All breeds
Find the breed that fits you
Check what matters to you and the 61 breeds sort themselves. Two favorites? Put them side by side.
What matters to you?
Grooming
Energy
Personality
Voice
Size
Budget
61 breeds. Check off what matters to you.
Maine Coon“The gentle giant”
Ragdoll“The laid-back lap cat”
Bengal“The living-room leopard”
Siamese“The Meezer”
Persian“The fancy's founding aristocrat”
British Shorthair“The teddy bear”
Sphynx“Canada's hairless cat”
Siberian“Russia's native forest cat”
Savannah“The tall one, by Guinness's own tape”
Munchkin“A normal cat on short legs, per its own standard”
Russian Blue“The Archangel cat”
Bombay“The parlor panther”
Scottish Fold“The round cat with the hard question”
Norwegian Forest Cat“The skogkatt, Norway's own”
Devon Rex“The pixie of the cat fancy”
Oriental Shorthair“The Siamese in every other color”
American Shorthair“America's founding show cat”
Abyssinian“The ticked athlete”
Manx“The Isle of Man's round, tailless original”
Egyptian Mau“The natural sprinter”
Turkish Angora“The ballerina of the cat fancy”
Burmese“The brick wrapped in silk”
Cornish Rex“The greyhound of cats”
Selkirk Rex“The poodle cat (per GWR and TICA) and the cat in sheep's clothing”
Balinese“The Siamese in an evening gown”
Snowshoe“The Snowshoe Siamese (its own honest working nickname)”
Exotic Shorthair“The Persian in pajamas”
Turkish Van“The swimming cat (the nickname needs its breed name attached)”
Ocicat“The wild look with zero wild DNA”
Ragamuffin“The teddy bear from the Ragdoll's own founding story”
Toyger“The toy tiger: a designer mini-tiger with zero tiger blood”
Birman“The Sacred Cat of Burma (the legend, told honestly)”
Chartreux“The smiling blue cat of France”
Somali“The fox cat: TICA's own word for it is 'nickname'”
Lykoi“The werewolf cat (also wolf cat, lycan cat): Greek 'lykos', wolf”
American Curl“The Peter Pan of cats (TICA's own phrase), ears swept back like a wink”
Japanese Bobtail“The pom-pom-tailed cat of Japanese art and, popularly, of the maneki-neko”
Nebelung“The creature of the mist: German Nebel plus the Nibelungenlied saga”
Khao Manee“The Diamond Eye cat: Thai 'khao manee', white gem”
Chausie“The jungle-cat hybrid built for the wild silhouette, not the spots”
Singapura“The Kucinta, Singapore's 'love cat', and one of the smallest breeds alive”
Peterbald“St Petersburg's bald aristocrat: an Oriental frame in five coat classes”
Pixie-bob“The legend cat: a bobcat look on paper-documented domestic genetics”
Korat“The good-luck cat of Thailand”
European Shorthair“Europe's ordinary cat, perfected: a FIFe founding breed since 1949”
Burmilla“The accidental aristocrat (as the story circulates, not as a fact)”
Tonkinese“The aqua-eyed middle of the fancy's most famous triangle”
Thai“The Wichien Maat: the old-style Siamese, formalised as its own breed”
Kurilian Bobtail“The Kuril Islands' pom-tailed native, every tail its own fingerprint”
Highland Fold“The longhair Scottish Fold: a market name no registry currently uses”
American Bobtail“America's own wild-look bobtail: every color allowed, no bobcat required”
American Wirehair“The rarest CFA breed: one springy coat gene on an American Shorthair”
LaPerm“The Oregon farm cat in permanent curls, whose gene science still hasn't found”
Havana Brown“CFA's 'Brownies': mahogany head to tail, green eyes, and a transatlantic naming trap”
Sokoke“The see-through tabby from Kenya's coastal forest, rarest of the rare”
Colorpoint Shorthair“A Siamese in sixteen extra colors, with its own papers in exactly two registries”
Australian Mist“Dr Straede's people-centered indoor cat, misted in seven colors”
Minuet“The Napoleon: a Persian's face on a Munchkin's legs, renamed but never quite”
Dragon Li“China's own landrace tabby: a real breed with no Western registry left”
Chantilly-Tiffany“The chocolate longhair that ran out of cats: a history, not a listing”
Bambino“The Sphynx x Munchkin cross with more registry history than registry recognition”
What a filter can't tell you
The hypoallergenic cat myth
No breed is hypoallergenic. The allergy comes from Fel d 1, a protein found in every cat's saliva and deposited on the coat with each grooming session. A low-shedding breed spreads less of it around your home, which eases the symptoms without making them disappear. That's why you'll never find the word "hypoallergenic" on this site.
Personality is a tendency, not a promise
Our ratings describe what is most often observed in a breed. They don't tell you what your cat will be: socialization in the first weeks, life experience and individual temperament weigh at least as much as pedigree. Two Maine Coons from the same litter can have opposite personalities.
The two criteria that really matter
If you only keep two, make them energy and independence. The first determines how much time you'll need to give them each day, the second whether they'll be fine while you're at work. Coat and size are manageable; a bored cat is not.
Frequently asked questions
- Are there hypoallergenic cats?
- No, no cat truly is. The allergy is triggered by a protein, Fel d 1, present in every cat's saliva and deposited on the coat during grooming. Some breeds produce less of it or spread less of it around because they shed little, which eases the symptoms without eliminating them. That's why we say "low-shedding" and never "hypoallergenic".
- Which cat breed sheds the least?
- Short-haired breeds with a reduced undercoat shed noticeably less than long-haired breeds or those with a dense undercoat. This page's "low-shedding" filter gathers them. One caveat: shedding little doesn't mean skipping the brush, and almost every breed sheds more in spring and fall.
- How do I choose between two breeds I love?
- Hit "Compare" on each one: the table lines up their seven personality traits, plus weight, breeder price and lifespan. The decisive differences jump out right away, especially energy and independence, which decide whether a cat will be fine while you're away.
- Does personality really depend on the breed?
- Only in part. Breed gives a tendency, not a guarantee: socialization in the first weeks, life experience and individual temperament weigh at least as much. Our ratings describe what is most often observed in a breed, not what your cat will be.
Our written head-to-head comparisons
The filter above compares numbers. These pages compare lives: temperament, grooming reality, cost and health, sourced breed by breed.
American Curl vs Scottish FoldAmerican Shorthair vs British ShorthairBalinese vs SiameseBengal vs PersianBengal vs SavannahBirman vs RagdollBritish Shorthair vs Scottish FoldBurmese vs BombayChartreux vs Russian BlueCornish Rex vs Devon RexEgyptian Mau vs BengalEuropean Shorthair vs American ShorthairExotic Shorthair vs PersianHimalayan vs PersianHimalayan vs RagdollHimalayan vs SiameseKorat vs Russian BlueMaine Coon vs PersianMaine Coon vs RagdollManx vs Bobtail CatsNorwegian Forest Cat vs Maine CoonOcicat vs BengalOriental Shorthair vs SiamesePersian vs RagdollRagamuffin vs RagdollSelkirk Rex vs Devon Rex And Cornish RexSiamese vs RagdollSiberian vs Maine CoonSiberian vs Norwegian Forest CatSnowshoe vs SiameseThai vs SiameseTonkinese vs Siamese vs BurmeseToyger vs BengalTurkish Angora vs Turkish Van