Читать книгу The Cat Owners Handbook - Graham Meadows - Страница 14

It was not until the middle of the 19th century that the idea of breeding and recording pedigree cats took hold in Britain and Europe. Some breeders started their breeding programmes using ordinary shorthaired ‘moggies’, selecting them for their body shape and coat colour. From these ancestors, over the years and through selective breeding, today’s British and European Shorthair breeds were created.

Cat shows are an ideal venue to familiarize yourself with the characteristics of different breeds. Cats are judged on their condition, their head shape, coat, eye colour and shape, and even their tails.

In America the foundation stock for shorthairs also came from local cats, but these were the descendants of the cats taken over by the early settlers 200 years earlier, and had developed quite distinctive characteristics of their own. These are now reflected in the American Shorthair.

During the early days of cat breeding there were already longhaired domestic cats, but the main development of the pedigree longhair breeds came initially from the Angora cat, which had originated in Turkey, and later from other longhair breeds imported from Persia and Afghanistan. Both the latter types quickly became known as Persians and became popular at the expense of the Angora, which almost disappeared from the breeding scene. By the late 19th century, exports and imports of pedigree cats were starting in earnest, and by the end of that century the Siamese, Russian Blue and Abyssinian had already reached Britain.

During the 20th century the export and import of cats continued. The first Birman arrived in France in 1919 and the ancestor of the modern Burmese entered the United States from Rangoon in 1930.

During the 1950s the Egyptian Mau and Korat reached the United States, and Turkish cats were brought into Britain. The Japanese Bobtail arrived in the United States in 1968, and the 1970s saw the arrival in that country of the Angora and Singapura. Later that century Maine Coons arrived in Australia, where the Spotted Mist was developed, and Ocicats entered New Zealand.

The spread of pedigree cats and the development of new breeds or colour varieties continues throughout the world. There are now dozens of different breeds and hundreds of different colour varieties.