|
Breeding Of Cats
By their very nature, cats are free-ranging animals. Mature males
especially, are wanderers. Before the concept of selective breeding
about 150 years ago, this wanderlust in domestic cats provided plenty
of opportunity for the intermingling of genes. If there were teo
distinct races of cat in any region, they blended over a period of
time, so we cannot be sure of the origin of many of our modern domestic
breeds.
Nevertheless, studies of the skeletal structure, body
type and hair length of modern breeds enable us to make an informed
guess. The spread of pedigree cats - and also 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.
The heavier, more thickset body type, found in
British Shorthairs and Persians, shows the influence of the European
wild cat. The foreign and Oriental breeds retain the lithe body of the
African wild cat. 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.
There
are no evidence for the claim that some domestic breeds (such as the
Angora, Chinese cat and Siamese) have an Asiatic origin and may be
descended from Pallas's cat or its close relatives, because the skulls
of these cats show no similarity to the Asiatic species.
It
was not until the middle of the 19th century that the idea of selective
breeding and recording of 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 humble ancestors, over the years and through
selective breeding, today's British and European Shorthair breeds were
created.
In America the foundation stock for short-hairs also
came from local cats, but these were the descendants of the cats taken
over by the early settlers 200 years earlier, and they had developed
quite distinctive characteristics of their own. These are now reflected
in the American Shorthair. During 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 wuickly became known
as Persians. Their popularity grew at the expense of the Angora, which
almost disappeared from teh breeding scene.
Tags: Cat Breeds Cat Breeds Breeding Of Cats breeds breeders breedings pedigree |
