Aegean cat

Aegean cats - Mykonos cats - stray cats? - nice looking cats and kittens - look like tabby and white but the mother looks like solid and white - photo by ++zola++

The Aegean cat is a bit of a mystery cat and the Greek cat fancy is equally mysterious but they have ostensibly been developing a cat breed called the Aegean cat since the early 1990s. It is surprising in the modern world that someone in the Greek Fancy hasn't got a website. Is there a Greek cat association? The strong indication is that there isn't. I don't think that the Greeks are into that kind of thing. I sense that for them the cat is a domestic cat or stray cat (and there would seem to be a lot) and the concept of a purebred cat is a little alien.

I think it fair to say that this cat breed's development is firmly in the embryonic stage rather than in its infancy. How else can we explain neither pictures nor words about the cat other than Sarah Hartwell's at Messybeast and copies?

The Aegean cat if we see one would be a fairly normal looking cat and possibly a bicolor with plenty of white (see solid and white coats). They might look a bit like the cats in the picture above in fact. These are mixed breed cats from the place of origin of the Aegean cat (in this instance an island called Mykonos, part of the Cycladic islands).

If this cat breed actually exists beyond the drawing board it must be one of the rare cat breeds.

Aegean cat to Home page

African Shorthair

Sokoke. Photo: Helmi Flick.

The African Shorthair is an outdated name for the Sokoke a rare cat breed that is meant to originate in Africa in Kenya. I have doubts about this. I could be wrong.

If you'd like to read more click on the link:

Sokoke cat

African Shorthair to Home page

Abyssinian Bobtail

The Abyssinian Bobtail is a cat that is neither purebred not pedigree but possibly a feral Abyssinian cat that has suffered a genetic mutation resulting in a very short tail.

Either that or someone decided to cross a short tailed cat such as the Manx, Japanese Bobtail or Kurilian Bobtail (there are of course others) with an Abyssinian cat, an exercise that I am not sure is or was sensible. (or am I being too harsh?)

As I said, no cat association has recognized this cat breed. If the breed does or did exist it is a breed that could be argued is a breed too far (i.e. an unecessary breed without merit)in my opinion. Genetic mutations that produce shortened tails can also produce conditions that affect the health of the cat. Read about the Manx cat.

I have been unable to find a picture of the Abyssinian Bobtail, sorry.

Abyssinian Bobtail to Abyssinian cat

American Snughead

Dutch (left) and Daisy at 6 months of age - photo by OneofThem

The American Snughead is an alternative name, I suppose an informal name, coined by cat fanciers for the great, the wonderful, the lovable, Maine Coon, America's cat.

You can see the best and I mean the best photographs of Maine Coon cats by clicking on this link:

Maine Coon cats

Lets get technical, what does "snughead" really mean? I guess a head against which we can snuggle. The definition of "snuggle" is "to lie or press close together" (src: answers.com - we already knew).

Yep, you could do a lot worse than press your face into the soft luxurious fur of this fantastic cat breed the second most popular by my reckoning after the Siamese cat. I love the American Snughead.

American Snughead to Siamese cat

photo published under a creative commons license - Attribution License

Antipodean cat

The New Zealand Cat Fancy makes no mention of the Antipodean cat. This cat is meant to be a New Zealand short haired and long haired domestic cat. Just out of interest, they have a Tiffany, which for the Kiwis is a medium long haired Burmese. Their Tiffany is not the Tiffany I describe and illustrate on Pictures of cat.org. (see Tiffany cat). I couldn't see anything like this cat registered with the Australian Cat Federation Inc either.

In reference to the name of this cat "the antipodes refer to lands and peoples located on the opposite side of the world compared to the speaker" (src: Wikipedia published under GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version - Wikipedia license applies). In this instance the cat must have been, at least theoretically, named by a person living in the UK, I suggest (who named the cat breed? - please tell me)

Is the Antipodean a purebred pedigree cat? It can't be as it would be listed by The New Zealand Cat Fancy and it is not nor is there any oblique reference to it as far as I can see. The Antipodean cat must then be a mixed breed domestic cat that is simply a pet. But websites talk about this cat as if it a purebred cat. {but please note the useful comments below}

A pretty thorough search of the Internet does not produce any breeders and extremely little information. The breed has been described in some detail as if it comes from a breed standard indicating it is a pedigree cat - very strange.

Then you've got Clippercats, Polydactyl Antipodean cats, supposedly. Is this a con? Probably not but it kind of sounds like it. Are we inventing cat breeds to drum up interest? Jumping over to Australia again, the Governing Council of the Cat Fancy Australia and Victoria Inc. makes no mention of the Antipodean Cat nor anything remotely associated with it.

So the Antipodean cat, which is meant to be a cat from the opposite side of the world, seems not to exist - any comments welcome. Oh, I couldn't find any pictures either, not surprising I suppose.

Antipodean cat to Home page