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More Brit pictures

713 views 19 replies 8 participants last post by  ellierose 
#1 · (Edited)
I'm bored today, so decided to send update pictures of my cats. A year ago I sent pictures of my new litter with the Longhair kitten. That is a no, no, since CFA does not recognize the LH for showing or breeding and really there is no excuse to have a LH since the DNA tests for carriers or non. But...leave it to me, I read the test wrong and mistakenly bred a carrier to a carrier. I hate to even admit that. We kept the Longhair female as she captivated us with her beauty and personality. I know I had sent pictures of her as a kitten. Now here she is at 1 yr. of age.

Second picture is from a more recent litter. My white kitten, now 7 months old and being entered in local CFA cat show next month. She is an odd eyed white and simply adorable.
She won't be able to compete for points for Championship until 8 months, but I intend to just use the show as introduction into the show scene. Cannot wait to show her off!
 
#4 ·
Mel, I had never had an odd eyed white and had to reread the standard to see if it was acceptable. It is - but only on white cats and the color has to be exceptional. The one a deep copper and the other a sapphire blue. And, it looks like she will fit in the standard. In all the shows I have attended I have not seen an odd eyed, but then the white color is not as popular as the blue either, so that is probably the reason.
 
#5 ·
She's so plushy looking! Is she as soft as she looks?

I love odd-eyed whites, but have never had one. Do you know if your baby has normal hearing on the blue-eyed side? The two traits are pretty closely linked, with blue-eyed whites frequently being deaf or with significant hearing loss, and odd-eyed cats are frequently deaf or have hearing loss on the side with the blue eye.
 
#8 ·
Rosemary,

I loved Cressrb's explanation of the issue of deafness in odd eyed British Shorthairs. But then I remain eternally fascinated by genetics and what it can produce and surprise you.

My odd eyed white cat was an off the street older kitten who showed up in the driveway wanting a home. She got the home, largely because of her ability to purr. She purred if you looked at her, She purred if you touched her--I swear she purred in her sleep.

She was definitely NOT deaf--and she was definitely white all over but her odd eyes were not what those breeds that allow odd eyed white want. Her eyes were so pale that it really took a fairly bright light before you could tell she had one pale yellow eye and one pale blue eye.

Cressrb--your kittens are darling and the odd eyed white girl is gorgeous--good luck with her as a show cat.

dobebug
 
#7 ·
Rosemary, yes she is very plush. The fur is so dense on a British Shorthair like no other cat.

Too complicated to go into completely, but as I understand it, the dominant white (W) is a solid masking pattern for the true color which is usually is evidenced by a spot on the head when first born.
Our white kitten above was born with a blue spot which has almost disappeared now, meaning she will produce like a solid blue. Her sire also covers blue. I believe all solid whites with both blue eyes can carry deafness, but I have never seen in yet in our cats. I believe the problem is when you breed a solid white to another solid white, which I would never do.

In Bull Terriers deafness can appear in a solid white with no black patching on the head.

I need to talk with more breeders about this and will do so at the shows.
 
#9 ·
Oh.....yay! Kitty pictures!!!!

They are STUNNING! So, I don't know how to ask this without sounding offensive, so PLEASE know that I'm not at all trying to be, okay? I've gone to a couple of shows locally now, and I have tended not to like the British Shorthairs I've seen - at the local shows, they've been much more brachycephalic than your kitties. Which is just not my taste, and that's cool. We saw ONE that we liked, he was full of personality, and he was a really nice looking guy, too, but most of them were just not for me. But your cats are just beautiful. Is it a regional thing, or...? I love the plush coats, and your kitties are beautiful.

(And, no judgement here at all on brachycephalic breeds, it's just not my taste - not a fan of Persians, etc....so I want to be really clear on that!)

I love your long haired kitty, even if it is a fault! :)
 
#10 ·
They are STUNNING! So, I don't know how to ask this without sounding offensive, so PLEASE know that I'm not at all trying to be, okay? I've gone to a couple of shows locally now, and I have tended not to like the British Shorthairs I've seen - at the local shows, they've been much more brachycephalic than your kitties.
Maybe a dumb question, but are you sure they were British Shorthairs? There is a breed called the Exotic Shorthair, which is basically a shorthaired Persian.
 
#12 ·
Lol, MC. The first time I entered my cat in a show was my first time at a cat show and I too, was mesmerized. I kept getting distracted and wandering around looking at all the cats so that one kind soul kept track of me by coming to get me, 'Miss your number was called and your cat is up'

I hope Brit breeders don't get pulled into any exaggeration for our breed. I haven't seen it here, but I don't have the time to travel the country for shows anymore.
Delta airlines had classified BSH's as a brachycephalic breed and would no longer allow us to ship our kittens. I argued and argued with them about it. Not that I made any difference, but someone did because they deleted the BSH's from that list just last year.

Did you attend a CFA show or a TICA show?
Our standard says in regards to BSH's...'Individuals should convey an overall impression of balance and proportion in which no feature is exaggerated to foster weakness or extremes.'
It would be sad if the extreme type were put up by judges as some breeders tend to follow whatever wins big and breed to THAT standard.

It would be sad to bring all the problems that brachycepalic brings to our BSH's. They have sweet open faces, with no breathing problems or eye problems.

Regarding LH's - I am in the process of registering dam and Miss Priss, as we call her with TICA. They allow the LH's to be shown. She is too nice not to show and her type and gene pool would be a shame to lose. So I will breed her to my male this time that is (clear) not a carrier. All kittens will be carriers, but no long hairs. Then will keep a kitten from that and breed again to a non carrier and keep a kitten that is clear and again breed to a clear. I believe it takes 4 gen of that to bring, back into CFA recognition.
 
#13 ·
Gosh, I'm not even sure if it was TICA or CFA...isn't that terrible???? We've been to two shows now. Did I tell you we got to meet the Devon breeder in person at the last show? It was fantastic. She had one of her adults with her, and she had three of her kittens - one was going to a local home, one staying with her that she was showing, and another was going to a different breeder, so we really got to meet quite a few of her cats. It was such a great experience to talk to her in person and to really get a feel for her cats.

It's possible that we just saw cats that were more extreme than they should have been. Not knowing the breed standard very well I couldn't have said at all, of course. I think your cats are just stunning and I can't get enough photos of them! I'm such a huge cat lover. I could easily become a crazy cat lady - I have to be really careful :)

We saw the nicest Turkish Van at the last show, too...an older kitten that was just starting her show career. I really, really liked her. Could have taken her home in a heartbeat. I think I could very easily get bitten by the show cat bug.....
 
#14 ·
My first Brit was purchased for show. Altho' I had never shown a cat or even been to a cat show, I assured this breeder that I would follow through with it. I think she was doubtful because of my lack of experience. She was afraid I would find the whole thing boring!

When you say you saw the Devon breeder, do you mean Bobbie Irie? The one I referred to you? If so, you went to a CFA show.

I have observed the Turkish Van more than once, thinking hmmmm, I rather like them. But, after talking to breeders I get the impression they are much more busy than I am prepared for right now.
 
#15 ·
No, not Bobbie. We ended up settling on a Canadian breeder.

I just googled the shows, and I guess they were both ACFA shows? How does that differ from the CFA? We don't have very many cat shows around here - they are really few and far between. I guess there's a big show in January that is, I believe, a CFA show. It's the Saintly City Cat Show. The breeder we're on the waiting list for invited us to come to it and said it's a "big" show and a lot of fun.

One reason we ruled out Oriental Shorthairs was the activity level (the health issues, too), but...we're just not prepared for "that much cat!" :D
 
#16 ·
CFA is the oldest and most well known world-wide. Most all breeders register with them even if they don't show a lot in the association.

TICA is a newer association with a world-wide base now. They accept a lot of new and experimental breeds that other associations don't accept.

ACFA - one of the older associations. Medium size between CFA and TICA.

CFA does NOT accept any of the wild-cat hybrids like Bengals. They are more strict in accepting new breeds and are closer to the dog version of AKC.

I don't like TICA much because of some of their policies.

CFA has shows just about everywhere. TICA and ACFA are more regional based. I would look at their show calendars and figure out what and how many shows are in your area or how far you are willing to drive to shows nearby. I live in MN - there are more ACFA shows in my area and surrounding states then CFA shows. There are no TICA shows in our area.

MC, I did not write the above. I copied from another site.
 
#17 ·
Thanks! That's really helpful!

I've pondered possibly trying out showing with our potential possible kitty - I've mentioned it to the breeder, but I'm only interested in showing in Premier. At this point I really don't want an intact cat in the house, especially not knowing if I'd like it or not. But it was fun to see the difference in cat shows verses dog shows, and it was intriguing!
 
#18 ·
Showing in Premier is just as fun if not more so than in Championship classes. Try showing a full male when right next to you or in the aisle over a female is calling and see what happens. It makes a stressful event for all of us.

The most fun I had showing was a stray I had rescued. Someone had set a trap for strays and this kitten was in the trap taken to the vet where all were spayed/neutered and vetted.
I spotted this cat immediately in the cage behind the front desk along with 10-12 others. Oh my, she was beautiful. I figured someone would take her right away. I certainly couldn't, because I already had a full house. Next week, went the vet for something and she was still there. Even more beautiful. But I hardened my heart and refused to pay much attention to her.

Two weeks later, again a vet visit and would you believe she was still there. Okay, I took her home this time. She looked exactly like a Singapura with her ticked coat. I call her Singa and showed her in the Household Pets. This was the most fun time I had at a cat show. When the judge pulls the cat out of the cage and onto the table for everyone to see, she asks the owner to tell the story behind the cat, as most all are just rescues. It is just so heartwarming to hear the stories. Singa won big that day in each ring she was presented and I took a picture of her with the judge and took it back to the Veterinary so they could put it on the cage for the rescues that come in.
So I am trying to say, showing in Household or Premier can be even more fun than Championship.
 
#19 ·
You make a good case! :)
 
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