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| Brazilian Shorthair | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Origin |  Brazil |
| Breed standards | |
| WCF | standard |
| Domestic cat (Felis catus) | |
The Brazilian Shorthair is a breed of cat. It is the first cat breed from Brazil to receive international recognition.
The Brazilian Shorthair is a medium-sized cat of great agility. The breed can be distinguished from the American Shorthair by its sleek and elegant appearance, though cats of the breed are not as thin as the Siamese. The coat is short and close to the skin and comes in a wide variety of colors and patterns. The space between the eyes should be equal to the size of one eye. Brazilian Shorthairs have dramatically expressive eyes. They are longer than they are tall. Males have bigger heads than females.
The Brazilian Shorthair Cat had its beginning when the engineer Paulo Samuel Ruschi,[ citation needed ] a cat breeder and founder of the first Cat Federation in Brazil and the first Cat Club in Rio de Janeiro,[ citation needed ] had the idea to transform certain cats found in the streets of Brazil into a purebred cat. He focused on the Iberian Peninsula cats, brought to Brazil by the Portuguese in their ships around 1500 A.D. From North to South of Brazil, commissions were created by Dr. Paulo Ruschi to study this animal in all of the country's parks and streets.[ citation needed ] After long years of experimental breeding program led by traditional breeders, the Brazilian Shorthair was finally approved by the World Cat Federation, with headquarters in Germany, as a Pure Breed cat. Nowadays, the Brazilian Shorthair cat can participate in contests all over the world.
They have medium-sized and muscular bodies. The tail should not be broad at the base, and should slightly taper in the tip. Brazilian Shorthair cats have a slightly curved profile and large, pointed ears, and large, rounded eyes with colour that resembles the coat's colour. The coat is very short, silky and glossy and with no undercoat. Minimal brushing is required. Almost all colours are possible.
The Brazilian Shorthair is viable as an indoor as well as an outdoor cat, and is keen on human contact. They are very playful as a kitten. As they get older, they sober up a little, though they stay fairly active.
The breed was purportedly started by a cat breeder named Paulo Samuel Ruschi, who founded the first Cat Federation in Brazil and the first Cat Club in Rio de Janeiro. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] Paulo Ruschi started this effort in 1985. [7] Ruschi noticed that feral and street cats from multiple cities in Brazil shared a good number of common characteristics, and decided to look into this further. [8] Ruschi’s research apparently traced these cats’ origins back to the late 15th century early 16th century, to cats brought over on ships by Portuguese colonizers and merchants. [9] [10] [11] [12] [13]
His theory then proposes that these cats brought from Portugal descended from cats from the Iberian Peninsula. Therefore, the Brazilian Shorthair’s ancestors are from the Iberian Peninsula. [14] [15] These Portuguese cats, once in Brazil, settled and then began adapting to their new climate conditions, leading to the creation of a landrace population [16]
The claim here is that, like how cats brought from Europe to North America evolved to develop some differences (from which two landrace/natural breeds were developed - the Maine Coon and American Shorthair), European moggies brought to South America also diverged over time. [17] Supposedly, South American cats are generally lighter and skinnier than their ancestors (their main comparison being with the European shorthair). This is plausible, since cats in warmer areas tend to have more slender body types. Street and feral cats from Brazil are claimed to be a distinct landrace within the South American cat population, similar to the Maine Coon within the North American cat population. [18]
Ruschi himself notes that Brazilian shorthairs are different from cats in Europe, though he doesn't seem to have research to back this up, only his personal account that when visiting Europe (can’t seem to find a specification of what area), the street cats there were larger, more robust, had wider heads, and shorter muzzles. [19]
The breed had developed without rules or special cares; until, in the 1980s, Brazilian-born engineer Paulo Samuel Ruschi,[ citation needed ] a cat breeder currently living in New York City, started to settle the rules for the breed after deciding to study genetic and morphological aspects of the cats running in parks, gardens and streets of several cities in Brazil. He noticed that the country had unique cats, and yet, that those street cats had the same appearance and features. Those are the characteristics that define the Brazilian Shorthair cat. In 1998 the World Cat Federation, the largest Cat Federation in the world, gave a status of "approved breed" to the first and only Brazilian Recognized Purebred Cat, now with more than 10 generations of pedigreed cats.
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Engineer Paulo Samuel Ruschi[ citation needed ] was the founder of the first Brazilian Cat Federation, known as FBG – Federação Brasileira do Gato; founder of the first cat club in Rio de Janeiro, then named Clube Brasileiro do Gato do Rio de Janeiro; and the founder of 7 other cat clubs in Brazil. In 1988, Paulo Samuel Ruschi and his friend Anneliese Hackmann,[ citation needed ] from Germany, founded the WCF – World Cat Federation, at the time consisting solely of clubs created by the two of them, but now the largest federation in the world. The Brazilian Shorthair project is managed by the BSICS – Brazilian Shorthair International Cat Society, which has headquarters in New York City and is member of the WCF (whose President is Paulo Samuel Ruschi).[ citation needed ]
Several Brazilian Shorthair breeders have taken Paulo's creation [ dubious ] to pursue the dream – now reality – of the unique Brazilian Shorthair as a purebred cat. One of the most important of those breeders is Mrs. Sylvia Roriz de Carvalho, a well-known veterinarian, painter and cat breeder, whose Cattery Syarte has been breeding the Brazilian Shorthair for more than a decade.[ citation needed ] Several other breeders followed in her footsteps.[ citation needed ] Now, in all WCF Cat Shows in Brazil, one can see Brazilian Shorthairs whose lineage traces back to several generations – not from feral cats anymore – competing side by side with other well-known breeds. The Brazilian Shorthair has been shown and cited by several magazines in many parts of the world, such as Japan, Germany, England, Australia, and the US.
Despite this worldwide success,[ citation needed ] there are still very few Brazilian Shorthair breeders in its native country. The breeding of random street cats has been met with much opposition among animal rights activists and professional cat breeders.
The British Shorthair is the pedigreed version of the traditional British domestic cat, with a distinctively stocky body, thick coat, and broad face. The most familiar colour variant is the "British Blue", with a solid grey-blue coat, pineapple eyes, and a medium-sized tail. The breed has also been developed in a wide range of other colours and patterns, including tabby and colourpoint.
The Siamese cat is one of the first distinctly recognised breeds of Asian cat. Derived from the Wichianmat landrace, one of several varieties of cats native to Thailand, the original Siamese became one of the most popular breeds in Europe and North America in the 19th century. The carefully refined, more extreme-featured, modern-style Siamese is characterised by blue almond-shaped eyes; a triangular head shape; large ears; an elongated, slender, and muscular body; and various forms of point colouration. Other than colouration, the modern-style Siamese bears little resemblance to the original stock, and the more moderate, traditional, or "old-style" Siamese, with a much rounder head and body, has been re-established by multiple registries as the Thai cat. The International Cat Association describes the modern Siamese as affectionate, social, intelligent, and playful into adulthood, often enjoying a game of fetch. Siamese tend to seek human interaction and also like companionship from other cats.
A domestic long-haired cat is a cat of mixed ancestry – thus not belonging to any particular recognized cat breed – possessing a coat of semi-long to long fur. Domestic long-haired cats should not be confused with the British Longhair, American Longhair, or other breeds with "Longhair" names, which are standardized breeds defined by various registries. Other generic terms are long-haired house cat and, in British English, long-haired moggie. Domestic long-haired cats are the third most common type of cat in the United States.
A domestic short-haired cat is a cat possessing a coat of short fur, not belonging to any particular recognised cat breed. In Britain they are sometimes colloquially called moggies. Domestic short-haired cats are distinct from the British Shorthair, American Shorthair, and other standardized breeds with "Short-hair" names recognized by various registries. Domestic short-haired cats are the most common kind of cat in the United States, accounting for around 96% of their number. Other generic terms include house cat and alley cat.
The Cymric is a Canadian cat breed. Some cat registries consider the Cymric a semi-long-haired variety of the Manx breed, rather than a separate breed. Except for the length of fur, in all other respects, the two varieties are the same, and kittens of either sort may appear in the same litter. The name comes from Cymru, the indigenous Welsh name of Wales, even though the breed is not associated with Wales. The name may have been chosen to provide a "Celtic" sounding moniker for the breed. While the breed's Manx bloodline originated from the Isle of Man, the long-haired variant is claimed to have been developed by Canada. The breed is called the Longhair Manx or a similar name by some registries.
The Javanese, also known as the ColorpointLonghair in some registries, is a variety of purebred domestic cat.
The Oriental Shorthair is a breed of domestic cat that is developed from and closely related to the Siamese cat. It maintains the modern Siamese head and body type but appears in a wide range of coat colors and patterns. Like the Siamese, Orientals have almond-shaped eyes, a triangular head shape, large ears, and an elongated, slender, and muscular body. Their personalities are also very similar. Orientals are social, intelligent, and many are rather vocal. They often remain playful into adulthood, with many enjoying playing fetch. Despite their slender appearance, they are athletic and can leap into high places. They prefer to live in pairs or groups and also seek human interaction. Unlike the breed's blue-eyed forebear, Orientals are usually green-eyed. The Oriental Longhair differs only with respect to coat length.
The Siberian is a centuries-old landrace of domestic cat in Russia, and recently developed as a formal breed with standards promulgated the world over since the late-1980s. Since 2006, the breed is recognised for registry and championship status with all major cat registries.
Purebreds are "cultivated varieties" of an animal species achieved through the process of selective breeding. When the lineage of a purebred animal is recorded, that animal is said to be "pedigreed". Purebreds breed true-to-type which means the progeny of like-to-like purebred parents will carry the same phenotype, or observable characteristics of the parents. A group of purebreds is called a pure-breeding line or strain.
The Sokoke is natural breed of domestic cat, developed and standardised, beginning in the late 1970s, from the feral khadzonzo landrace of eastern, coastal Kenya. The Sokoke is recognized by four major cat pedigree registry organizations as a standardised cat breed. It is named after the Arabuko Sokoke National Forest, the environment from which the foundation stock was obtained, for breed development primarily in Denmark and the United States. The cat is long-legged, with short, coarse hair, and typically a tabby coat, though specific lineages have produced different appearances. Although once rumored to be a domestic × wildcat hybrid, genetic study has not borne out this belief. Another idea, that the variety is unusually ancient, remains unproven either way. The native population is closely related to an island-dwelling group, the Lamu cat, further north.
The European Shorthair, called the European in FIFe and Celtic/European Shorthair in WCF, is a cat breed of unknown origin, but it is a very old breed that could go back to the Egyptian cats. The term has also been used as an elaborate way of referring to common domestic short-haired cats of Europe, causing some confusion as the pedigree cats of this breed also should resemble the typical domestic cats of Europe.
The British Longhair is a medium-sized, semi-long-haired breed of domestic cat, originating in Great Britain.
The Kurilian Bobtail is a cat breed originating from the Russian Kuril Islands, as well as Sakhalin Island and the Kamchatka peninsula of Russia. Short- or long-haired, it has a semi-cobby body type and a distinct short, fluffy tail. The back is slightly arched with hind legs longer than the front, similar to those of the Manx. The breed is also called the Kuril Islands Bobtail, Kuril Bobtail and Curilsk Bobtail, and may be referred to without "Bobtail". It is sometimes also spelled Kurilean. The original short-haired variant is a natural breed, known on the islands for over 200 years. As selectively bred pets, they have been popular in USSR and to some extent other parts of Europe, especially for their rodent-hunting abilities, since the middle of the 20th century, but remained rare in North America as of 2011.
Traditional Persian is one of several names for a group of cats that are considered to be essentially the original breed of Persian cat, before the variety was selectively bred to have extreme features. Other everyday usage names are: Doll Face Persian, Classic Persian, Old Fashioned Persian, Long-nosed Persian, Old-style Longhair, Traditional Longhair and Original Longhair.
The Minuet is a hybrid mix of Persian and Munchkin cat breeds. Categorized by The International Cat Association (TICA) as a domestic hybrid, "developed from a deliberate cross between two existing domestic breeds, incorporating characteristics of both parental breeds into the new mix." The Minuet cat is characterized by its short legs, as a result of the dwarfism-mutation similar to the Munchkin cats.
The Persian cat, also known as the Persian longhair, is a long-haired breed of cat characterised by a round face and short muzzle. The first documented ancestors of Persian cats might have been imported into Italy from Khorasan as early as around 1620, however, this has not been proven. Instead, there is stronger evidence for a longhaired cat breed being exported from Afghanistan and Iran from the 19th century onwards. Widely recognised by the North-West European cat fancy since the 19th century, and after World War II by breeders from North America, Australia and New Zealand. Some cat fancier organisations' breed standards subsume the Himalayan and Exotic Shorthair as variants of this breed, while others generally treat them as separate breeds.
Cyprus cats, also known as Cypriot cats, Saint Helen cats, and Saint Nicholas cats, are a landrace of domestic cat found across the island of Cyprus. A standardized breed is being developed from them; among cat fancier and breeder organizations, it is presently fully recognized by the World Cat Federation (WCF), with breeding regulated by the World Cat Congress (WCC), under the name Aphrodite's Giant; and provisionally by The International Cat Association (TICA) as the Aphrodite. All three organizations permit shorthaired and semi-longhaired versions and no out-crossing to other breeds.
The Arabian Mau is a formal breed of domestic cat, originated from the early African wildcat, a short-haired landrace native to the Arabian Peninsula. It lives in the streets of the Arabian Peninsula and has adapted very well to its extreme climate. The Arabian Mau is recognized as a formal breed by few fancier and breeder organization and cat registry, World Cat Federation (WCF) and Emirates Feline Federation (EFF). Based on one landrace, the Arabian Mau is a natural breed.
