Chinese Calico Cats

Question

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The text above is a follow-up to ...

-----Question-----
Date: 1/10/07 10:42 PM

Hello:

I am doing research on Chinese cat breeds. I ofund these links to pics of Chinese cats on the web:
http://www.45walldesign.com/blog/2005/07/chinese-cats.html
http://kevinsmith.wordpress.com/2006/08/09/chinese-cats-enjoy-getting-on-the-net
http://kevinsmith.wordpress.com/2006/01/02/cheachers/

Are Chinese calico catsin these pictures representative of any Chinese cat breeds? Please let me know. Thank you.

Sincerely,
Jason Goldman
JGoldman10@yahoo.com


-----Answer-----
No, they appear to be domestics, as are found on nearly all continents.  In fact, there are not any accepted breeds I know of that originated in China.  Surrounding countries, like Thailand, Indonesia and Japan, are responsible for several types of purebreds.  But the Chinese tend to see cats as food animals or animals to be used for their fur, and few people there have any interest in keeping cats as pets or cultivating breeds.  Even cats with "Chinese" in their breed name do not appear to have originated in China.  The Chinese Harlequin, for example, did not originate in China, but was bred to look like a cat seen in ancient Chinese art.

Date: 1/11/07 5:28 PM

Hello. Thank you for responding. There are two native Chinese cat breeds, the Dragon Li and the Chinese White:

http://members.shaw.ca/bjbelanger/China.htm

Do you have any info about The Dragon Li's eye possible colors, besides green?

Do you have any info and pics of Shorthaired Chinese whites?

I'm assuming when you say "Domestics", you mean those Chinese cats in the pics in the links I posted are representative of cat breeds that can be found anywhere?

Please let me know.
Thank you.

Sincerely,
Jason Goldman
JGoldman10@yahoo.com

Answer
Yes, those appear to be cats of no particular breed.  97% of cats worldwide have no breed in their background.  They're just the good old cats found in art thousands of years old, before breeds were ever recognized or cultivated.

Unfortunately, I'm not well-versed on many obscure or experimental breeds.  My knowledge is limited to those accepted by larger registries.  So I couldn't tell you anything about the Chinese breeds you mentioned.