All child-rearing books warn about cats becoming jealous. After studying the reactions of our cat, our conclusion is that it is not about jealousy: babies crying sound like fighting cats. So a cat could react aggressively thinking there is an intruder. In our case, Choclet is a scaredy cat and so just runs away the moment he cries. He's now beginning to get used to Julian. (Don't worry, we never leave them alone together in a room.) 
The Bambino Cat is a short legged hairless cat (in fact there is usually a very fine down). The breed was deliberately created by crossing the Sphynx cat and a Munchkin cat. The Munchkin is the founding breed of the dwarf cats and imports the dwarf gene into this breed. The breed was created very recently, in 2005. Stephanie and Pat Osborne of the HolyMoly cattery organized the breed. As Pat is of Italian extraction and as the cat keeps its kitten like appearance and character throughout its life they named the breed "Bambino" The Bambino has a wedged shape head. The eyes are set wide apart and its lynx tipped ears are set on top of the head. She/he is an agile, muscular cat, medium boned and of good character, both mischievous and affectionate. The Bambino likes to interact with humans and is friendly and intelligent. Breeding produces both long and short (dwarfed) legs. Currently the Bambino is registered in the Rare and Exotic Feline Registry (REFR) and as an experimental new breed with TICA (2006). This cat has all the characteristics of dwarf cats in general including considerations regarding health. Appearance It perhaps goes without saying that this new breed is in development. Clearly the skin texture and feel is all important as this is a hairless cat. In any event the feel of a cat hairless (or not hairless) is important as there is a lot of stroking to do. The skin should feel like touching warm suede. The founders emphasize the importance of the texture of the coat. If the cat is entirely hairless (i.e. no downy hair at all) then they are referring to the texture of the skin. The goal is for a muscular and stocky body as opposed to slender or thin. Although, the tail should be slender and whip like with a tuft of hair on the end like a lion.
Teacup cats are simply small miniature cats (meaning a size smaller than the category of cat called "miniature cats"). Miniature cats are usually about one third to one half the size of normal size cats of the same breed. As a guideline teacup Persian females weigh 2-4 lbs while the males are 3-6 lbs.
At least one cattery sub-classifies by referring to "Palm Sized Pocket Persians" as well. Female palm sized weigh 3.5lbs or less and males 4lbs or less.
They are normally less than 9 inches tall or less when mature. Miniature kittens are more vulnerable than normal sized kittens. Being miniature poses health problems to pregnant cats so the breeding females must be 4-8 lbs in weight and breeding males are 4-10 lbs. It seems that they are friendly (to humans and dogs!) cats.
There is a nice story on the internet about a person called John Antrobus, who used to breed teacup cats (he may still do it but a search proved fruitless).
He first discovered miniature cats in Argentina. He says that he found them surviving in a refuse dump, in a back alley. He decided to bring 7 home to Canada and 6 survived the trip (one died due to the sedative needed for the journey).
He bred them successfully. He says that a "trade off" for the small size is that they are short lived (although this probably only applied to the breed he was dealing with).
Due their small size it seems that it is impractical to home them before 5 months old. Otherwise they are normal healthy kittens.
Sarah Hartwell, an expert on cats and particularly cat genetics, says that you should take care when acquiring very small cats.
The Kurilian Bobtail (Kurilian, Curilsk Bobtailis, Kuril Bobtail) is a "natural" cat and a "mutated" cat. The breed is little known in the West but is the 3rd most popular breed in Russia, where there are about 40 catteries. The breed's geographical origin is the Kuril and Sakhalin Islands. This is a rare cat breed ranking 9 out of 10 where 10 is the most rare, by my reckoningBecause this cat has apparently evolved in isolation on this island chain in the Pacific over the past 100-150 years, she can be called a natural cat. Natural in this instance means no interference by mankind.
The Kuril Islands are, it seems, currently governed by Russia after a long dispute with Japan. There are 16,000 inhabitants. The climate is severe with long cold winters and short summers. The climate has probably, to a degree, dictated this breeds' coat, which is short to medium long and described as a "warm woolly coat". All colors are encountered.
It is not completely clear what the position was, in respect of the evolution of this breed, more than 150 years ago nor when or how the dominant genetic mutation came about to give this gorgeous looking cat her bobtail. However it would seem that the Kurilian Bobtail was a wild cat on the islands until domesticated.
The exact nature of the genetic mutation is still unclear (there is still a lot to learn about cat genetics) and there is speculation that it is the same as the Japanese Bobtail.
At one stage it was believed that this breed was the Japanese Bobtail. If there is a connection between these two bobtailed cats it is possible that the Japanese bobtail inherited her genetic background from the the Kurilian rather than visa-versa.
This alludes to the possibility that Japanese settlers on the islands, before the Russians kicked them off in 1945, brought over domestic cats that mated with the Kurilian resulting in the Japanese Bobtail.
I am writing about my true favorite (probably), the good old Moggy (Moggie) or non-purebred cat. The Moggie could also be called a "Mixed Breed" cat. A Moggie can technically, it seems, be pedigreed, however (see below).
Although all the show cat breeds are also domestic cats, for the vast majority of us the non-purebred is the cat with which we are most familiar.
The word Moggie can also mean a stray cat and a stray cat can be a pedigreed cat, although unlikely. So there is a bit of an overlap there.
The non-pedigreed or non-purebred (these terms are not the same - see below) domestic cat is my favorite because she the sort of cat that I have always lived with. This "breed" of cat is also the most commonly encountered cat worldwide, by far, obviously.
First things first; this breed of cat is not related to the better known Sphynx (aka "Canadian Hairless", "Moon Cat" and "Moonstone Cat"). This cat is native to Russia (poor thing being hairless in Russia). The Donsky follows the Sphynx in terms of date of origin (1966 for Sphynx and 1987 for Donsky).
OK, the Don Sphynx (aka "Don Hairless", "Russian Hairless", "Don Bald Cat", "Donskoy", "Donsky") is not the same as the Sphynx, but how is it different (other than the name)? Obviously, there is a fairly wide variation between cats of the same breed, all of whom could be fine cats. It is therefore, difficult, at least for a layperson, to see an immediate difference.
One difference is hidden. The mutated gene that produces the hairless coat is dominant in the Donsky. This make breeding easier as at least half the litter on an outcross would be hairless. This has meant a fairly quick development to recognition by the WCF and TICA. The Sphynx mutation is recessive.
The history is a little hazy and is one of the most interesting aspects of this breed. Sarah Hartwell says that this cat breed could be the oldest domestic cat breed originating in the period of Egyptian history called, the "Egyptian Middle Period", roughly between 2030 BC and 1640 BC (about 4000 years ago).
Some experts say (in a recently published article) that the wild cat was domesticated some 9,500 years ago. If that were true the Egyptian Mau wouldn't be the first domestic cat breed. Although at the time wild cats were domesticated there were no formally recognized domestic cat breeds.
It seems that the evidence that the Egyptian Mau is a domesticated sub-species of the African Wildcat is found in ancient Egyptian illustrations. This may be fairly good evidence but probably isn't conclusive
Is the Sokoke the rarest of all domestic cat breeds? Is this breed the missing link in the evolution of the classic tabby pattern in cats? No, I am speculating wildly it seems.
Is the breed, in fact, a domestic cat or a tame wild cat? And how do you tell the difference between the two, anyway? There are mysteries surrounding this elegant cat.
Helmi's photographs on this page show you very clearly what this cat looks like. When you put a picture of a Savannah cat (this breed was created in 1986) side by side with a picture a Sokoke (discovered in 1978 but see below) you can see a marked resemblance (barring the coat color and pattern) particularly in their posture and the way that the spine bends at an angle rather than being gently curved. Although the Savannah is a larger cat.
As the RagaMuffin has the same early origins as the Ragdoll cat there is a huge connection with that breed and one expects a great similarity in these two breeds of cat.
The reason, as mentioned in the chart, for the existence of this breed is the intransigence of the founder of the Ragdoll cat (Ann Baker). She was asked to retire as head of the Ragdoll breeding organization by a group of loyal Ragdoll cat breeders due to her perceived increasingly unreasonable behavior. When she refused the group spit from her organization.
Due to Ann Baker patenting the name "Ragdoll", they were not allowed to breed Ragdoll cats. They called their cat a RagaMuffin instead. So began this breed of purebred cat.
It is said that this cat was imported into Japan from China and/or Korea about one thousand years ago. In 1701 a writer (travel writer perhaps) said that the Japanese only keep one type of cat, the Japanese Bobtail, with a preference for the bicolor and tricolor coat. The calico (tricolor) is called mi-ke, meaning "three-fur" (meaning three colors of fur, white, black and orange). The term calico is used in the USA. The term is tortoiseshell-and-white in the UK. See Kiku below for a calico coated cat.
There is a possibility that there is a link between this cat and the Kurilian Bobtail. These breeds do, though, have different appearances. However, the short tail of both breeds is due to the natural mutation of a recessive gene.
The Kurilian Bobtail is thought to have evolved on the Kuril Islands. These islands are off the north coast of Japan's Hokkaido island. Russia is nearby. Some believe that the Japanese Bobtail originates from the Kurilian Bobtail. It could be visa-versa. Often the exact nature of a cat's origins are a little hazy.
Here's a potted history in table form.
Besides being absolutely gorgeous, Gastonne is a thoroughly deserving champion cat and is the son of Rascal who is also a champion cat. Now I've said that, I have to show you a picture if Rascal - see below right looking up. You've got to agree that Rascal is a seriously glamorous cat.
Tatiana kindly agreed to let me publish photographs of her cats to illustrate this page on the Australian Tiffanie cat breed. I think I'd be hard pressed to find better looking cats to do the job.
Kaamari Katz cattery (see below) is located in Liverpool, NSW Australia, about 15 miles west of Sydney.
They are a young, innovative cattery breeding the finest Australian Tiffanies. You can see another picture of Gastonne, as a grown up
Thai cats are Classic Siamese cats. Well, in my opinion they are. The Messybeast author says that the classic Siamese is the Modern Siamese; this is wrong I am sure. The word "classic" conjures up authentic or old, the opposite to modern. As stated in the header to this website the views expressed here are mine only. Many will disagree with them but this site is not written in the style of an encyclopedia. I don't regurgitate the "facts", I give my views on what I have decided is the truth. It is extremely factual but facts are often modified by opinion even in encyclopedias. I'd like people who disagree to tell me by leaving a comment if they can spare a moment.
The Thai cat is a new/old cat breed. This new breed is a reflection of the drift back to the way things were in the Siamese cat world until about the middle of the 1900s (about 1960 to be more precise).
This is a natural, indeed ancient, breed. As the name suggests this breed originates from Turkey (the place of origin is included in the ancient area of Anatolia - see map) and specifically Eastern Turkey and the surrounding regions (Central and Southwest Asia), centered by Lake Van. Lake
Photo: © by Lazy_Lightning Van is the largest in Turkey. The town of Van is on the eastern edge of the lake (see map below). The Kurdish people and Armenians consider this cat as part of their lifestyle.
The Turkish Van has been kept as a domestic pet in the region for centuries.
The first importation into Europe (specifically England) occurred when 2 people (one of whom was a Mrs Lushington) working on behalf of the Turkish Tourist Board were offered two unrelated cats which they accepted and imported (but see below). They returned for 2 more, 4 years later, and began the development of the breed in the UK. The story is vague but apparently, according to a Times newspaper report of 1964, it took Mrs Lushington tried for 8 years to get to Van to acquire a Turkish Van cat. This doesn't square with the above. Mrs Lushington pioneered the development of the breed in the West.
The Templecat, a Shorthaired Birman is, surprisingly, a current breed and is an experimental breed in New Zealand. The picture above is a Birman cat. The Birman has a pointed and medium to long coat (not as long as the Persian cat). Can I find a picture of a Templecat or shorthaired Birman? Afraid not, well not quite. I think the small picture on the right here is a Templecat. This cat looks like a Birman and has short hair. However, photographs of this cat are few and far between and although the Templecat Shorthaired Birman is current it cannot be that active, it seems.
The breed was created by mating a cinnamon spotted tabby cat, an Oriental cat, to the Birman. The Oriental shorthair cat is a fine boned elegant cat that is essentially a Modern Siamese cat with a wider range of coat types (see the picture below). On a simplistic level, I am surprised that a Birman was crossed with such a fine bone and one could say, gangly cat. The Birman is quite a solid cat
The Ragdoll is an American cat breed with a medium-length, silky, rabbit-like coat. It is best known for its docile and placid temperament and affectionate nature. Ragdolls have a sturdy body with a large frame, proportionate legs, and a soft coat with Siamese-style points. Adult cats can be 15-20 lbs without being considered obese, and a fatty pad under the abdomen is typical.
More about History
Some of the original stock consisted of hardy, free-roaming street cats. Ms. Baker created the foundations of the Ragdoll breed by selecting kittens out of Josephine, a semi-feral longhaired white female Persian/Angora type, sired by several unknown male Birman-like or Burmese-like cats, one with Siamese type markings. Out of those early litters came Blackie, an all black Burmese-like male and Daddy Warbucks, a seal point with white feet. Daddy Warbucks sired the founding bi-color female Fugianna, and Blackie sired Buckwheat, a dark brown/black Burmese-like female. Both Fugianna and Buckwheat were daughters of Josephine. All Ragdoll and RagaMuffin cats are descended from Ann Baker's cats through matings of Daddy Warbucks to Fugianna and Buckwheat. By selecting individuals with the look and temperament she wanted for her breeding program, Ann Baker created the standard Ragdoll type.
Baker, in an unusual move, spurned traditional cat breeding associations. She trademarked the name "Ragdoll," set up her own registry—International Ragdoll Cat Association (IRCA)—and enforced stringent standards on anyone who wanted to breed or sell cats under that name.[2] The Ragdolls were also not allowed to be registered in other breed associations. In 1975, a group broke rank with IRCA with the aim of gaining mainstream recognition for the Ragdoll. This group, which included Denny and Laura Dayton eventually developed the Ragdoll standard currently accepted by major cat registries. The breed was selectively bred over many years for desirable traits, such as large size, gentle demeanor, and a tendency to go limp when picked up, as well as the striking pointed coloration. In 1994, a second group decided to leave the IRCA and form their own group due to increasingly strict breeding restrictions. This group later established the Ragamuffin breed. Because Ann Baker owned the rights to the name "Ragdoll" for her new breed, no offshoot groups could call their cats Ragdolls until Ann Baker's trademark on "Ragdoll" was not renewed in 2005.[3] Over the years, RagaMuffin breeders have chosen to differentiate their cats by selective breeding and occasional outcrossings for desired traits, while maintaining the docile, attentive temperament of the original Ragdoll cats.
[edit] Size and Weight
The Ragdoll is a large sized cat breed. Males average between 15-20 pounds.[4] Females are smaller and weigh 10-15 pounds on average. Ragdolls are slow maturing cats; reaching full coat color at two years of age and full size and weight at four years.[
"Looking at the pictures of fluffy Victorian cats with their big eyes and soft faces, lounging lazily on the hearth with colorful bows tied round their necks, one would be hard put to imagine them as anything but adored creatures. Yet, not many generations before, cats had been relegated to the barn to catch mice and to keep the foodstuffs secure from vermin. Rarely did they see the inside of a house - except perhaps the kitchen, cellar or attic. Assigning cats to the task of pest control began in ancient Egypt, where their primary purpose was to keep granaries free from mice that would devour their contents if left unguarded. But even then, though revered for their role in preventing starvation and even elevated to godly form, cats were also beloved pets. The Victorian interest in archaeology uncovered this find. In the 1890s an article in GODEY'S LADY'S BOOK told its readers that the cat was an acceptable and desirable household pet, no longer the stereotypical friend to lonely old ladies: IT IS SETTLED NOW THAT CATS AND SPINSTERHOOD HAVE NO DIRECT CONNECTION, said the article. A learned Egyptologist has just proclaimed the fact that ten well-beloved sacred cats were buried with an Egyptian princess, who had enjoyed the companionship of five husbands in succession. Consequently, it follows that a woman need not be an old maid to appreciate the beauties and love the virtues of her feline companions. Cats in Roman times held a similar position of esteem, accompanying armies of the empire to the stores of food. In the Middle Ages they were not so fortunate, losing their lofty status as they came to be associated with the devil's work. Women who were said to practice witchcraft reputedly kept cats as FAMILIARS - mysterious mediums that facilitated their evil magic. It took centuries for cats to regain their popularity. Generally they were kept simply as utility items, thrown into the barn and otherwise ignored. Not until the 1800s, and the switch from an agricultural to an industrial economy, did the cat once again come into its own. Alive with exciting energy and explosive change, the Victorian era saw a new interest in science, in expansion and exploration, and a different way of looking at the world. In this atmosphere, even the humble working cat took on a new life. Now it became a loved, domesticated pet, invited into the home as a valued member of the family. New wealth allowed the luxury of caring for cats. And just as human food was now being processed and mass distributed (thanks to industrialization), so was food for pets. No longer did cats have to hunt or settle for scraps; special foods were made for them. All this attention, however, did not relieve them of their traditional mousing duties. With cats indoors, Victorians enjoyed a double benefit - beautiful, loving companions and leonine hunters who helped keep their beloved homes rodent-free. The mania for cleanliness during this period was fueled by the findings of Louis Pasteur, whose discovery that bacteria grew and that germs spread in dirty surroundings popularized the new science of hygiene. And what better symbol of hygiene than the cat, who devoted so many hours of the day to washing and preening itself? In England Harrison Weir, an artist and cat fancier, saw potential in feline breeding. I conceived the idea that it would be well to hold Cat Shows, he later said, so that different breeds, colors and markings might be more carefully attended to, and the domestic cat sitting in front of the fire would then possess a beauty and an attractiveness to its owner unobserved and unknown because uncultivated heretofore. His Crystal Palace show of 1871, the first of its kind, listed the permitted breeds as 'BLACK, WHITE and TABBY LONGHAIRS, along with ANY OTHER COLOR. The illustrious winner of the show was a proud Persian kitten. Victorian life was filled not only with actual cats but also with images of cats as decoration. Cat items became the rage. the new department stores were filled with them, and the paraphernalia of advertising reflected the demand. The most effective promotion tools portrayed cats even when the products they advertised had nothing at all to do with them. No item that could hold a picture was missed in the mania for images made by the new technique of Chromolithography, or PRINTING IN COLORS What did the Victorian cat say about the nineteenth century? In many ways, the cat was a crazy
