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A popular misconception is that pedigreed cats are prone to a number of health problems that are not generally experienced by non-pedigreed moggies (mixed-breed cats). Certainly the genetic base for many breeds is quite small and inbreeding occurs. However, ethical breeders select for healthy animals as those with major health problems do not survive long. For instance, the breeding pool for CFA-registered Havana Browns was under 130 cats as of the late 1990s.

Breeds have different origins, some are manmade or the result of mutation, while others are found in nature. Some breeds of cat have been created by taking a single tom cat or queen with an unusual physical characteristic that breeds true. The entire Cornish Rex breed can be traced back to a single parent animal with an unusual genetic mutation producing a curly coat. Both the Burmese and Tonkinese breeds can be traced back to a single cat, Wong Mau, which was brought from Burma in the 1930s. Breeders continually strive to eliminate negative characteristics that various cat breeds exhibit as the breeds are developed. There is not really any such thing as a 'purebred' cat since all registered breeds began as random bred cats. In this case, 'pedigreed' is a more accurate term.

Cat breeders are continually competing to find the 'ideal' of the breed - the cats that come closest to fitting the breed standard. Because of this, the physical characteristics of a prize-winning show cat have gradually changed in some breeds. This genetic shifting is most obvious in the two oldest, most popular and most distinctive breeds of show cat - the PersianThe Persian is one of the oldest breeds of cat. A show-quality Persian has an extremely long thick coat, short legs, a wide head with the ears set far apart, large eyes, and an extremely foreshortened muzzle. The breed was originally established with a sh and the SiameseThe Siamese is one of the first distinctly recognised breeds of Oriental cat. The exact origins of the breed are unknown, but it is believed to be south east Asia, possibly as the sacred temple cats of Siam (hence their name). The breed was first seen out. However, some show cats are naturally occurring breeds that are perpetuated to keep the original look of a cat from a particular region. Examples are the Maine CoonThe Maine Coon is one of the largest breeds of domestic cat. The breed is a naturally occurring one from New England. Cold New England winters have made this cat very well adapted to cold weather. The name comes from a legend that a domestic cat released and Turkish VanThe Turkish Van is a rare, naturally occurring breed of cat originally found in the Lake Van region of southeastern Turkey. The word van refers to their color pattern, where the color is restricted to the head and the tail, and the rest of the cat is whit.