Tag Archives: cat facts

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 →

The Sokoke: Exotic Forest Cat

This breed of cat is very old, originating in the Sokoke Arabiuke forest on the coast of Kenya, which is one of the few remaining but rapidly diminishing rainforests in East Africa. The Giriama tribe called this creature “Kadonzo,” which means “looks like tree bark.” In ancient times, these cats were part of the general diet and eaten in preference to domestic stock. They were referred to as “very sweet to eat.” These African shorthaired cats were not known in Europe until the twentieth century. In 1978, a farmer in Kenya found a litter of kittens on a coconut plantation, … Continue reading →

The Tonkinese Cat: One Classy Feline

An elegant cross between the Burmese and the Tonkinese, this breed was developed in Canada in the 1960s and was awarded championship status in 1984. Although relatively new as far as the time it has been around competing, this cat actually dates back to the Ayudha Period in Siam (1358-1767), and is depicted in “The Cat Book Poems of Siam.” It is also sometimes known as the “Ancient Copper Cat of Southeast Asia.” In the early 1800s, these cats were imported to England under the name of “Chocolate Siamese.” In the Unites States, these cats can trace their lineage back … Continue reading →

The Snowshoe Cat: No Two Alike

As is often said about snowflakes, there are no two Snowshoe cats that are exactly alike. It is a hybrid breed, originating as a variant from Siamese parents. In 1960, Dorothea Hinds Daugherty of the Kensing Cattery of Philadelphia, PA, found three kittens in a litter of Siamese, each with four white feet. She single-handedly developed the first “Snowshoe” line by crossing her Siamese with a bicolor American shorthair. Although the variant did not re-occur at first, eventually this cross breeding resulted in the popular “V” face that has become the trademark of this breed. Between 1960 and 1977, interest … Continue reading →

The Siberian Cat: A Buncha Love!

The Siberian Cat is the national cat of Russia and is often featured in its literature and legends. This breed dates back at least one thousand years, to the dawn of recorded history. It is naturally occurring, and was included in Harrison Wier’s book “Our Cats and all About Them,” which contained information on one of the earliest cat shows ever held in England back in 1871. The breed was first imported to the United States in 1990, and despite its enormous popularity, is still extremely rare in America. There are long waiting lists for the privilege of owning one … Continue reading →