thumb|Three moggies displaying different [[Cat coat genetics|coats]]
A moggy is any cat which has not been intentionally bred. Moggies lack a consistent appearance unlike purebred cats that are selectively bred for appearance conforming to a standard. In contexts where cats need to be registered—such as in veterinary practices or shelters—moggies may be called domestic short-haired (DSH) or domestic long-haired (DLH) cats, depending on coat length (and less common designations may include "domestic medium-haired (DMH)" or "domestic semi-long-haired").
The vast majority of cats worldwide lack any pedigree ancestry.
History
thumb|A [[Bicolor cat|bicolour moggy toying with a lizard]]
Cat fancying is relatively new and over 85% of cat breeds have come into existence since the 1930s.
Demography
In the United States, domestic short-haired cats make up 95% of the cat population. In the UK 89–92% of cats are of non-pedigree lineage.
<span class="anchor" id="Domestic shorthair"></span> Domestic short-haired
thumb|A domestic shorthair cat
thumb|A sleeping domestic shorthair cat
In the cat fancy, and among veterinarians and animal control agencies, domestic short-haired cats may be classified with organization-specific terminology (often capitalized), such as: "Domestic Shorthair" or "Shorthair Household Pet".
Such a pseudo-breed is used for registry as well as shelter/rescue classification purposes. While not bred as show cats, some domestic short-haired cats are actually pedigreed (have a recorded genealogy) and are entered into cat shows that have non-purebred "Household Pet" divisions. Show rules vary; the Fédération Internationale Féline (FIFe) permits "any eye colour, all coat colours and patterns, any coat length or texture, and any length of tail"
<span class="anchor" id="Domestic longhair"></span> Domestic long-haired
A domestic long-haired cat is a cat of mixed ancestry – thus not belonging to any particular recognised cat breed – possessing a coat of semi-long to long fur. Domestic long-haired cats should not be confused with the British Longhair, American Longhair, or other breeds with "Longhair" names, which are standardised breeds defined by various registries. Other generic terms are in British English, moggie and in American English alley cat. Domestic long-haired cats are the third most common type of cat in the United States.
In the cat fancy, and among veterinarians and animal control agencies, domestic long-haired cats may be classified with organisation-specific terminology (often capitalised), such as "Domestic Longhair" (DLH); "House Cat, Longhair" (HCL);
How the variant developed is still a matter of speculation. The long coat may have been the result of a recessive mutant gene. When a long-haired cat is mated to one with a short coat, only short-haired kittens can result; however, their offspring, when mated, can produce a proportion of long-coated kittens. Successive litters of early European long-haired cats produced more and more long-coated offspring, which were more likely to survive in the cooler European climates. By the year 1521, around the time they were first documented in Italy, the variety had become fixed after only a few generations.
In the late 18th century, Peter Simon Pallas advanced the hypothesis that the manul (also known as Pallas's cat) might be the ancestor of the long-haired domestic cat. In 1907, zoologist Reginald Innes Pocock refuted this claim, citing his work on the skull differences between the manul and the Angoras or Persians of his time.
The first modern, formal breeds of long-haired cats were the Persian and the Angora (named after Ankara, Turkey) and were said to have come from those two areas.