Cats featured on page 1

BI-Colourpointed, Turkish Van ,Burmese, Bombay, Selkirk rex

Cats featured on page 2

Snowshoes,  Link    Page 2

                           SELKIRK REX “the cat in sheep’s clothing”

In 1987 a litter of 6 kittens were born at the home of Kitty Brown in Sheridan, Montana.   One of the kittens had a very strange coat, she was a blue cream and white shorthair, and she had curls on her neck, legs, tummy and tail.   Her mother was a tortie and white domestic longhair, with a wavy undercoat.  This kitten was later called  Miss DePesto and was the start of the Selkirk breed.

To find out more background details about the Selkirk Rex ~ http://selkirkrexcatclub.co.uk/selkirkrexcatclub/index.htm

 The Selkirk Rex comes in curly and straight hair (variant), long and shorthaired and are available in all sorts of colours.   As the curly gene is a dominant gene the The Selkirk Rex is out crossed to either the Variant Selkirk, BSH, Persian or Exotic. 

The Selkirk is a medium to large cat with muscular cobby build, with a soft and tactile coat with loose random curls. 

The Selkirk Rex  have an amazing temperament and just love human contact and want to be with you, they are real lap cats and just love a cuddle and a fuss.  They love to join in with whatever is happening and will often bring toys for you to throw.  They also seem to love water.

 Their coats are exceptionally soft and very tactile and do require some grooming

Shorthaired ~ one a week

Longhaired ~ twice a week

Bathing ~ 4/6 weeks ~ this helps to keep the curls.

Owners of Selkirks should have a really good sense of humour as their cats are often referred to

                                                 as  “bad hair day”  “an unmade bed”

Many Thanks to Sara Kingston 

What is a  Burmese Cat?

Many thanks to  Sandra Woodley from Honpuss

Where can I start – it’s love in a fur coat, it’s a brick wrapped in silk, it’s a Velcro cat.  Burmese are all these things but they are also incredibly beautiful. They are gregarious, outgoing, intelligent ,friendly, fun loving and it is all these characteristics that make up a Burmese cat.  They are not a cat to be left alone, they need the company of either other pets or people and like nothing more than snuggling down on an accommodating lap.  

They delight in "helping" manage the house. The females like to be at "center stage" and assume an active role ruling the household. The males prefer to supervise from the lap position; they are more laid back and less opinionated.

Burmese cats are people-oriented and almost doglike in personality. They shadow their owners and desire to give and receive affection. Burmese are true lap-loving companions: quick to learn and extremely loyal.

The Burmese is strong, athletic and elegant, of foreign but not extreme type which is distinctive and quite individual. A characteristic feature of the Burmese is it’s amazing coat which is close lying with a glossy, almost polished quality that requires little or no grooming other than a daily stroking.   This together with a rounded head, expressive eyes and a sweet disposition, present a totally distinct cat which is comparable to no other breed. 

History

Burmese cats have been known for centuries past living in Burma, Thailand and Malaya, and have been imported along with the Siamese, and could be found in the UK in the late 1800’s and were known as Chocolate Siamese, but were nothing to do with chocolate pointed Siamese which appeared later.  At the time these yellow-eyed cats were never favoured and gradually the breed died out in England, but persisted in Europe for some time.

In 1930, Dr Joseph C Thompson of San Francisco, California, a retired naval officer and practising psychiatrist, imported a little brown female called Wong Mau. This is the cat that is accepted as the original Burmese.  Many breeders of that time regarded Wong Mau as a dark Siamese, but when she was mated to a seal point Siamese the resulting kittens were both pointed and brown kittens.  One of the brown kittens was mated back to his mother and the kittens were all brown and the Burmese cat was born.

The first US bred Burmese were imported into the UK in 1949 but the Governing Council of the Cat Fancy were not loathe to grant breed recognition to the Burmese based on the US pedigrees.  Recognition was eventually granted in 1952 after three generations were bred here.

The first blue Burmese was born in the UK in 1955 and sparked controversy among Burmese breeders as many would only accept Brown kittens in their breeding programmes. But as we can see, with the myriad of colours in Burmese  today not everyone felt this way and we now have 10 different colours, Brown, blue, chocolate, lilac, red, cream, brown tortie, blue tortie, chocolate tortie and lilac tortie.

Whatever colour the Burmese cat is it’s most outstanding feature is its affectionate nature. You can be guaranteed a loving welcome when you share your life with a Burmese.

©  Sandra Woodley

Bombay Cat

Many thanks To Sarah from Kimani cats

The first Bombay cats were bred in Kentucky USA in 1958 by a lady called Nikki Horner. She wanted to create a cat that resembled a miniature black panther and crossed a Sable (Brown) Burmese with a black American shorthair. In this country during the early 1980’s a few dedicated British Breeders started to develop a British Bombay cat by crossing a Blue Burmese queen with an unregistered shorthaired tom. In this country the Bombay is shown and bred as part of the Asian cat group and they are genetically the nearest possible to a “Black Burmese”. Bombay cats, breed number 72, are most recognised for their shiny patent leather coats, which are sound to the roots, and their big golden eyes – a striking combination. Bombay’s are solid black cats, though through the breeding programme, other colours are found and recognised – these cats are known as Asian Self’s and could be Blue 72a, Chocolate 72b, Lilac 72c, Red 72d, and Cream 72f. It is important to maintain the Burmese type in the breed, so Bombay to Burmese as well as Bombay to Bombay breeding is allowed. Bombay cats share many of the characteristics and behaviours of a Burmese. They are lap loving, heat seeking, affectionate and just love attention. They make ideal family pets, they are intelligent, playful, outgoing, friendly and loyal, they have an absolutely wonderful temperament. The short tight coat of the Bombay requires little or no grooming, to stay in tiptop condition. No need to groom daily although petting your cat is always a joy. These magnificent cats, which resemble the black leopards of India, would make a lovely companion to anyone.    For more information, please go to www.kimanicats.co.uk or contact Sarah Sellman at kimanicats@hotmail.co.uk

The Turkish Van Cat

Nick name: The Swimming Cat.

I did write to must of the Turkish Van cat clubs / Associations for

permission to use the information on their web site and to advertise their

clubs etc, with no replies, so I have found this information at

Wikipedia free Encyclopedia web site .

The Turkish Van  is a rare, naturally occurring breed of cat from the Lake Van region of present-day Turkey. For Turkish Vans, the word van refers to their colour pattern, where the colour is restricted to the head and the tail, and the rest of the cat is white. It is the maximum expression of the piebald white spotting gene that makes the van pattern.

 The spotting gene appears in many different species. It also shows up in the common house cat, so a cat that shows this colour pattern but is not registered or from the Van region, is called a "Vanalike".

The coat on a Van is considered semi-longhaired. While many cats have three distinct hair types in their coat - guard hairs, awn hairs and down hairs - the Turkish Van only has one. This makes their coat feel like cashmere or rabbit fur, and the coat dries quickly when wet. Lake Van is a region of temperature extremes and the cats have evolved a coat that grows thick in the winter with a large ruff and bottlebrush tail for the harsh winters and then sheds out short in the body for the warm summers. The full tail is kept year round.

The Van is one of the larger cat breeds. The males can reach 20 lb (9 kg) and the females weigh about half of that. They have massive paws and rippling hard muscle structure which allows them to be very strong jumpers. Vans can easily hit the top of a refrigerator from a cold start on the floor. They are slow to mature and this process can take 3-5 years. Also, their fetching skills are quite good and they are quick to learn.

Perhaps the most interesting trait of the breed is its fascination with water; most cat breeds dislike being immersed in water. The unusual trait may be due to the breed's proximity to Lake Van in their native country; it may have acquired this trait due to the very hot summers and have extremely waterproof coats that make bathing them a challenge. As such, Vans have been nicknamed the "Swimming Cats" for this most unusual trait. Most Vans in the United States are indoor cats and do not have access to large bodies of water, but their love and curiosity of water stays with them. Instead of swimming they stir their water bowls and invent fishing games in the toilet.

Turkish Vans are a naturally occurring breed of cat. They can still be found in east Turkey, near Lake Van. Their numbers have diminished, but both the Vans and the Turkish Angora, (which is a separate breed with different characteristics originating in central Turkey) are under the protection of the Turkish government and are bred at the Ankara Zoo. The genetic traits of the cats have not been modified from their originals and breeding programs seek to preserve their unique combination of athleticism and loyalty.

Vans are sometimes confused with Turkish Angoras, although a side-by-side comparison reveals vastly different characteristics. Angoras are named after Ankara (Angora) and descended separately from the Vans. Angoras also carry the W gene associated with white fur, blue eyes and deafness while Vans do not. Van eye colour can be amber, blue or odd (one each, amber and blue) but Vans with two blue eyes are not deaf like Angoras. The breed should be thin and nimble and should be very independent to each other.

Turkish Vans are very intelligent, and will easily take over their home and owners. Vans are people cats that want to be with people wherever they go. They like to play and jump and explore anything in their reach, which is quite large. They are energetic; they play hard and sleep hard. Many Vans are dedicated to fetching their particular object of interest, and many owners describe them as "dogs in a cat suit" because of their unusual personalities.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_Van

Bi - Colourpointed British Shorthairs

The Beautiful and distinctive coat pattern of the British Shorthair Bi- Colourpoint has gained championship status all over the world.

How ever in the UK they are still very rare. It would seem a very sad and strange state of affairs that in the country where the breed     originated, that the G.c.c.f. are the only body not to give them any status !!!

I suppose there is no surprise there then !!!!.

Now of course we have an alternative, to the G.c.c.f as Tica has arrived in the (the International cat association) UK and they are more than pleased to see these beautiful examples of the British shorthair Bi Colourpoints on their show benches .

We now have two Bi Colourpoint cats in the UK to have gained champion titles under Tica, more of our Bi Colourpoints will be going forward throughout 2007 trying to gain their Titles, fingers crossed!!!.

Our Bi Colourpoints had to beat over 65 other shorthair cats in order to gain their titles, so a Tica Title is not an easy option.

Although this is a distinctive coat pattern it has occasionally appeared by accident in the UK , we now have a comprehensive breeding programme set up for British Shorthairs in this gorgeous coat pattern, possibly the only programme of its type at present in the UK.

We are committed to the promotion of this programme and the cats it will produce. These cats are pure British Shorthairs, as their pedigrees will testify, no out crosses have been made to any other breed to achieve their distinctive coat pattern.

They can be bred in any of the recognised colourpointed variations of self colours.

We will also be breeding the Bi Colourpoint in the tabby variation by next year.

Obviously the darker colours show the markings off to better effect against the white patching, colours such as cream take longer to developed and for the final coat pattern to be apparent.

Although visually and genetically similar to the Snow Shoe and Bi Colour RagDoll, we of course have the added bonus of the beautiful cobby type of the British that we all love so much!!!.

They come in mitted variety, Bi Colour and high white/Van pattern, although all patterns are acceptable, the preferred pattern is the Bi Colour.

In all three patterns , it is hoped that the feet are always white, the tail and head follow the traditional colourpointed pattern, apart from of course the preferred white V Shaped blaze on the face, this is not easy to achieve as I am sure Bi Colour breeders can testify!!!

The shading that normally appears in the coat of a Colourpointed, takes the form of Bi Colour markings, this area is shaded only and not solid colour.

Eyes are always blue as in the traditional Colourpointed, it would appear though that the eye colour on some of these cats does remain bluer than on the traditional Colourpointeds.

It is not an easy coat pattern to breed, especially in the format of always enough white and a perfectly marked face, with two coat patterns appearing in one cat there is plenty of scope for Mis markings!!!

 How ever, progress is never easy as we all know, it is all a bit of a labour of love!!!

We have now reached the stage where most of the kittens arriving have perfect face blazes. We have proven stud boys and girls in this coat pattern.

The kittens are Breathtaking!!! I have bred most colours, but these kittens when marked correctly are something else!!!.

In order for the breed to progress, we should all surely be pushing the boundaries ?? originally there was only blue, Look how far we have come since then !!! this breed originated in this country, we should not let the breeders in Europe and the rest of the world leave us behind.

We would be very pleased to hear from anyone who would genuinely like to show support to this new exciting project.

All other comments how ever will be tactfully ignored!!!.

Some of our Bi Colourpoints can be seen at

www.althalus.co.uk or

Contact me on 01226 751950.

Thanks for taking the time to read this article.

Michelle Simpon.

Althalus Cats.