How Many Breeds of Domestic Cats are there Worldwide?

A cat breed is an infrasubspecific rank for the classification of domestic cats. A cat is considered to be of a certain breed if it is true breeding for the traits that define that breed. The list of the different domestic cat breeds worldwide is quite large. There are various cat registries around the world that record and certify the pedigree. Some organizations have different standards than the others which may lead to the differences in the number of officially recognized breeds of the group. Most cat registries actually recognize between 30 and 40 breeds of cats, while several more are in development. This is due to the case that one or more new breeds are being recognized each year on average, having distinct features and heritage.

The International Cat Association (TICA), boasts of the world's largest genetic registry of pedigreed cats and the world's largest registry of household pets. The organization has members and clubs in Latin America, North America, Asia, Europe and Africa. It is also one of the world's largest sanctioning bodies for cat shows. Currently, TICA recognizes fifty-five breeds of cats for championship competition.

The International Progressive Cat Breeders' Alliance (IPCBA), on the other hand, recognizes 73 new and old breeds of cats, making it the largest all-breed cat registry in the world. It is a subsidiary of the International Progressive Breeders' Alliance, founded in 1996, and was developed to “give creative freedom to breeders to develop new breeds of cats and to preserve the old breeds as they wish without interference from registries.”

Another international organization, The Cat Fanciers' Association, Inc. (CFA) recognizes 40 pedigreed breeds for showing in their Championship Class, and 1 breed as provisional. CFA was established in 1906 and is the world's largest registry of pedigreed cats, and the predominant pedigreed cat registering association in North America.

With the development of new techniques in cross-breeding, more and more new breeds of cats are being produced. These do not only include breeds from domesticated cats alone, but also domestic cats which have been crossbred with wild varieties, producing hybrid cats. All in all, if we sum up how many breeds of domestic cats are there worldwide, including the ones not yet officially recognized, we would definitely come up with a number much higher than the ones mentioned above.