Group Guide
Cats
Forty-odd recognised breeds, one species, and an enormous amount of variation in what living with one is actually like.
Almost everything written about cats is written about cats — as if a Burmese and a British Shorthair want the same day. They don't. Start here for what the whole group has in common, then go breed by breed for the parts that will actually shape your next fifteen years.
At a glance — all cats
- Lifespan
- 12–18 years
- Adult weight
- 3–9 kg
- Daily attention
- 30–90 min
- Alone time tolerated
- Varies by breed
- Grooming
- Coat-dependent
- Noise level
- Breed-dependent
- With children
- Generally good
- With other pets
- Introduce slowly
- Indoor only
- Recommended
Every figure here is a group-wide range. The breed pages narrow each one — that's the whole point of having both.
Breeds · 6 listed
Every entry below is a breed page with its own colours, costs and honest warnings.
Burmese
Relentlessly social. Will follow you room to room and object loudly to a closed door.
- High attention
- Low grooming
- Vocal
Ragdoll
Placid and heavy. Gentle with children, and too trusting to be safe outdoors unsupervised.
- Med attention
- High grooming
- Quiet
Siamese
Bright, demanding, and famously loud. A wonderful cat for the wrong household is still the wrong cat.
- High attention
- Low grooming
- Very vocal
British Shorthair
Self-contained and undramatic. Happy on the same sofa as you rather than on you.
- Low attention
- Med grooming
- Quiet
Maine Coon
Very large, very long-coated. Budget for the grooming and the food, not just the kitten.
- Med attention
- High grooming
- Large
Domestic Shorthair
Not a breed at all — the moggie in every shelter, and for most households the right answer.
- Not a breed
- Adopt
Before you go breed shopping
- A breed tells you the odds, not the animal. Two Burmese from the same litter can want different lives.
- The traits that make a breed charming in a video are usually the ones that make it hard to live with at 4am.
- If nothing here fits your week, the honest answer is a cat isn't the pet for you right now. We'd rather say so.
Availability, registration and keeping requirements differ from place to place. Check the rules where you live before you commit to any animal — we describe animals, not law.