Sphynx breed standard – summary plus illustration

Sphynx Cat photographed by Helmi Flick

This is an illustrated version of the breed standard for the purebred Sphynx cat. This an interesting, intelligent cat that is nice to touch and hold – the feel of warm, silky chamois leather. The photograph is by the celebrated cat photographer, Helmi Flick. It is protected by copyright, which I ask you to …

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Turkish Angora breed standard – illustrated summary

Turkish Angora

I use the CFA Turkish Angora breed standard as my guide in writing this summary. I also use my own words, which are less formal and I don’t make an attempt to cover the entire standard as this is meant to be an overview of the cat and how she should look when looked at …

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Japanese Bobtail breed standard – comprehensive and illustrated

Japanese Bobtail van pattern

Japanese Bobtail Breed Standard – Photograph of Joudama © Helmi Flick. The markings (words and lines) on the photograph were made by MikeB at PoC I felt the need to see if the mathematical nature of the standard worked – it does. Helmi Flick has kindly allowed me to mark up her photographs if …

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‘Modified wedge’ terminology used in the cat fancy (infographic)

NFC (Norwegian Forest Cat) head is an equilateral triangle

This is an infographic on the well-used cat fancy phrase ‘modified wedge’. It is used all the time in cat association breed standards. I see it used a lot in the Cat Fanciers’ Association (CFA) breed standards and I’ve extracted some examples for the infographic below. The cat fancy administrators were drawn into using the phrase ‘modified wedge’ because they had to find a way to describe the head and face shape of their registered cats. Fundamentally, the wedge shape fits the feline head shape but only in a very general way which is why it is ‘modified’!

Modified wedge terminology used in the cat fancy breed standards explained in an infographic.

Conflicting attitude to cat declawing by Cat Fanciers’ Association and American Cat Fanciers Association

Keiger and Exotic Long Hair

On the evidence provided by the Cat Fanciers’ Association (CFA) they allow declawed cats to compete at cat shows but not cats who have suffered the tendonectomy operation. There is a lot of disorganised and mashed information coming from American cat associations on cat declawing. Before I refer to that particular topic, you might …

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Are Bengal cats big?

Bengal cat

This is a focused, single question which must result in a response along the same lines. Your typical F5 Bengal cat, which is the default standard Bengal cat in people’s homes will be the same size as an average domestic cat. The breed standards for this breed should guide us as to what the …

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Extreme flat-faced Persian cats are like humans suffering from coronal craniosynostosis

The more extreme flat-faced cat has an abnormally dome-shaped skull compared to both the Domestic Shorthair plus other severe problems of size and shape causing a severe health issues

Extreme flat-face Persian cats are, according to a research paper carried out in 2017 by German scientists, equivalent to children suffering from a condition called coronal craniosynostosis. This is a rare condition where a baby’s skull does not grow properly causing an irregular head shape. I would suggest in fact that the abnormality of …

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New cat breeds – careful selection 2022

Lykoi Cat - Defensive pose

The following are new mainstream cat breeds: Lykoi, Khao Manee, Toybob, Maine Coon Polydactyl, Minuet and Minuet Longhair (Napoleon). I’d like to include one, new non-mainstream breed, the Cheetoh. Lykoi – recognised, accepted and registered by America’s Cat Fanciers’ Association (CFA) and The International Cat Association (TICA). This interesting “werewolf cat” was founded in …

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