I have pet a lot of cats since childhood but they have all been strays. I have found all of them equally cute and equally unique. I have seen cats at adoption centers too. Some of them were exotic to me. But of course, they were all individual entities with their own distinctive traits. But after a little breed-wise research about the most unique cats, I came up with this list.

Abyssinian: Abyssinians have a special trademark feature – they have a ticked coat! Their individual hairs are banded with different colors which gives their coat a ticked look. Kittens are born with a darker coat that lightens as they grow older. Abyssinian is a very beautiful breed of cat.  It has a slender body and is medium in size. Its head is a little wedge shaped, with a slight break at the muzzle. It has large pointy ears that give it a look of alertness all the time. Its remarkably expressive eyes are either golden, green, hazel or copper in colour and are almond shaped depending on the colour of its coat. Its legs are longer in proportion to its body and its paws are small and oval in shape. The same goes for its tail- it is long and tapered on the end.

Bengal: It looks like they apply mascara to their eyes, which is a unique trait in the Bengal cats. The Bengals have a cute body structure. Their head is small and a rounded wedge shape. Their eyes are large and oval and set slightly slanted. They have a strong chin and broad chest. They have a long torso which gives them a foreign as well as oriental look. Their paws are large and rounded with prominent knuckles. Their hip region is pretty muscular, especially in the male. The tail is thick, medium length and rounded at the end. Their hind legs are smaller than their forelegs too. Their coat hair length differs from short to medium. Bengal cats have “wild-looking” markings, such as large spots, rosettes, and a light or white belly. A Bengal’s rosette-d spots occur only on the back and sides, with stripes elsewhere. They have an interesting wild look and an exciting personality!

Toyger: As the name suggests, Toyger looks like a ‘Toy Tiger’! With a striped coat, it is reminiscent of the tiger’s coat. It has a very well defined, long, broad and deep muzzle with rounded muscular contour and the shape of its face resembles an inverted heart shape that makes this cat very adorable looking! Its head medium-sized and has a dominant muzzle on an oval head. It has small, round ears that are set toward the back of its head and has short and thickly furred temples and its eyes are set wide apart like a predator’s. Usually its eye colour is rich and deep. Its torso is long, muscular, athletic and robust. Its tail is very long but not thick, with a blunt, rounded tip. Its fur is dense and short. It has short hair. Its colour markings are very dark and are either black, brown or tan, with an extreme ground pattern contrast i.e. the colour of its stripes and the rest of its coat.

Egyptian Mau: If you have watched Halle Berry’s ‘Catwoman’, then you know which breed I am talking about. Their hind legs are longer than their front legs, which gives them the appearance of standing on their toes when they are upright. They also land on their back feet more often than their front. Maus are small to medium sized and have short hair. The spots of the Mau occur only on the tips of the hairs of their coat rather than on their skin. Maus are the fastest of the domestic cat breeds.

Norwegian Forest: The equilateral triangle-shaped head of the Norwegian Forest Cat contributes to the unique appearance of this breed. It is a large, semi-longhaired breed whose rugged appearance fits the name. They have large almond shaped eyes and have very hairy tails that gives them a very enchanting look. ‘Wegie’ is short for the gentle and friendly Norwegian Forest Cat. Because of their place of origin, Norway, they have woolly undercoats and long topcoats that shed water with ease. ‘Skogcatt’ is the local name for this breed.

Manx: Not having a tail doesn’t make them any less of a cat and that is exactly what a Manx proves! They have a naturally occurring mutation that either shortens their tail or makes them entirely tail-less! Apart from this distinctive feature, Manx cats are just like other cats. They come in all shapes and sizes. They are known by another name ‘stubbin’, since their tails are like stubs. People have also sub divided them into two categories- ‘rumpies’ that have absolutely no tail and ‘stumpies’ that have a small hint of a tail.

Maine Coon: The Maine Coon is the official Maine State Cat! It is the oldest and largest domesticated breed of cats in the world. It is also known as the American Longhair. They have a sturdy, rugged appearance, which includes an uneven, shaggy coat of three distinct lengths and a long, well furnished tail. They carry that tail proudly and use it to surround themselves for warmth and protection in the harsh cold of Maine. They have well tufted paws to allow ability to walk on top of snow despite their size and weight. Their ears are large and well tufted for protection and warmth. They have been dubbed the “Gentle Giant” of the cat world!

Munchkin: Munchkins are ‘regular cats’ with short legs. They owe their short legs to a naturally-occurring genetic mutation, and not from human manipulation. Don’t think that their short legs preclude them from jumping on the owner’s sofa or chair. They might not go as high as other cats, at least not in one leap, but they get there eventually. They have a moderate body type and medium-plush coat. They come in all coat colors and patterns due to its outcross with many other breeds. They also comes in a long-haired variety has a semi-long silky coat. They also have an endearing way of sitting up, rabbit-like, on their hind legs, a trait which gave the Stalingrad cat the name of “Stalingrad Kangaroo Cat.

Ragdolls and Ragamuffins: They are perfectly named as they become very limp like a ragdoll when they are picked up! They all have oval shaped blue eyes and a distinct colour point coat. Ragdolls come in six different colors – red, seal, chocolate, flame, blue, lilac and cream, including the tortoiseshell pattern in all colors. Ragdoll kittens are born white and their colour starts to develop after two months. The four different patterns are: Pointed (One color darkening at the nose, ears, tail, and paws), Mitted (Pointed with white mittens on paws and abdomen), with or without a blaze (a white line or spot on the face plus a white belly stripe that runs from the chin to the genitals), bicolor (white legs, white inverted V on the face, white abdomen and sometimes white patches on the back) and lynx (any of the above patterns with tabby markings). They are medium long in height and have plumed tails and their fur gets matted.  They can be 3 times the size of other cats. They are muscular and semi-long haired. They have a bunny like coat which makes them very endearing. Ragamuffins are the same as ragdolls only their walnut shaped eyes can be any colour including blue and their coats cannot be pointed. Their fur does not matt and a weekly brushing will do. They tend to overeat and become obese. Owners should keep an eye on what their cats are eating. They love attention and love kids.

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I have always felt proud to have better knowledge about pets, especially my Angel, but my pride was hammered to pieces when I stumbled upon the images of what I thought was a ‘Dachshund’, but digging a little deeper, proved me wrong. In fact, I was looking at a ‘crossbreed’ between a Dachshund and a Rottweiler. All these years I assumed Angel to be a pure-line dachshund since I brought her home from the kennel trusting the owners’ words. The excitement of welcoming a pet into my life blinded me off from doing any background check. For a true pet-lover, it might not even matter if their dogs/cats were purebred or mix-breed, but for the exorbitant amount we shell out while buying our pets the research is worth every penny.   

Purebred dog (or a Pedigree) refers to a dog (from a modern dog breed) with a registered/documented ‘pedigree’. For Example Golden retriever, German shepherd, Rottweiler etc. are considered purebred. ‘Primitive Man’, in his quest to find help in his daily chores, understood that dogs are easily domestic-able. Some types of work needed certain inherent traits that helped dogs accomplish the work due to high energy, aggression, chasing, digging, barking and independent thinking. This helped the ‘Primitive Man’ decide which traits he wanted in a dog breed. Then he started breeding them selectively. Selective Breeding simply means that dogs with the ‘desired’ traits like herding, hunting and guarding were bred extensively. This kind of selective breeding is done even in the case of cows, buffalos, goat, sheep, pig, poultry, horses, donkeys, elephants, camels etc.

And what is a crossbreed dog? It is an intentionally bred dog of two or more documented breeds and a resultant of mankind’s ever persistent desire to own something a little different, a little fancy or in short supply.

A huge group of purebred dog breeders and dog clubs are adamantly against the creation of ‘designer dogs’ due to their assumption that, in the long run, such dogs are a danger to the whole ‘dog breeding world’. And almost all pro-cross-breeders believe that their practice of cross-breeding adds to the vigor (that got reduced due to in-breeding for several generations) to the existing genetic make-up of purebred dogs. As in case of Angel’s litter (a male puppy), he is a pure cross-bred pup. His mother, Angel, is a Dachshund (again a cross-breed of Dachshund and Rottweiler) while his father, Joy, is a pure-line Shih-tzu.

Choosing which stance is ’correct’ is not my priority here. My priority is to give potential pet-parents a fair picture of both the stances.

Negative aspects first:

Size: Pet-size is a very important factor for all the pet-parents concerned. Cross-bred dogs have, at times, unpredictable sizes. If both the parents are of comparable sizes, you may expect the puppy to be of a similar size. But you can never be sure of the ultimate size.

Litter-count: The litter count is very low in case of crossbreeding. It is approximately one-thirds as compared to pure-breeding. And the survival of the litter is even lesser, being one-fourths. In simple words, pure-breeding might fetch you 9 puppies while cross breeding would only produce 3 puppies. And for every 4 puppies born (in case of cross-breeding), only 1 puppy survives.

Congenital health issues: Since the mating process naturally leaves out the defective genes, a mixed-breed puppy is usually on the advantageous side of standing a much lower chance of being born with congenital diseases. However, many congenital issues, such as eye diseases, kidney problems, hip dysplasia, and epilepsy are found across crossbred dogs. This happens when both the parents are carriers (or victims) of one or more of the same genetic disorders.

Temperament: As discussed before, purebred dogs have been reared for different purposes, and their temperaments correspond to the purposes accurately. For example, Rottweilers are rather bold and \ aggressive because they have been bred to be watch-dogs and guard-dogs. Poodles, on the other hand, were bred to hunt and be wonderful companions. It is almost impossible to predict the temperament of a crossbred puppy, which these two dogs might produce.

Risky deliveries: A very high level of risk is involved in cross-bred pregnancies. Breeding dogs of different sizes (essentially breeds) can sometimes lead to complicated pregnancies and deliveries.

Positive aspects:

Undeniably unique looks: Most of us would prefer a dog that doesn’t resemble any other breed, and cross breeding can effectively produce such a ‘designer dog’. On combining two different breeds, it’s a coin toss as to how the genetics will combine. This means that each puppy in a litter, may look different from its littermates, and this, in-turn, can give us a very interesting-looking litter.

Future pure-breed: Many of today’s purebred dogs are successive crosses of different breeds, and have been refined through selective breeding, thus displaying their consistent characteristics today. Similarly, we can expect some of today’s crosses to potentially evolve into future pure breeds. The Cockapoo is one such potential future pure breed. Cockapoo is a designer breed resultant of an American/ English Cocker Spaniel and a Poodle.

Money matters: While the average purebred puppy often fetches breeders a mediocre $300 to $500 some cross breeds go for more than $1,000.

While there are advocates for and against pure breeds and cross breeds, we pet owners are spoilt with the abundant choice available! Probably, a day may not be far away, where in you go to the nearest kennel house/pet shop, and fill up an order form as to what combination of breed, colour, trait, temperament, height and size of pet you wish to have.

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One of the most common breeds of dogs in the world is the Pomeranian. And why not? Its small in size easy going and does not require a lot of fussing unlike some other breeds. The Pomeranian also called a Pom pom or even simply Pom is a breed of the Spitz type. It is said to have originated in Central Europe, in the Pomerania region, which now comes as a part of northern Poland and east of Germany, hence giving it the name. Its size is so small, that it is classified as a toy dog, although its ancestors, i.e. the Spitz were much larger, specifically the German Spitz. In fact, it often goes by the name of ‘dwarf Spitz’, in some countries.

The very size makes it absolutely adorable to have and to hold. Its popularity can be credited to the large number of royal owners this breed has had for the past few centuries, as early as the 18^th century. Also the fact that since celebrities these days have made owning a small dog so fashionable, everyone wants to be in trend, and a Pomeranian fits the bill perfectly. In fact the size of the breed reduced by about 50% during Queen Victoria’s lifetime alone. What is interesting is the breed seems to have a fairly good lifespan for its size, about 12 to 16 years.  The breed is considered among the top 15 most popular breeds in the USA and simultaneously its popularity is growing worldwide.

These compact dogs weigh about 1.9 to 3.5 kgs and tend to have an abundant textured coat, set high and flat, yet as fluffy as ever. They have a unique ruff on the neck and a fringe of fur on their hindquarters. The earliest known Pomeranians were mostly if not exclusively white, brown or black. But after Queen Victoria adopted a small red Pomeranian, this color too gained prominence. With time, a large variety of colors were seen in the breed. Some solid, others were a blend or a combination of various colors. The most common colors are white, orange, cream and black. Other colors include tan, spotted, brindle, blue and sable. Merle is a distinct color recently developed, which gives a mottled effect. Although there are certain colors considered unacceptable according to some breeding standards. The eyes, nose and paw pads also can be uniquely colored as a consequence of breeding. Pomeranians have the largest variety of colors compared to any other breed.

Because of their thick double coat, breeders recommend daily grooming in order to maintain its quality and since it is fairly easy. Special care needs to be taken during the shedding season of their undercoats, which happens about twice a year, when the coat tends to knot and tangle easily. The undercoat is usually softer, while the outer is long, straight and just a tad harsh. To maintain the gloss and softness, its better if the fur is trimmed every 1-2 months. What makes Pomeranians particularly loved by kids is that they are a very friendly breed. They love to play. They are inherently lively, and this energy more than makes up for their relatively small size.

They also make decent guard dogs, considering they are highly prone to barking at any new stimuli. This alertness makes them susceptible to any change in their environment. They are aware about everything around them, often excessively defensive about their territory. Their intelligence ensures a good response to training, which is aided by their extrovert nature. But at the same time they are well known for their ability to get what they want from their owners. They love to be the centre of everyone’s attention, which comes off as aggression and dominance. If not trained well, they tend to bark excessively, which makes them unadvisable for the elderly. Toys come in handy when you need them to be alone.

One advantage of their lightweight build is that this breed is not known to have hip dysplasia as commonly as other breeds do. With good nutrition and sufficient exercise this dog lives a sturdy, healthy life. Most of the ailments are a result of insufficient care and grooming, such as regular cleaning of their ears, teeth and eyes. It’s advisable to feed them dry food, as early tooth loss is a common problem. On an average a pom breed is about 1-3 puppies per litter, among the smallest compared to other breeds. Some other common ailments are related to bones and muscles, such as patella and slip disc. This is painful in the initial stages, but it later subsides. Respiratory problems such as tracheal collapse are another commonly found ailment amongst Pomeranians. Most common symptom of which is coughing that worsens by hot weather, excitement or exercise. Testicular disease, ie, cryporchidism is treatable by surgery. But the most common disease involves complete or partial hair loss and hyperpigmentation.

A Pomeranian is well-suited as a companion for everyone. Its loving nature makes it an ideal lap dog. Pomeranians are often used as therapy dogs. In fact their adorable appearance alone can make them extremely popular, as recently witnessed in case of Boo, that became an internet sensation, based solely on its cuteness.

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If you think pets featured only in the ‘Pedigree’ and other pet-food advertisements, Think twice! From cars to eatables, soft drink to red bull, shoes to apparels, chocolates to biscuits, telecom service to public interest campaigns; pets, especially dogs, have stayed in the limelight, and in our memories, for quite some time now.

When I thought of writing this article, I started listing out the ad campaigns which have/had featured pets. I remembered the scenes better, where the pets gave their cameo appearances but I couldn’t remember the name of the company or the product they endorsed or the central idea of the ad campaign.

Try it yourself, recall an advertisement which featured a pet, apart from these famous advertisements: Pedigree, Whiskers, Hush-Puppies, Vodafone and  Volkswagen’s car brands.

So what does this tell us? Is it the advertisements that make these pets famous? Or is it our cute furry friends that add their own magic to make these advertisements highly successful?

Let us look at it from the first perspective. Successful advertisements induce certain trends in the breed choice.

A prominent example of an infamous breed becoming a rage is the Basset Hound in late 1960s. “Pookie” is no more known by his breed name “Basset Hound”, he sacrificed it for the brand that he’s endorsing. ‘Hush Puppy dog’ is the popular nickname given to him. Why would someone prefer a less prominent dog to be the brand-ambassador for their leading leather-footwear brand? James Gaylord Muir, the first sales manager of Hush Puppies, established a connection between the word “Hush Puppies” and comfortable leather footwear. In his time, “Barking dogs” was an expression, which meant sore feet. Muir assumed Hush Puppies shoes to be so comfortable, that they would “quiet barking dogs” meaning, comfortable foot-wear for a sore feet. And the Basset hounds best known for their docile, quiet and gentle demeanor are aptly named “Hush Puppies”.

From just being a comfortable foot-wear, Hush Puppy shoes became a style statement and a life-saver (that’s what the company claims!). Keith Richards (guitarist in Rolling Stones), who wore a pair to a concert, was saved from being electrocuted by an ‘‘ungrounded microphone’’. Although knocked-down unconscious, he survived the shock due to the ‘crepe soled’ Hush Puppy Shoes. True! Dogs have always been a friend and a savior to mankind at all instances of time. The advertisement and the life-saving incident made news and went on to increase the sale of Basset hounds considerably.

History repeated itself, in the all-famous example of Vodafone ad-campaign. Before 2003, GenX was never impressed by a dog with a curled tail and wrinkly-short-muzzled face. Adding to its “ugliness” it largely suffered from ‘reverse sneezing’, ‘eye prolapse’, ‘hip socket’ and bacterial infections in its skin folds. But “Cheeka” changed the entire notion with a simple 60 second ad-film.

From the pet that was mostly not preferred by aspirant-pet-parents, Pugs became a heart-throb throughout the world. In 2004, farmhouses went out-of-stock, and the long booking-time really frustrated the aspirant pug-parents. For a meagre Rs.2000 the prices sky-rocketed to Rs.60, 000. It became “neighbors’ envy, owners’ pride”. In 2005, “Cheeka” attained the cult status of a‘poster-girl’  and every Vodafone customers yearned to have her as their mobile-phone wallpaper.   “Cheeka” was not only instrumental in making the smooth transformation of ‘Hutch’ to a successful ‘Vodafone’ but also instrumental in promoting her own breed adoption .

The tribute to man’s best friend in Volkswagen’s “Woofwagen Ad 2013” is indeed remarkable! “Superbowl 2012” not only introduced Bolt (a 3 year old Australian Shepherd and St. Bernard mix) but also aimed at inspiring our own pets to slim down and be fit.

“These advertisements have introduced buyers with a vast range of breeds, both national and international. Petshops and Kennels are flooded with requests for exotic breeds, the pet aspirant may not even be aware of the breed, but demand them by the brand name which they mascot, like ‘Garnier Dog’ [Dalmations in Garnier’s “Spotless Ad”], ‘Dulux Dog’ [Old English sheepdog in Dulux’s “Let’s color” project] and several others. ” Says Rakesh Jain of RJ Pet House. “Many-a-times, customers do not mind to shell out the premium price for the dog in the trend. When the ‘Hutch Dog’ ad became a huge success, our pethouse was only selling pugs for weeks all-together”.  

Not just dogs, even horse breeds saw the same uphill trend when they were featured in some popular ad campaigns. The first of its kind, SuperBowl commercials in 1991-95 featured ‘Clydesdales’, but in the year 1996 the Clydesdales were shown playing football in snow covered meadow. Remarkably, most of what was shown in that ad was real horses playing football after a 6 month long training.

The emotional resonance featured in the ad (2013) made the stable owners fall head-over-heels in love with “Budweiser Clydesdales” and not just any Clydesdale.

After KitKat realesed two of its commercials featuring a pair of squirrel in 2010 and lovebirds in 2012, the number of squirrel and canary lovers grew in population.

Although animated, the fun loving, chirpy, romancing squirrels and canaries shown in KitKat ads, had cast their spell on the school children and college students. The influence was so high, that the demand for the furry little bunch of love (squirrels) and little-winged-wonders (birds) at pethouses became huge in 2010.

 These brand endorsements are, a visual treat for brand-audience, limelight for amazing pets and creative adaptations for the ad agency. The trend setting orchestration of great brands, beautiful breeds and creative ad-ideas was instrumental and influential in many a breed choice, and most of all, a meaningful pet-and-parent relationship, which lasts for a lifetime.

The second perspective, that our cute furry friends add their own magic to these highly successful advertisements, will be covered in the article ‘Brand and Breed Part 2’.

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By unique, we mean that these are not the kind of breeds that are spread worldwide like Labradors or German Shepherds. These breeds of dogs are specific to certain countries or states, where you may find them in huge numbers but are very alien to other parts of the world. So here is a list of the world’s most unique, unusual and rare dog breeds;

The Azawakh;

Originating in the Western African lands, these sight – hounds are otherwise rare outside the boundaries of their homes. They are very feline and timid in nature, but they are really affectionate if they get to know you. They are trained to chase gazelles and other animals in the deserts because of their agility.

The Carolina Dogs;

Carolina Dogs are also called the American Dingoes and are thought to be one of the oldest dog breeds in North America. These breeds have been introduced to the domestic sphere but there are still few of them roaming stray and wild.

The Catahoula Leopard Dog;

First originated in Catahoula Parish (hence the nomenclature), these are remarkable hunting dogs that are a pride to Native Americans.  And these dogs have leopard like distinctive markings which give them the second name.

The Lundehund;

The Norwegian native dog is one of a kind. These breeds have six toes on each foot, pricked ears that are controlled at will and it can tip its head entirely backward to be able to touch the back. This is one unlike any other breed.

The Mudi;

Natives of Hungary, these dogs are mid – sized herding dogs with a super furry body and smooth face. These breeds are rare but are quickly gaining popularity in the US at least because of their versatility and energy.

The Neapolitan Mastiff;

Have you seen the Harry Potter movies? If you have, you would have noticed Hagrid’s pet dog Fang which is a Neapolitan Mastiff. These dogs have layers or rubbery skin all over their bodies and grow to be extremely huge. As history tells, the Neapolitan Mastiffs, as the foremost allies of the Romans, made to wear body armour and blades to be able to run almost got to the brink of extinction during World War II. An Italian painter, set up a kennel to protect these huge dogs and bred few of them with the English Mastiffs to enhance the bloodline and thus came the evolved Neapolitan Mastiff.

The Xoloitzcuintli

Pronounced as Sho – lo – eets – quint – lee, they are very commonly referred to as the “Mexican hairless dogs” or simply “xolo” for short. These dogs are so old that they have had their moments of fame in history when the Aztecs actually worshipped them. Because of their rare nature, people who come across them (specially Americans), because of the absence of hair, tend to think these are the Chupacabras that are a mythological beast that appear to have the body frame of a dog. This bred hasn’t been inbred over the years and hence is more pure a breed than others and is very healthy. All it needs to maintain that health is a bit of sunscreen and moisturizer and regular bathing.

The Salish wool dog;

The Salish wool dog is now an extinct breed which were natives of what is now Washington state and British Columbia. These were long haired dogs of the Spitz type and were sheared like sheep and the wool was used to make the prized “Salish blankets” because the native Salish tribe did not have sheep or mountain goat for the purpose of a livelihood. These dogs were confined to islands and gated caves. The extinction began with European contact, when the European blankets became more popular and the onset of diseases cause the dogs to interbreed and now there are no more of them as a distinct breed with any of the significant features specific to the wool dogs.

The Thai Ridgeback;

Thai Ridgebacks like Rhodesian Ridgebacks, also have a line of hair at the spine growing in the opposite direction. These dogs are very strong – willed, confident, brave and powerful. They are used as livestock guardians by the local keepers.

The Pacchon Navaro;

The Pacchon Navaro dogs have a very unique nose that looks like the shooting end of double barrel guns. They are an extremely rare breed of Spanish hunting dogs which were previously believed to have extraordinary olfactory senses because of the look of their noses. But years later, persistent research has proven that the noses are just a unique feature and do not give them any kind of special advantage over other dogs.

The Tibetan Mastiff;

The last in the list are the Tibetan Mastiffs that are an extremely huge and hairy breed of dogs. They are fearless and are trained to guard herds, flocks, families and also entire villages. They can easily face predators as huge as wolves and leopards but the inner herding talent can be trained in a way that they can warn and lead herds to safer areas rather than having a direct confrontation with predators.

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