Info about the Agean Cat and other European breeds

Question
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Followup To
Question -
Hello. Did you get a chance to check your European sources yet?

I have some more cat breed questions for you:

I know that the Italian Rex is reportly extinct. Are there any breeds that currently hail from Itialy besides the Colorpoint European Shorthair?

I posed this question to Ms. HArtwell at messybeast.com:

The Aegean Cat is derived from naturally occurring
cats of the Greek Cycladic Islands. It is being
developed by members of the fledgling Greek Cat Fancy
and is currently the only native Greek breed.
Selective breeding started in the early 1990s using
native semi-longhaired. These are of a light
European/Continental type i.e. neither cobby, nor
oriental. The semi-longhaired is than that of Turkish
Angoras. All colours are found, with bi-colours
(colour-and-white) predominating.

Does this mean they have the exact same markings and
eye colors as the (colorpoint) European Shorthair?

Please let me know. Thank you again.

Sincerely,
Jason Goldman
JGoldman10@yahoo.com
Answer -
Jason,

I have come up empty on the Aegean cats and the Italian rex.  However, when one uses the term colorpoint, they usually mean point restricted as in the Siamese but coming in differing colors (other then the traditional seal point, blue point, chocolate point and lilac point) or differing body type/coat length as in the UK colourpoint which is similar and the predecessor to the American Himalayan or pointed Persian.

If point restricted (a la the Siamese pattern and genic system), the cat will have blue eyes!!!!!   NOTE:  The mink point restricted pattern is a heterozygous cat carrying both the Siames and Burmese alleles for the albino genic locus and will have aqua eyes.

One thing you might try is to look at the FIFe web site from time to time which is where the Aegean cats will be recognized first.

Best regards... Norm.

Date: 10/27/05

Hello:
I did a web search and I found this picture of the Aegean Cat at this site:
http://www.ellinikazoa.gr/_english/page2.htm

I wrote a letter to the Cat Enthusiasts Club Of NY requesting that they send info and pics of this breed- I'm still waiting to hear from them.
I'll contact FIFE to see if they have any information like you suhggested. Do you know of any Greek Cat clubs I should contact?
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Jason Goldman
JGoldman10@yahoo.com

Answer
Jason,

This whole business on the Aegean cats has picqued my curiosity.  If you hear anything back, please let me know.  If you do hear from FIFe, you might ask them about cat clubs in Greece as a follow up.

BTW, the cat pictured in the link you sent me is the same cat as pictured in the other two links from previous messages.

If I find out anything new, I will let you know.

Best regards... Norm.