Why are cats with "long fur" called "long hair cats" when they have NO "hair", only "lots of fur"?

I've always wondered about this: Why are cats with "long fur" called "long-hair cats" instead of "long fur cats"? My sweetie has the most luxurious long "fur", and yet she is labeled a "long-hair cat"?


FYI, this is my angel that I rescued from her abusive owners in early March 07'-I am only now seeing more abusive damage that was done to her., All of a sudden, now with her being in the right environment, with lots of love and top of the line living conditions, I noticed her fur is growining like so fast, like a weed around her tail, and it is absolutely beautiful-It IS VERY much more work to keep that fur matt=free and tange-free, besides the rest of her body, but she is worth the world, and I'd do anything for her (and I do) When she sits down, she has this long fur that looks like it fans out around her tail, which I had never seen before until now. It also shows me "more" abuse her original owners did to her-It is clear that they cut off that back fur, because it is alot of work

Why are cats with "long fur" called "long hair cats" when they have NO "hair", only "lots of fur"?
Hair and fur are the same thing.
Reply:listen coo-coo, u mite find it amusing but the true fact is that mammals have hair. ALL mammals have hair, including cats, dogs, bears, etc. their so-called FUR is actually HAIR just like ours. it makes us mammals that we have hair. call it fur or hair however u want. it truely is the same thing. Report It

Reply:hair is fur. we just refer to animals as having fur instead of hair, mostly to distinguish ourselves from animals.
Reply:It's a play on words. Just like we park in a "Driveway" and drive on the "parkway." Who knows?
Reply:Cats have hair like us and mink have fur- I think it has something to do with texture and or length. So your cat IS a "long haired cat"
Reply:because "Hair" sounds better and is more fancy.
Reply:cos cats have HAIR not fur
Reply:All fur is hair but not all hair is fur. It is usually referred to has "fur" when there is a plushness or a thickness to it. See the links for further explanation. The second link talks mostly about dogs but it applies to cats also and is very informative. Here's a fun explanation from the second link:





Dogs and cats: If it's where it belongs (on the animal), it's


fur; if it's where it doesn't belong (on your black slacks), it's hair.





Humans: If it's where it belongs (on the top of your head),


it's hair; if it's where it doesn't belong (on your back), it's fur.
Reply:Interesting Question. I never thought of that. Anyways, Im going to try and take a stab. Ok, think of you as the cat. The fur is the cats hair and to the cat it is long. Hope that helps which I doubt did lol. %26amp; thanks for giving an abused cat a home. I had a stray once and her owners apparently moved and left her behind with no food and water because she walked over to our house and was meowing nonstop and she was SSO skinny. We gave her some food and water and she gobbled it down. We kept her and she is soo adorable. Now she is going to have kittens. :D To think people could do that to their pets. tisk tisk tisk.
Reply:i have no idea, i have 10 cats and thier lovely
Reply:um because people might not know what fur but who wouldnt right?SO thats why they call it hair
Reply:Well, fur is still hair, we just refer to animal hair as "fur" and human hair as, well "hair", I think the only difference between hair and fur is that fur is all over the body (like an animal's body) and hair is on the head (like on a human's), but fur and hair alone is the same thing.





I hope this answer helped,





✭gabydt8✭
Reply:Hey, what difference does it make. Everybody knows what you're talking about when You hear or read the words "long haired cat". I'm glad your long furred cat is happy. My short haired cats are happy too.