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Ocicat 'Bernie'
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Short-haired cats are just as pleasing to the eye and just as wonderful pets as the long-haired breeds, and some have the added appeal of looking absolutely 'wild'! Visually, some domestic short-haired cats more closely resemble their 'wild' counterparts. Breeds such as the Bengal and the Ocicat look so 'wild' that they are sometimes mistaken for wild cats. Their look may be 'wild', but they are definitely very tame. The Havana Brown has the distinction of being a chocolate colored cat. Another short-hair, the Manx, has the unique characteristic of a naturally bobbed tail. And, some short-hairs have a very distinctive Asian 'flavor' such as the Burmese and the Siamese. Let's take a closer look at some of these fantastic short-haired cats. The featured breeds will be presented in alphabetical order.
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SGC Bengaland's Divinci Magic
SGC Bengaland's Monet Power Surge
SGC Bengaland's Wolfgang Mozart
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The name 'Bengal' is derived from the Latin (scientific) name of the little Asian Leopard Cat (Felis Bengalensis).
The first Bengal cat was registered with the TICA (The International Cat Association) by a breeder, Jean Mill, in 1983. Other breeders had crossed the Asian Leopard Cat (a small wild forest cat) with a domestic cat prior to 1983, but Jean Mill's aim was to produce a domestic cat that only looked 'wild'.
Since the Bengal began as a hybrid, the goal of the breeding program for the Bengal was to produce a cat that had physical features distinctive to the small forest-dwelling wild cats, but with the loving, dependable temperment of the domestic cat. The first three generations of cats produced after the original leopard cat/domestic cat cross are designated as 'foundation Bengals'. The fourth generation and beyond are called Bengals or sometimes "SBT" Bengals. In 1991 the fourth generation Bengal cat was entered into the stud book.
The Bengal cat can be either spotted or marbled and must have spotting on the belly. They can be one of four different color combinations... brown tabby, seal lynx point, seal sepia tabby, or seal mink tabby. They are a medium to large cat, very sleek and muscular. |
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In the early 1930's a San Francisco doctor aquired a nut-brown female cat from Burma, which he named Wong Mau. Subsequent breeding of this female to Siamese proved that the Burmese was a true breed. Further breeding occasionally produced lighter colored kittens, and eventually the American breeders asked the CFA for recognition of these 'dilute' colors, first as a separate breed called Malayan, and later as a 'dilute' division of Burmese. The four colors recognized by the CFA are sable, champagne, blue, and platinum. Burmese cats have large, expressive eyes. Their coats have a satiny texture that requires little grooming. For their size the Burmese is surprisingly heavy and they have been described as 'bricks wrapped in silk'. In the show rings the body type of the Burmese cat is compact with a rounded head. Burmese cats make loving pets, exhibiting a dog-like devotion to their people.
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Who wouldn't love a chocolate cat? The Havana Brown is just that... having a beautifully shiny solid mahogany-toned brown coat. The other distinct feature of the Havana Brown is the shape of its' head, which is longer than it is wide with a definite whisker break and a strong square chin (imagine the shape of a light bulb). The eyes of the Havana Brown are expressive large green ovals and they are positioned lower on the head than other breeds. Havana Browns are lithe medium sized muscular cats with the mature males weighing about 8-10 pounds. Theory has it that the Havana Brown got its' name from a rabbit of the same color, but most fans of the breed like to think that the object of their adoration was named after a fine brown Havana cigar. Although brown cats have been known for centuries, it was not until July of 1964 that the CFA granted championship status to Havana Browns. This breed is experiencing a re-newed popularity, but don't expect to find very many kittens available just yet.
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According to the stud book the CFA has recognized the Manx cat as a distinct breed since as far back as the 1920's. However, the breed originated hundreds of years ago off the coast of England on the Isle of Man. The Manx cat comes in two coat lengths...
short and long. The short-haired Manx has a double coat
which gives the appearance of plushness. Beneath the
hair of either 'coat type', the cat is the same.
The Manx
gene is dominant and the kittens that inherit the gene
can have a full tail, a short tail, a rise (known as a
'rumpy riser'), or no tail at all ('rumpies'). Manx are known
for their robust and rounded appearance.
They are also higher in the hind quarters than in the
front... the back legs being much longer than the front
legs. The eyes of the Manx are rounded, turning up at the
outer corners, and the face should have a sweet
expression. As a rule, Manx are
very playful cats. They have very powerful hind quarters.
They can jump considerably higher than their size would
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Ch Brerbit's A Little Too Much of Titania 'Too Much'
'Rosie' |
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GC Auxarcs Hunk Of Burning Love 'Bernie'
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In 1964, Virginia Daly, a noted CFA breeder living in Michigan, got an unexpected surprise as the result of a breeding experiment which attempted to produce an Aby-point Siamese. In order to get an Aby-point Siamese two generations of breeding are necessary. In the resulting second generation litter was an ivory kitten with golden spots! Virginia's daughter named the breed 'Ocicat' because it resembled an Ocelot (Felis Pardalis... a small wild cat found in southern North America and South America). Not fully realizing what they had, Tonga was neutered and sold as a pet. The 'then' Detroit newspaper did an article on the beautiful spotted cat, and a well-known geneticist, Dr. Clyde Keeler, expressed an interest in the development of a domestic cat that would resemble in appearance some of the disappearing wild species. The breeding formula was repeated to produce more Ocicats. Other breeders got in on the action... developing other Ocicat lines. This created a substantial genetic base for the breed. Selective breeding is responsible for the many patterns and colors of the Ocicat coat. To say the least, Ocicats are as devoted to people as they are exotic looking. Adult males can weigh up to 18 pounds. Ocicats are bright and easy to train, and they have no particular health problems due in large part to their extensive genetic background.
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The Siamese, the quintessential 'people' cat, was first officially exported from Thailand (Siam at the time) in the late 1800's . They were a gift from Siam to an English ambassador. Almost immediately they began appearing in English cat shows, and then in American cat shows in the early 1900's. Although seal point Siamese (seal brown... nearly black) were the first arrivals to the western world, and chocolate points did appear occasionally, it was the blue point (a bluish-white body with slate blue points) that was offically recognized in 1934. The other color combination is the lilac point which combines a white body with pinkish gray points. Aside from the distinct color of this breed, the body structure is a study in length... an elongated muscular tubular body on long graceful legs with a long whip of a tail. The Siamese head is long and wedge shaped (straight in profile) sitting atop a long graceful neck. The most arresting feature of the Siamese cat are the blue almond shaped eyes, widely spaced and slanted. The eyes of the Siamese cat are second to none in that they exude intelligence and emotion like no other. One other feature that sets this breed apart is the Siamese voice... at times they almost seem to be trying to talk with their plaintive vocalizations.
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GC, RW Geishagoll Jet City Woman
'Jet'
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Well, that's the 'long and the
short' of a few of the 40 plus cat breeds! I hope you
enjoyed reading about them as much as I enjoyed gathering
the information and putting it all together here.
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