American Keuda Cat

American Keuda Cat Breed Introduction

While a lot of care and thought goes into developing any cat breed, the American Keuda breed is perhaps unique for having resulted from a formal study of cat traits. The breed should perhaps more properly be called the American Keuda type rather than breed, since it is still undergoing selective breeding.

American Keuda Behavior/Personality

Source: Wikipedia (March 2006)

American Keuda cats have been bred to be the ideal barn cat, athletic and hard-working.

American Keuda Breed Standard/Physical Description

Here are some facts on the American Keuda breed based on the American Keuda Cat Association's breed standard.

• Head: medium-sized
• Muzzle: "not short; refined"
• Ears: medium-large in a slightly rounded triangle shape
• Eyes: medium-sized and almond-shaped
• Body: medium-sized
• Paws: oval-shaped, with five toes on front paws and four toes on back paws
• Tail: slightly tapered
• Coat: any pattern or color

American Keuda History

Source: Wikipedia

The American Keuda's history is still very much in development, as the breed has not been finalized. More properly speaking, the breed is not a true cat breed but rather a "type," on its way to becoming a breed as breeders refine the animals' features through selective breeding.

The breed began in a study from the 1980s, the "Kitten Evaluation Under Direct Assessment." The KEUDA was attempting to determine the best characteristics for a barn cat. The barn cats studied were taken from New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma. The animals were bred together in the course of the study.

There is a lot of discussion as to whether Keudas have any Egyptian Mau ancestry, and if so, how much. The controversy arises because of the physical similarities between the two breeds. Yet Keudas come in a much broader variety of physical appearances. Individual Keudas come in a much wider variety of coat colors and patterns than Maus; they often more closely resemble Siamese, Havana Brown, or other cat breeds.