The Tonkinese is the perfect example of a hybrid progressing through the ranks to become a truly recognized breed in its own right. The 1960s saw the Canadian cat fancier Margaret Conroy and her beloved Siamese and Burmese cats take center stage. Conroy loved both breeds, and so set out to create a hybrid that embodied her favorite qualities of each breed. Choosing her breeding cats carefully, she crossed a seal point Siamese with a sable Burmese. At first she called her kittens Golden Siamese, but later adopted the name Tonkinese, as suggested by other cat fanciers who wanted to avoid the notion that the Tonkinese was just another hybrid.
With the aid of other breeders, Conroy wrote a moderate and reasonable standard for her new cats and presented it to the Canadian Cat Association. This standard described a cat that was neither slinky nor stocky. Instead her cat was the perfect blend of Siamese and Burmese body type. Her standards were accepted and in 1965 the Canadian Cat Association gave the Tonkinese Championship Status. The Independent Cat Association (which no longer exists) followed suit in 1972. It wasn't long before all other American registries did the same. Today the breed is recognized by just about every registry in the world.
The Appearance of the Tonkinese
The stunning Tonkinese is the perfect blend of its parent breeds. It is neither sleek nor cobby, but something in between. Weighing in at no more than 12 pounds, this cat is medium in size with a rounded and muscular body. The head is a gentle wedge and the ears are only slightly larger than your average domestic cat. The muzzle should be blunt and fairly short.
The eyes of the Tonkinese are like little almonds in shape, but not in color. The most common eye color is a stunning turquoise or aqua, though blue and even green are also allowed. Regardless of color, the eyes should be bright and alert.
As for coat color...well, there's a little more variety. And a little more controversy. Tonkinese are available in many colors and patterns. There are pointed, solid, and mink cats, and all these patterns can be found in blue, chocolate, cinnamon, fawn, lilac, seal, and even red with tortoiseshell counterparts. Unfortunately for breeders and enthusiasts, not all registries accept all colors and patterns. So while your blue mink Tonkinese may be shown with one registry, it's considered ineligible for competition by another. If you're interested in showing your cat, consult with the registry you're interested in before you purchase your Tonkinese to make sure you're getting a kitten who will be eligible for competition.
The coat must of necessity be short and should lie flat against the body. Its silky texture is a breeze to groom, with no more than a quick weekly brushing necessary to keep your kitty looking and feeling his best.
The Personality of the Tonkinese
This cuddly breed demands to be next to you, under your feet, or in your lap. Your feline friend will want to be in the middle of everything and he'll talk to you frequently, fully expecting you to engage him in conversation. Despite this tendency to talk, he's not as vocal as his Siamese cousins. Still, he's louder than your average cat, so be prepared for chirps and meows at all hours because he doesn't know how to tell time and doesn't care that it's well after midnight.
A lover of games of all kinds, he'll play fetch for hours on end, then turn around and race around your house like a mad kitty while he waits for the next game to start. Because he's always on the lookout for new playmates, he gets along well with children and other pets as long as they'll play with him. He loves to play chase, so dogs are a favorite companion for this social breed.
If you're looking for an intelligent cat who will charm your guests and love you forever, the Tonkinese might be the cat for you.
Though registered as the Thai with TICA and some select registries in Europe, it's actually known as the Wichienmaat or Old-Style Siamese in Thailand. This adorable cat originates in the Thai kingdom of Ayudhai, and it is still occasionally bred in Thailand today. Elsewhere, however, the Thai is virtually unknown. TICA recognized this cat as a Preliminary New Breed in 2007, and an Advanced New Breed in 2009, but still most people haven't heard of this little guy.
Medium in size and possessing rather short hair, the Thai has a softer appearance than its more popular cousin, the Siamese. The forehead is long and flat, the face sweet and round, and the eyes large and always blue. The hair is short, but very soft, and grooming is easy enough. Only a single brushing a week is required, and this takes only a few minutes.
Though white markings of any kind are not permitted on the Thai, the points may be of any other color. There are Thai cats with tabby, tortoiseshell, or solid point, as long as there is no white present. The body is typically cream, though yellow tones are permitted.
Like many breeds, the Thai is quite intelligent and loves people. And while they may be low maintenance when it comes to grooming, they're truly high maintenance when it comes to affection. This talkative creature will demand any and all attention from anyone in the house. He doesn't really care where he gets his love as long as he gets it. So be prepared to spend a lot of time cuddling.
If you're looking for something a little softer than the Siamese, but still just as charming, you might be looking for the Thai. If you can stand being nuzzled day and night.
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In the early 1900s, a cat resembling today's modern Sphynx was shown, but this cat was described as a New Mexican Hairless Cat. It was not recognized worldwide and it did not gain much attention, but it was the first time this type of cat had been exhibited. Though the same mutation appeared several times after this, sometimes in North America, sometimes in Europe, it wasn't until the 1960s that a real effort to create a breed from these cats truly started.
In 1966 a small black and white kitten was born in Ontario, Canada. This kitten had no hair, but did have a very fine down covering her entire body. This little female was named Prune and she would become the foundation cat for the modern Sphynx breed. She was bred to other cats in an attempt to generate more kittens with the hairless gene, but it turned out the gene was recessive. That meant breeding hairless kittens was difficult. Even once a male with the recessive gene was found, only one in four kittens would be hairless. Eventually, however, there were enough kittens to start a true breeding program.
At first these kittens were called Canadian Hairless Cats, but it wasn't long before people started calling them Sphynx. These cats were recognized provisionally by the Cat Fanciers' Association in 1970, but the CFA withdrew its support due to concerns over genetic difficulties (especially its possibly compromised immune system). These concerns were eventually dismissed or corrected and today the Sphynx is recognized by several registries, including TICA.
The Appearance of the Sphynx
Medium in size, the Sphynx is muscular and athletic. The ears are truly huge and the eyes are the shape of ripe lemons. The ears and the eyes combine to give the Sphynx a sweet and open expression. Unless he's annoyed. This cat has the ability to look supremely vexed when he has to. It's almost eerie, the expressions the Sphynx is capable of.
The coat is really the most distinctive characteristic of the Sphynx. Though not truly hairless, this cat is as close as you can get. A fine down covers the entire body, making the skin feel like a soft suede. Acceptable colors and patterns are many and varied. You can have tabby, tortoiseshell, parti-color, and solid Sphynx cats. It's the coat type, not the color, that makes this cat.
Because this cat doesn't have real fur, he doesn't have anything to absorb the natural oils produced by the body. This means he'll get oily, so bathe your cat frequently. Twice a week should do it. If you neglect this simple task, expect to see a greasy spot in any place he's been napping. He also may get cold, so a sweater and a warm bed are a necessity. And sunblock for those sunny days because his delicate skin will burn. Talk to your veterinarian about appropriate brands for your feline friend or just keep him out of the sun.
Though generally thought of as hairless, a Sphynx isn't actually hypoallergenic. This is because most people are allergic to a particular feline protein, and this protein is contained in the saliva as well as the dander. So if you want a cat but you're allergic, before deciding on a Sphynx make sure you've spent some time with one so you know if you're allergic or not.
The Personality of the Sphynx
A Sphynx is almost like a little dog. He's loyal and loving and won't usually leave you alone. He's also fond of snuggling, and not just because he likes to be warm. He just loves to be close and he'll do whatever is necessary to accomplish that goal.
Highly intelligent, the Sphynx is a breed that will get into everything and anything. And while he loves you and your family, he's also just fine on his own. Unfortunately for you, these two traits mean trouble if he's left with nothing to occupy his time. So leave him a few good toys so he doesn't climb into the cupboard and pull out the flour for a good romp. Trust me when I tell you that getting flour off an oily Sphynx isn't a lot of fun. But a good Sphynx is one of the most entertaining of companions.
If you're looking for a unique cat who is loving and equally good with children and other pets, the Sphynx might be for you.
Most breeds that are both ancient and have an exotic look about them have short hair. But sometimes, as breeds are strengthened using controlled outcrosses, an unintended gene creeps in. In the late part of the 19th century and the early part of the 20th, Abyssinian breeders were forced to outcross simply to maintain genetic diversity. At least one of the non-Abyssinian cats used in Abyssinian breeding program had the recessive gene for long hair.
Recessive genes rarely stay that way for long, however, so it should come as no surprise that longhaired Abyssinian kittens were sometimes produced. These undesirable kittens were typically given away, never to be used in breeding programs. But eventually things came full circle, as they often do. It was 1969 when an Abyssinian breeder named Evelyn Mague was working in an animal shelter in New Jersey. One day, when Mague was working, a kitten named George was brought to the shelter. He was not only a longhaired Abyssinian, but one of the kittens Mague herself had bred a few years earlier. Appalled by the way he'd been treated, Mague had him neutered and placed in a loving forever home.
But George's story stuck with her. For a pedigreed cat to be treated as so unwanted just because he'd had the misfortune to be born with long hair was a travesty. Mague decided to not only find and show the longhaired cats, but to have them accepted as longhaired Abyssinians. This didn't go over well with Abyssinian breeders, so Mague pursued the idea that the cats were their own breed, one she labelled the Somali.
Producing more longhaired kittens wasn't difficult. She still had George's parents, after all, so she was able to add approximately one out of every four kittens to her new Somali breeding program. And since the longhaired gene was recessive, breeding Somalis to Somalis produced nothing but longhaired kittens.
It took some time, but Mague managed to find a few other breeders working with longhaired Abyssinians in both the US and Canada. By 1972 there were enough breeders to found the Somali Cat Club of America. It wasn't long before Somalis were registered with National Cat Fanciers' Association (which no longer exists). Other associations, including TICA, soon granted the Somali Championship Status.
The Somali is a man-made breed. It is not the result of a spontaneous mutation, as some Abyssinian breeders claim, and breeders from all over the world were responsible for the introduction of the longhaired gene. Ideally, the Somali should have been recognized as simply a variation of the Abyssinian. It was not to be, however, and so the Somali was born.
The Appearance of the Somali
Because Somalis are really just longhaired Abyssinians, almost everything about them is exactly the same as their parent breed. The head, the body, the conformation...everything is just like the Abyssinian. Somalis should be lean and muscled, giving them an impressive agility. Ears are just a little large and eyes are shaped liked rounded almonds. Just like the Abyssinian.
Even the coat colors are the same as the Abby. Blue, chocolate, cinnamon, fawn, lilac, and ruddy are all acceptable colors. Other colors are sometimes produced, and some registries even accept these colors. Typically, if a color is accepted for the Somali, it is also accepted for the Abyssinian, and vice versa.
The only real difference between the two breeds is the coat length. For a Somali the coat should be long and soft and the tail should have a lovely plume. The neck should have a ruff and the legs should appear fluffy. Somalis look almost like little toys cats, so fluffy and beautiful as they are.
The Personality of the Somali
Somalis are sweet, loyal, and affectionate. Highly intelligent, they will explore every nook and cranny of your home and follow you around looking for new mischief to get themselves into.
This adorable little breed loves children, other pets, and all the people. All the people. He's constantly looking for someone to give him love and attention, so he's a good cat for large, busy households. He'll play games all day, especially if these games involve running and jumping. He's an athletic breed, so make sure he has plenty to keep him happy and occupied.
If you're looking for a sweet cat with the look of the Abyssinian, but you want something with a little more fluff, the Somali just might be for you.
