“Natural” breeds

The various cat associations divide cat breeds into three broad categories: natural, man-made and spontaneous mutation. Among the natural breeds are Persians, Turkish Angoras and Russian Blues.

They are natural because the breeds’ distinctive traits (color, body shape and the like) occurred without any deliberate interference from humans. But take “natural” with a grain of salt: the basic Persian look may have occurred naturally, but the various natural breeds have, over the years, been refined by selective breeding.