A Michael Broad Blog
Selective cat breeding is what cat breeding is all about. So, what is it? This is an outline discussion. It is slightly controversial in keeping with my slightly rebellious nature. Before I continue, I would like to say that I am not against cat breeding. But I am for high levels of responsibility in …
Pointed cat with hard-to-see points The Burmese cat is a pointed cat meaning that it has darker extremities than the areas in the middle of the body. However, the pointing may be difficult to see except in full sunlight. And, for example, the stable Burmese has dark brown points and a dark brown body …
The Cat Fanciers’ Association (CFA) has been under pressure for decades to revise the breed standard i.e. the guidelines, for the flat-faced cat breeds namely the Exotic Shorthair, the Persian and the Himalayan. I hope that the pressure has been ramped up on the news that the Kennel Club has revised its guidelines for …
Munchkin cats are not genetically modified in the conventional meaning of the term. A genetically modified organism (GMO) is an animal, plant, or microbe whose DNA has been altered using genetic engineering techniques. This does not apply to Munchkin cats. The shortened legs of the Munchkin cat are due to a naturally occurring genetic …
The smartest type of cat will be the wild cat species. You can take anyone of them. I believe that you will find that it is accepted that the wild cats are smarter than domestic cats. This is translated into another perhaps accepted fact that the wildcat hybrids such as the Savannah and Bengal …
Persian cats have a distinct reputation for being lethargic and lazy. There are probably three reasons why this breed has been labelled with this description. The first is that through selective breeding over decades, cat breeders have not only selected cats of a certain appearance but of a certain character. Over time this character …
“Breeding true” means that the offspring look like their parents. It is achieved by “line breeding” which is a form of inbreeding which ideally does not transfer undesirable traits together with those traits that the breeder wants such as the correct phenotype (appearance as per the breed standard). It is a fine balance being …
I have consistently said that cat guardians should respect their cat companion as a feline but treat them as a member of the human family. I think that is the right combination but it does lend itself towards anthropomorphising your cat. However, I don’t think this is a bad thing necessarily. The experts say …
