S POTTED & MARBLED
Friends for All Seasons
This carefully crafted breed of delicately spotted and marbled cats is tops for temperament, full of love and fun, bright but relaxed. Very popular with first time pedigree cat buyers, it's well bred but not extreme appearance appeals as essentially cat.
WHAT DO THEY LOOK LIKE?
There is nothing extreme about Australian Mist, they are of moderate size, medium boned, rounded of head, with large eyes and ears. The coat is short, but resilient, the tail is plumply furred. The colours are warm brown, blue, chocolate, lilac, gold and peach; the pattern is of delicate spots or intricate marbled swirls against a misty ground, with legs and tail ringed and barred, and the face lined. Eyes are large and expressive in a range of greens. The nose, chin and whiskerpads are broad giving the face a generous expression.
WHAT BREEDS WERE THEY MADE FROM?
Developed over more than twenty years, Australian Mist have a large gene pool, derived from over 30 foundation cats, half Burmese, and a quarter each Abyssinian and Domestic. Burmese contributed the dilution for the colours, the "laid back" nature, four of the colours and some of the pattern, as well as general size and conformation. From the Abyssinian came the beautiful ticking to develop the pattern, two colours, and a touch of lively intelligence. Domestics contributed to the best spots, but primarily to vigour, with a dose of "uncosseted" cat genes improving teeth, kidneys, mothering qualities, and helping to stabilise litter sizes around the feline average of four. The exciting marbled pattern, accepted as part of the breed in 1997 has “popped up” throughout the development of the breed and is growing in popularity
WHAT ARE THEY LIKE AS CATS?
Australian Mist are excellent mothers, moderate breeders, and superlative studs. Desexed cats, females and kittens fit in easily with all sorts of other pets. Their conviction that no person or animal could do anything but love them leads to ease of integration with any but the extremely aggressive. Temperament is such that even many males are able to live in small groups with other males.. To further increase the pleasure of the small breeder, later maturation of both males and females is being selected for.
The
people centredness of Australian Mist contributes to their ability to
be
wholly indoor pets, and their willingness to remain indoors between
dusk
and dawn. While it is not possible to alter the inherent behaviours
which
enable the cat to hunt, these characteristics can be redirected towards
interacting with people. Selection is continuing to enhance further
these
qualities, creating a truly companionable pet, which quickly
becomes
a
member
of the family
WHAT WAS THE ORIGIN OF THE BREED?
These delectable short-haired cats were the brain-child of Dr. Truda Straede (Nintu Cattery) and were developed from the idea to full register over nine years from 1977. This wholly AUSTRALIAN breed of cat has been created under the very strict regulations of the NSW Cat Fanciers Association Inc, and is now recognised by governing councils Australia wide. Sound husbandry and selection, combined with genetic insight, and the perseverance of the experimental breeders has led to a pleasingly uniform, but genetically broadly based population of cats, which are now available to any interested cat buyer.
WHAT TYPE OF HOME DO THEY SUIT?
Australian Mist make excellent pets for children, even very young ones, as they are very tolerant of handling, and disinclined to scratch. As kittens they are lively, but sober up somewhat on maturity. Their propensity to crawl into the nearest lap with or without invitation, and to constantly hang around to see what people are up to makes them an excellent companion for the home worker, and the invalid. Older cats in need of rehoming are available at times. These cats settle in well, and are often preferred by older, or working buyers.
Australian Mist are easy cats to Show, enjoying the outing and attention. Best in Show awards are frequent, and several cats, including both entire and desexed, have reached Gold Double Grand Champion status. Both Spotted and Marbled Australian Mist have been awarded the much coveted