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Breeds

List and search cat breed information.

List all breeds​

curl -H "x-api-key: YOUR-API-KEY" https://api.thecatapi.com/v1/breeds

Search breeds​

curl -H "x-api-key: YOUR-API-KEY" "https://api.thecatapi.com/v1/breeds/search?q=siamese"
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📦 Source Code: View on GitHub

Filter breeds by breed group​

Many of the breed-focused endpoints allow you to target specific breed groups by supplying either the breed_groups or exclude_breed_groups query parameters (both accept comma-separated lists and are case-insensitive). This makes it easy to build curated lists or remove certain groups from a response without client-side filtering.

EndpointDescription
GET /v1/breedsInclude/exclude groups when listing every breed.
GET /v1/breeds/searchCombine full text search with group filters.
GET /v1/breeds/breed-groupsList the group names available for this species.

Cat breed groups describe the coat: Short-haired, Semi-longhair, Long-haired, Medium-hair, Rex, Hairless, Hybrid and a few combined forms such as Short/Long-hair.

Filtering examples​

Fetch only Short-haired or Rex group breeds:

curl -H "x-api-key: YOUR-API-KEY" "https://api.thecatapi.com/v1/breeds?breed_groups=Short-haired,Rex"

To search while leaving out the hairless breeds, use the exclude_breed_groups filter like this:

curl -H "x-api-key: YOUR-API-KEY" "https://api.thecatapi.com/v1/breeds/search?q=rex&exclude_breed_groups=Hairless"

The same query parameters can be appended to the other endpoints in the table to perform breed-group-aware filtering wherever you are working with breed data.

Get breed details​

curl -H "x-api-key: YOUR-API-KEY" https://api.thecatapi.com/v1/breeds/{BREED_ID}

Cat breed IDs are short four-letter codes, for example abys is the Abyssinian, beng the Bengal and siam the Siamese.

Example Breed Response​

curl -H "x-api-key: YOUR-API-KEY" https://api.thecatapi.com/v1/breeds/abys
{
  "id": "abys",
  "name": "Abyssinian",
  "species_id": "1",
  "life_span": "14-17",
  "temperament": "Active, Energetic, Independent, Intelligent, Gentle, Curious, Playful",
  "origin": "Egypt",
  "country_code": "EG",
  "description": "Medium-sized, elegant cat with a distinctive ticked coat pattern giving a wild appearance. Known for its athletic build, almond-shaped eyes, and highly active, curious personality.",
  "bred_for": null,
  "perfect_for": null,
  "breed_group": "Short-haired",
  "history": "One of the oldest known cat breeds, believed to have originated in the coastal regions of the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia. The breed was developed in Great Britain from cats imported from Abyssinia (now Ethiopia) in the 1860s.",
  "alt_names": null,
  "wikipedia_url": null,
  "reference_image_id": "KWdLHmOqc",
  "venom_codes": [
    {
      "code": "15238",
      "name": "Abyssinian Cat",
      "is_primary": true
    }
  ],
  "image": {
    "id": "KWdLHmOqc",
    "url": "https://cdn2.thecatapi.com/images/KWdLHmOqc.jpg",
    "width": 3114,
    "height": 2609
  },
  "indoor": false,
  "lap": false,
  "adaptability": 3,
  "affection_level": 3,
  "child_friendly": null,
  "cat_friendly": 4,
  "dog_friendly": 4,
  "energy_level": 3,
  "grooming": 2,
  "health_issues": 3,
  "intelligence": 4,
  "shedding_level": 2,
  "social_needs": 3,
  "stranger_friendly": 3,
  "vocalisation": 3,
  "experimental": false,
  "hairless": false,
  "natural": false,
  "rare": false,
  "rex": false,
  "suppressed_tail": false,
  "short_legs": false,
  "hypoallergenic": false,
  "cfa_url": null,
  "vetstreet_url": null,
  "vcahospitals_url": null
}

The 1–5 scores (adaptability, affection_level, energy_level, grooming, intelligence, shedding_level, social_needs, stranger_friendly, vocalisation, cat_friendly, dog_friendly, child_friendly) and the boolean traits (hairless, rex, hypoallergenic, indoor, lap and so on) are part of the full breed schema, which is included with Startup and Enterprise plans. Free plans receive the core fields (name, temperament, origin, life span, description and image). venom_codes maps the breed to the VeNom veterinary nomenclature used by clinics and insurers.

Localisation and Translation​

For Startup and Enterprise accounts the breed data is localised: the breed name is given in the primary language of its country of origin where one exists, and free-text fields are translated.

Use the lang query parameter to set the language of the response, for example en, de, es, fr or it. It works on any of the /breeds endpoints.

https://api.thecatapi.com/v1/breeds?lang=it
https://api.thecatapi.com/v1/breeds/beng?lang=it

The Abyssinian in Italian (scores, booleans and image omitted for brevity):

{
  "id": "abys",
  "name": "Abissino",
  "species_id": "1",
  "life_span": "14-17",
  "temperament": "Attivo, Energico, Indipendente, Intelligente, Gentile, Curioso, Giocoso",
  "origin": "Egypt",
  "country_code": "EG",
  "description": "Gatto di taglia media ed elegante con un caratteristico mantello ticked che gli conferisce un aspetto selvatico. Noto per la sua corporatura atletica, gli occhi a mandorla e la personalità molto attiva e curiosa.",
  "breed_group": "Short-haired",
  "history": "Una delle razze feline più antiche conosciute, si ritiene che abbia avuto origine nelle regioni costiere dell'Oceano Indiano e del Sud-est asiatico. La razza è stata sviluppata in Gran Bretagna da gatti importati dall'Abissinia (ora Etiopia) nel 1860.",
  "reference_image_id": "KWdLHmOqc"
}

List facts about a breed​

curl -H "x-api-key: YOUR-API-KEY" "https://api.thecatapi.com/v1/facts/breed/abys?limit=5"

See Facts for the response shape and localisation options.