Great Pet Advice

In case you are still undecided which cat to keep, Siamese or Burmese, you might as well go for the wonderful cross breed of these two – the Tonkinese. This beautiful breed was developed in the 1960’s in North America by cross breeding a Burmese cat with a Siamese cat. Unofficially however this cross breeding was being done many years before. read full article…

It was in the mid-nineteenth hundreds when an American breeder created a cat breed that was so relaxed and laid back that it would literally hang like a cloth doll when it was held. The breed was developed from a longhaired cat with an unknown ancestry and a Birman cat. The cats were named the Ragdoll because of their relaxed and calm nature. Although the CFA (Cat Fancier’s Association) did not recognize or accept these first cats as the Ragdoll, their descendants have become the gentle Ragdolls that we know and love today. read full article…

The York Chocolate Cat is a new American breed of show cat, with a long, fluffy coat and a plumed tail. The first part of its name is taken from New York state, where it was bred in 1983. This breed was created by colour-selecting domestic longhaired cats, and as the name suggests, all members of this breed are solid chocolate or lavender, solid chocolate and white, or lavender and white (see bicolor cat). The breed is not yet widely recognized by breeders and the Cat Fanciers’ Association. read full article…

The Ussuri is a rare natural breed of cat that originates from the region of the Amur river, Russia. It is reputed to be derived from natural hybrids with small wild cats known as “Amur Forest Cats” and “Amur Leopard Cats” (Asian Leopard Cat subspecies, the same species used in the Bengal breed). Semi-wild Ussuris then hybridised naturally with Siberians and European/Domestic Shorthairs. This hybrid origin is based on conjecture and their appearance. read full article…

The Turkish Van is a breed of cat that is supposedly derived from a type of cat that is still to be found in the Lake Van region of present-day Turkey. However, it is important to state at the outset that the Turkish Van actually differs in many important aspects from its supposed ancestor, the Van Cat (Turkish: Van Kedisi, in Armenian: Վանա կատու). For Turkish Vans, the word van refers to their color pattern, where the color is restricted to the head and the tail, and the rest of the cat is white. read full article…

The Turkish Angora (Turkish: Ankara Kedisi) is a breed of domestic cat. Turkish Angoras are one of the ancient, naturally-occurring cat breeds, having originated in central Turkey, in the Ankara region. read full article…

The Toyger is a breed of striped domestic cat.

The Toyger is descended from Bengal cat stock crossed with domestic cats. The aim of this cross was to produce a striped ‘toy tiger’. It was recognised for ‘Registration only’ by The International Cat Association in the early 1990s. There are several breeders in the United States and one breeder in the UK working to develop the breed. read full article…

Tortoiseshell and calico describe a coloring found in cats caused by a combination of specific genetic traits. It is a mix of phaeomelanin based colors (red) and eumelanin based color (black, chocolate and cinnamon). Cats of this coloration are believed to bring good luck in the folklore of many cultures. read full article…

Tonkinese are a medium-sized short-haired cat breed distinguished by points as with Siamese and Himalayans. They are commonly referred to as ‘Tonks’. As with many cat breeds, the exact history of the Tonkinese varies to some degree depending on the historian. read full article…

A tabby is a cat with a distinctive coat that features stripes, dots and/or swirling patterns. Tabbies are often mistakenly assumed to be a breed of cat. In fact, the tabby pattern is a naturally occurring feature that may be the original coloration of the domestic cat’s distant ancestors. Tabby coloration is found in many breeds of cat, as well as among the general ‘moggy’ (mixed-breed or mongrel) population. When cats are allowed to breed randomly, the coloration of the population tends toward brown mackerel tabbies with green eyes, like humans with brown hair and green eyes, of which leading geneticists to believe that this is the common wild phenotype of the domestic cat. read full article…