'. Why and wherefore? |
| It is also quite interesting that weighing tables are made in
kittens with an astonishing accuracy. And that has its well founded
reasons, as weight increase is an important indicator, if kittens
develop healthy. But, in adult cats over sudden it is not so important to know about their weight and to have minimum weights for them. |
Body structure, size and weight are connected to each other.
| A firmer more solid bone structure means also more weight. For example: Birmans shall have a solid bone structure. When looking at many Birmans of today, they are too small and light built like a feather. |
| A fine delicate bone structure means less weight. For example: Abyssinians shall be medium-sized cats. When looking at the modern typed Abyssinians, the cats are rather small than medium-sized, and significantly built finer than their standard indicates. |
| Large cats are usually heavier than small cats. For example: British Shorthair shall be medium to large in size and shall have a solid bone structure. When looking at several silver tabby British Shorthair, they are not medium in size, they are quite small and too light built. However, this colour variety wins frequently in shows, because one is impressed by their attractive and striking pattern and colour. |
| One can draw some conclusions about the bone structure based on
the weight, if the structure corresponds to the standard. But, that is not correct! A heavy cat might be 'fat' or 'thick'. This article does not deal with overweight cats, which are fed to death by their owners due to their misled love for animals and lack of consequence. For example: The Norwegian Forest Cat shall have a solid and strong bone structure, as it corresponds to a 'Forest Cat'. However, cats with a straight profile and a long wedge shaped head do win quite frequently in shows, despite they are too small and too fine built, even points are allotted to bone structure in the scale of points of many organizations. |
| Males shall be larger than females in almost all standards, and
thus also shall be heavier. For example: Persian males of modern type look very often feminine, and it is somewhat difficult to see a difference to females. Even in several organizations the same amount of points is allotted to the head and the body, the head will count more, if it has a domed forehead, oversized eyes and an extremely short nose. It is unimportant, if one has problems quite often to see a difference between a male and a female. |
Which size do several cat breeds have?
When reading in the standards of the various organizations, one is surprised that not for all breeds the size is stated, how large that specific breed should be.
| Breed | CFA | TICA | FIFe | ACF | WCF |
| Abyssinian | medium in size | The overall impression
of the ideal Abyssinian / Somali is a medium cat. Does medium cat also mean medium in size, or does it mean medium proportions? |
Body: medium built,
medium long There is no statement about the size. |
Body: Medium build There is no statement about the size. |
medium in size |
| Bengal | not recognized | It is a medium to large cat. | General: Size: medium to large | CONFORMATION: It is medium to large. | a cat of medium to large size |
| Birman | no statement about the size | medium to large in stature | General: Size: medium in size | Body: Medium weight There is no statement about the size. |
a cat of medium size |
| British Shorthair | BODY: medium to large | Boning: Substantial. Large to medium. | General: Size: large to medium | Body: Large to medium in size | a cat of medium to large size |
| Burmese | GENERAL: The overall impression of the ideal Burmese would be a cat of medium size. | The overall impression of the ideal Burmese would be a cat of medium size. | General: Size: medium | Body of medium length and size. | The body is medium in size and length. |
| Chartreux | BODY: Females are medium; males are large. | BODY: Size in females medium; males large. | General: Size: medium to large | Body: Medium in size | a cat of medium size |
| Cornish Rex | Body: small to medium in size | BODY: Small to medium in size | General: Size: medium | no statement about the size | an elegant cat of medium size |
| Devon Rex | no statement about the size | no statement about the size | General: Size: medium | no statement about the size | The body is medium in size and length. |
| Maine Coon | BODY: Size medium to large. | The Maine Coon is a large breed. |
General: Size: large | Body: medium to large in size | a cat of large to very large size |
| Manx | Body: medium in size | BODY: medium-sized body. | General: Size: medium | Body: medium in size | a cat of medium size |
| Norwegian Forest Cat | Body: Males should be
large and imposing; females may be more refined and may be
smaller.
How large are females now? |
A Norwegian Forest is large to medium-large size. | General: Size: large | Size: large | a cat of medium to large size |
| Persian | BODY: Large or medium in size. | Body: Medium to large in size. | General: Size: medium to large | Body: Large or medium in size. | a cat of large to medium size |
| Russian (Blue) | no statement about the size | no statement about the size | no statement about the size | no statement about the size | a slightly elongated cat of medium size |
| Scottish Fold | BODY: medium Does medium also mean medium in size, or does it mean medium proportions? |
The shorthair is medium
in size. And the longhair? |
not recognized | Body: medium Does medium also mean medium in size, or does it mean medium proportions? |
a cat of medium to large size |
| Siamese | GENERAL: the ideal Siamese is a medium sized cat. | Body: Medium-sized. | General: Size: medium | Body: Medium in size | an elegant cat of medium size |
| Singapura | GENERAL: small to medium sized muscular bodied cat. | Overall impression of the ideal Singapura is a medium to small, compact cat. | not recognized | Body: Small to medium overall size cat. | a relatively small cat |
| Sphynx | The Sphynx is of medium size. | Body: Medium in size | General: Size: medium | Body: Size: Medium. | a cat of medium size |
| Turkish Angora | Body: medium size | Body: Medium-sized. | General: Size: medium
size for females; males are slightly larger How large are males now? |
not recognized | a cat of medium size |
| Turkish Van | no statement about the size | Torso: Size is large and
imposing in males, females proportionately less so. How large are females now? |
no statement about the size | no statement about the size | a cat of medium to large size |
These are only some breeds. But however, one can see already in this table the following peculiarities:
| In several breeds there is no statement about their size. They may be small, medium in size, or large. |
| Very often the size for the entire cat is not given, but only for the body. |
| In British Shorthair there seems to be no common sense, if it shall be medium to large in size, or if shall be large to medium in size. The sequence shows a certain preference, which size should be preferred. |
| In females sometimes no size is given, except that they are smaller than males. Such a statement does not tell us anything about the size! |
| The Bengal shall be medium to large in size. Where are the large Bengals in the shows? |
| For the Turkish Angora, which is significantly finer built than the Turkish Van, a size is given. In Turkish Van small, medium-sized, and large cats have to be accepted, because the majority of organizations does not give any statement about the size. |
| Also in Persians there seem to be no common sense. Shall they be primarily large or medium in size? One may see that there is no common sense about the size in the different sequencing of wording: medium or large in size - here both options are left open, medium to large in size, large to medium in size. |
| Only the WCF is consequent and give a size for each breed. |
Terms used to describe the size
| Size | Remarks | ||||||||||
| medium in size | When comparing the
breeds of medium size with each other, the term "medium in size"
is very flexible. One has to raise some questions:
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| large | When comparing the large
breeds to each other, one has to raise the following questions:
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| medium to large in size |
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| large to medium in size |
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| small | Are there also small cat
breeds? Or are all breeds at least medium in size?
When looking at the breeds in the table above, one may notice 2
breeds, which may also be small:
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| small to medium in size |
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There have to be raised many questions, if one looks at the description of the size given for the various breeds.
Medium in size seems to be not the same as medium in size in various cat breeds.
Referring to the standards of the dogs: One may get a clear picture
from the size, how large a specific dog breed shall be, because the
height at withers is given here.
And, why can this not be achieved also in cats?
Continued: Part 2 What is structure - build of body?
© katzenzeitung 6/2007
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© 2007-2008 katzenzeitung - All rights reserved.