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Rare Breeds in Development
There are many
experimental cat breeding programmes and new or developing
breeds of cat are rare by virtue of the fact that they are just
starting out, so have yet to build up their numbers. Some of
these experimental breeds never become fully established while
others have bright futures lying ahead. Here is an overview of
some of the new breeds currently in development.
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American Ringtail
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The American Ringtail breeding programme has been going
since 1999 when a cat called Solomon was found in San
Francisco by Susan Manley. Solomon had a distinctive,
flexible tail that was held curled up over his back,
much like that of a Husky. Breeders have used Solomon as
a template breeding further cats with the same trait.
The tails have a full range of movement and they are
attractive cats with an athletic build.
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Bramble |
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The Bramble was
developed by Gary Bramlett from crosses between Bengals
and Peterbalds with the aim of focusing on and
stabilising the brush or wire coat type seen in some
Peterbalds and Donskoys. The result is a large,
wild-looking cat with an outgoing human-oriented
personality and an unusual low-shedding coat. It has
been accepted for experimental registration in TICA.
For more information see
http://www.magnoliachatcattery.com/brambles
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Donskoy |
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Sometimes also called the Don Sphynx or Don Hairless,
this breed of cat was developed in Russia, starting in 1987 with the discovery of a
hairless cat in the Russian city of
Rostov-on-Don
by cat breeder Elena Kovaleva. Development of the breed
has been slow but steady and it gained initial
recognition with WCF in 1997 and TICA in 2005. Although
the breed bears some similarities to the Sphynx, its
hairlessness is caused by a dominant gene. There is more
variability in the expression of the coat and some cats
have a short ‘flock’ coat, while others start with some
coat and become bald. As with the Sphynx, they require
frequent grooming to keep them clean and prevent the
build-up of skin oils.
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Helki |
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The Helki is an experimental cat breed still in its
early developmental stages. It is based on cats with an
unusual coat mutation found in
Northern California. The name Helki is taken
from the Miwok Native American tribe’s language and
means ‘touch’. It was chosen to reflect the breed’s most
significant feature: its unusual coat texture which can
be likened to the feeling of a silky fleece blanket. The
feature is caused by a dominant gene and is a semi-rex
type coat with some light waving or crimping.
For further information see
www.wyrdwul.com
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Ojos Azules |
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This is a very rare breed, so far only bred in a limited
way by breeders in the USA, and
registered by TICA. The distinguishing trait of these
cats is their deep blue eyes, which can occur with any
coat colour, unlike in other cats where blue eyes are
restricted to a small number of varieties, such as
colourpoint and white. Blue eyes when combined with
darker colours, such as a black coat, create an unusual
look. The breed was founded with a blue-eyed
tortoiseshell cat named Cornflower found in
New Mexico in 1984. At one point
breeding was suspended because of deformities in
kittens, however, this was shown only to occur in
kittens homozygous for the dominant gene so some
breeding has progressed on the basis that Ojos Azules
cats should be mated with cats of normal eye colour.
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Peterbald |
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Grace Angelica
S.Witmer |
Luna
Virginia Mannino |
Pharo
Debbie Nelson |
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The Peterbald takes its name from its
city of origin: St Petersberg. It was conceived by
Russian cat breed Olga Mironova who crossed a Donskoy to
an Oriental Shorthair in order to obtain a hairless cat
of Oriental type. It has become a more widespread breed
than its parent breed the Donskoy. They are alike in all
ways to the Siamese and Oriental, except in their coat.
Ideally hairless, there is also the same degree of
variation seen in the Donskoy, with some flock coated
and some brush coated individuals. The breed was first
recognised in Russia and now
has recognition with WCF and TICA.
For more information see
www.peterbaldcats.net
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Ragamuffin |
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This breed shares
its early history with the much better known Ragdoll. At
a point in the Ragdoll’s development the breed founder,
Ann Baker, became too controlling, placing increasingly
severe restrictions on breeders. There was a split among
the breeders as one group fought a legal battle to
continue breeding under the Ragdoll name, while a second
group avoided the restriction by opting to breed under a
different name: the Ragamuffin. The two varieties
continued to develop along different lines into the two
distinct varieties that exist today. The Ragamuffin
breeders chose to continue with the wide range of
colours and patterns found in the foundation cats,
including solids and minks. The Ragdolls chose to focus
on the colourpoint varieties only, with or without white
spotting. Different outcrossing protocols were used to
expand the gene pools and the Ragamuffin now has a
unique look. It is no longer a sister breed to the
Ragdoll, but now more of a ‘cousin’.
For more
information see
http://ragamuffingroup.com
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Tennessee Rex |
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Affectionately
known as the T Rex, this experimental variety originates
from a pair of male kittens found in
Tennessee in 2004. The kittens
had curly coats and displayed a new rex mutation arising
from a recessive gene. The unique feature of the cats is
the light-reflective satin effect giving a special sheen
to their coats. This trait had been observed in other
animals, such as mice and hamsters, in the past and
predicted as a future potential gene mutation in cats.
They are breed in both long and short coats in a variety
of colours. They are medium to large with a semi-cobby
muscular body. The face has broad cheeks and large
upright ears which are set wide apart and are wide at
the base. It has experimental status with TICA.
For more
information see
www.tennesseerex.com
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Toyger |
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The Toyger was designed by its
founder Judy Sugden to resemble a toy tiger by taking a Bengal type cat and applying a mackerel tabby pattern
instead of a spotted pattern. It is bred separately from
the Bengal
in order to allow selection for the best striped
pattern. The genes which modify and exaggerate the
spotted and classic patterns in Bengals also work on the
mackerel pattern in the Toyger to produce dramatic
tiger-like black stripes on a richly rufoused reddish
background. The coat should be glittered to give a
sparkling quality that lights up in sunlight. A silver
variety is also in development. So far the breed only
has championship recognition in TICA, but it has
elicited much interest.
For more information see
www.toygers.org
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