the breakdown

 All right, it took a while but we got Dolly's DNA results back. She has a less exciting, shall we say, bloodline than Annie, but they both have a common ancestor which I find a wonder.

I originally sent for Annie's because she has an exotic quality and we thought she might be part Burmese, and then there are always some folks who see a gray cat and think "Russian Blue". 

So, this was Annie's result:

• 41% American Domestic
• 13% Maine Coon
• 12% Norwegian Forest Cat
• 11% European Domestic
• 10% Scottish Fold
• 10% Sphynx
• 2% Highlander
• 1% British Shorthair

At first, my brother found it hard to understand why I had bothered. But after getting the results, and talking about how she looks like none of these breeds, realizing that appearances don't seem to mean anything, we both thought we might as well do Dolly. So, we did. 

Dolly's result:

• 60% American Domestic
• 13% Maine Coon
• 13% Norwegian Forest Cat
• 9% British Shorthair
• 5% Scottish Fold

Our cats are both one quarter a large, very furry cat - Dolly one percent more than Annie - and I'm referring to the Maine Coon and the Norwegian Forest. So why don't either of them look like it? A mystery. Although I will say this: if you've been around here a while, you may remember Yogi, Dianne's beautiful (or I thought so) cat who was killed by a car a few years ago. You can see him in this post. Dianne (I think I've been spelling her name wrong all this time) has three or four cats, very thick fur with neck ruffs and long noses, like Yogi here. They are normal size, but otherwise always make me think of the Norwegians, who often have this long nose, which gives them a beautiful appearance. We know Dolly's mother (Candace) looked quite like Dolly, but who was the father? Maybe one of these, or their ancestor. As for the Orphan, though, since she just appeared out of nowhere, her origins are unknown to us. But it's all very intriguing, isn't it?