The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 7 plus 8 letter word BRITISH LONGHAIR
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
B
R
I
T
I
S
H
L
O
N
G
H
A
I
R
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Cat/Cat" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case cat/cat = british longhair.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.