A Michael Broad Blog
This is a now non-existent cat breed to the best of my knowledge, based on the fact that it first appeared in the early 1990s and only three individuals existed in the late 1990s due to financial mismanagement according to a most reputable source: Sarah Harwell. The mismanagement led to ‘most [cat] being destroyed’. …
Introduction: I think that it is useful to take a realistic viewpoint about the origin of the cat breeds in general. For good reason, cat breeders like to create an interesting and definitive history of the breed but sometimes the reality is not quite so clear-cut and certain. This applies to the Russian Blue. …
Perhaps the most significant two facts about this cat breed is that it is France’s only purebred cat and the breed standard has remained untouched throughout the breed’s existence in the cat fancy which started in the late 1800s. This is because the intention is to maintain the original appearance. You can see this …
I’m going to refer to a study of 2007 which contains a lot of useful information (https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.ygeno.2007.10.009). One of the conclusions which interests me and which might interest others is that the Siberian cat is the most genetically diverse cat breed according to these scientists. And at the opposite end of the spectrum, they …
Above: LaPerm Cat “Red” photograph copyright © Helmi Flick The article is in several parts with links to the next part at the end of each section. Quick Guide Origin This is the “curly haired beauty” of the world of cats. There are long and shorthaired varities. The longhaired cats have semi-long hair. The …
There’s been quite a lot of discussion about the first domestic cats in America. We are sure that early Americans, around 10,000 years ago, did not domesticate a wild cat species and thereby create the first domestic cat. That happened in and around what is now Syria with the North African wildcat. So, the …
Sometimes within the cat fancy there is an argument as to whether there is such a thing as a traditional cat breed. For instance, the contemporary, “foreign” (slender) looking Siamese is claimed by some breeders to be the original shape. In which case the modern version of this cat breed would be the same …
As Sarah Hartwell aptly describes it, this is a tangled tale. The Angora and Persian histories are intertwined. The Angora Cat Association in Ankara, Turkey are annoyed because the original and genuine Turkish Angora (called the ‘Angora’ by them) has been lost in the scramble by American breeders to create their own version of …
