The Burmilla Cat: An Enchanting Accident

In England back in 1981, an accidental mating occurred between a Chinchilla Persian named Sanquist and Faberge, a Lilac Burmese. The resulting kittens were so beautiful, sweet and healthy that a new and unexpected breed was born for which they became the foundation stock. The Burmilla reached North America in 1995 and achieved championship status in Canada in 1998. The Burmilla is a medium-sized cat, weighing from 8 to 10 pounds, with a muscular body that can have either a short and silky coat like the Burmese or a long fine and silky one like its Persian ancestors, capped with … Continue reading →

The Ojos Azules Cat: Rare and Camera Shy

If there is a photograph to be found of this rare breed of cat, I for one do not know where it can be. This is a relatively new breed of domestic feline that was discovered in New Mexico among the indigenous feral cat populations. The have dark blue eyes (the translation of their name), and the very first cat discovered was a tortoiseshell named Cornflower in 1984. She was bred to males lacking the blue-eyed trait but it proved to be a dominant gene because all of her kittens possessed it. Their eyes are truly unique and unlike the … Continue reading →

The Ocicat: A Spotted Delight

With a name that derives from the Ocelot, this beautiful spotted cat looks like the product of a wild and domestic cross, but it isn’t. This large, muscular and very attractive feline is the result of selective cross breeding between the Siamese, Abyssinian and American Shorthair breeds. A “designer cat,” it was originally bred in the 1960s and was the unexpected result of an experimental cross to produce an Aby-point Siamese. In the last fifty years, this breed has become popular the world over and advanced to championship status in 1987. The Ocicat is large and muscular with an athletic … Continue reading →

The Nebelung Cat: Silvery Elegance

The Nebelung, which means “creature of the mist” in German, is a long haired Russian Blue named for the luminous quality of its silver-tipped coat. The breed is not widely recognized and began in 1980 in the United States when a Russian Blue male was mated with a female that carried the long hair gene. The foundation stock was taken from two litters of that cross. Still rather uncommon, the breed is found mostly in America, although a small number of longhaired Russian Blues have been discovered in Russia. There are currently a number of Russian breeders interested in developing … Continue reading →

The Havana Brown: An Engineering Feat!

Written records of solid brown cats date back to the 1300s from early Siam in “The Cat Book Poems.” These ancient manuscripts describe seventeen “good luck” cats, which the people of Siam (Thailand) considered very beautiful and possessed with the ability to protect them from evil. Havana Brown is an engineered breed that was created by crossing a black domestic cat carrying a brown recessive gene with a seal or chocolate point Siamese. These “brown “Siamese,” for some reason, became very unpopular at the turn of the last century. Fifty years later in England in 1954, the very first Havana … Continue reading →

Japanese Bobtail: A Unique Creature

The Japanese Bobtail is a very old breed, and has been the favored cat of Japan for almost a thousand years. Scholars believe they arrived there from China and Korea. Images of this cat are often depicted on ancient prints and paintings. A 15th century painting that hangs in the Freer Galley of Art at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC, depicts two lovely longhaired Japanese Bobtails. Both varieties are equally old and apart from hair length, both variants retain the same characteristics. The first Japanese Bobtails were brought to America through the effort of the late Elizabeth Freret, and … Continue reading →

Hold That Toyger Cat! : Jungle Beauty

The Toyger is a “designer cat breed” still in the stages of development. Recognized by the International Cat Association for registration in the 1990s, this breed was founded in the United States largely through the efforts of Judy Sugden of the EEYAS Cattery. It is the result of a cross between a striped Domestic Short Hair (DSH) and a Standard Bengal Tabby (SBT). These cats were bred for modern city life and they were meant to become companions for two-legged apartment dwellers. After years of effort, the result is a beautiful striped cat, which resembles a “toy tiger.” (Hence the … Continue reading →

The Korat: Good Luck Cat of Siam

The origins of this breed may well lie in the remote province of Korat, which is a place of huge granite outcrops, where its coat is the perfect camouflage for its surroundings. It is said that early in the twentieth century, King Rama V named the breed for this specific geographic location. They are, however, extremely rare and highly-prized creatures. This blue cat of Siam (now Thailand) is a very old breed, and the earliest written records are about five hundred years old and can be seen in the Bangkok National Library. They are known as the “Cat Book Poems” … Continue reading →

The Somali: Exquisite Beauty and Brains Too!

The Somali cat is considered to be a longhaired cousin of the ancient Abyssinian, and its long and silky coat was at one time considered to be an undesirable trait among breeders who did their best to eliminate it from their breeding stock. In the i960s, however, cat fanciers began to appreciate the exquisite beauty of these creatures and the breed was born, named for Somalia, the country bordering Abyssinia. These well-proportioned, medium-sized cats are beautiful to look upon, and bear a strong resemblance to a small fox, with large ears, masked face, full ruff and very bushy tail. Lovers … Continue reading →

The Birman Cat: An Asian Delight

Known as the “sacred cat of Burma,” there are many legends surrounding the origins of this beautiful breed, including that they are descendants of one hundred yellow-eyed cats with long silken fur that guarded the Buddhist temple of Lao-Tsun. Two other tales include a Frenchman named Auguste Pavie, who supposedly received the first Birman as a gift of gratitude for saving Kittah priests during a religious uprising. One other tale purports that American. Millionaire, Cornelius Vanderbilt, purchased the first Birmans from an unfaithful temple servant while cruising his yacht in the Far East and gave them to one of his … Continue reading →