Reed Cat Chausies: Offering the best in Jungle Cat lookalikes

WildCatCopies.com
...offering the best in domestic Jungle Cat lookalikes.

...Three generations of ReedCat Chausies with a Jungle Cat behind

CHAUSIE ~ WILD HERITAGE & HISTORY

The Chausie is a tall, upright statuesque cat, medium to large in size, with a strong resemblance to its ancestor, the Jungle Cat, a wild species of cat named 'Felis Chaus'. The name 'Chausie' was derived from the Latin name for the Jungle Cat, 'Felis Chaus'. They have long legs, large mobile tufted ears. The Chausie is good natured, loyal and intelligent.

REGISTRATION AND ADVANCEMENT

The Chausie was first granted registration status with the International Cat Association in March of 1995 for the purpose of pedigree tracking and establishing a new breed of domestic cat. In February 2001, at the Semi-annual TICA board meeting, the Chausie was granted another very exciting step toward becoming a recognized breed, 'Evaluation status'. Since the Semi-annual 2001, the Chausies have advanced to "Advanced New Breed" (ANB) Status, which enables F3 Chausies and beyond generations to be shown in this New Breed ring. We will spend several more years in ANB developing the Chausie breed. The next step will be applications for Championship status.

MORE PROGRESS

Another exciting event that took place in 2001 was the acceptance of the Chausie for advertising in domestic magazines such as Cat Fancy magazine and CATS USA magazine. Chausies also have been given credit in "The New Encyclopedia of the Cat" by Dr. Bruce Fogle, DVM on pages 182-3 featuring REEDCAT'S F1 foundation female 'Gazelle'. It is published by DK Publishing, Inc. visit their web site at www.dk.com to view their catologue/or order the book.

BREED GOALS

The goal of the Chausie breeding program is to capture the look of the Jungle Cat through selective breeding and preservation of the Jungle Cat's wild physical traits, giving the Chausie the visual similarities to that of the Jungle Cat. As we breed down the generations, from F1 (first cross) F2, F3, F4 and beyond, our goal is to achieve Championship status (SBT) in TICA making it allowable for the Chausie to compete Internationally with all recognized breeds of pedigreed domestic cats. At Championship level Chausies will be required to have no wild cats within a three-generation pedigree while retaining a visual similarity to its Jungle Cat ancestor preserving such features as large mobile, tufted ears, long legs and a naturally short tail, of three-quarter length, which is about twice the length of a Bobcat's tail and is inherited from the Jungle Cat himself. Full-length tails are also an acceptable length in the Chausie. The Chausie's temperament should be amenable to handling and should exhibit a domestic temperament despite its wild heritage. They are highly intelligent, actively entertaining and are a strikingly exotic cat.

COLORS AND COAT PATTERN

The Chausie comes in three colors which mimic the naturally occurring colors and wild ticked coat pattern of the Jungle Cat. The goal is for the Chausie to retain the natural look of the Jungle Cat by allowing only these three colors. Brown Ticked Tabby, Black and Black Silver-Tip.

Browns range in shade from a sandy-gray to golden brown through to a reddish-gold to brown coloring. The upper front legs are banded in beautiful black barring and some pattern can also be found on hindlegs and tail. Except for the markings on the legs and tail, the Chausie's coat should be of a ticked pattern only. Although faint spots or stripes are permissible, the preferred coat should closely resemble the ticked coat of the Jungle Cat.

Although there is no scientific proof that melanistic Jungle Cats occurr, the Chausie has included Solid Black as one of their acceptable color in addition to the Black Silver Tipped color. The BlackSilver-Tip is a color unique to the domestic cat color genetics and is still under study to see how it can be preserved and bred for. Its appearance is one of a black coated cat with silver tipping and banding on the hair shafts. This is a new color to the world of domestic cat colors but is unique to the Jungle Cat.

JUNGLE CAT (FELIS CHAUS)

ANCESTORY

The Jungle Cat (Felis Chaus) also known as the Swamp Cat
or Reed Cat, is a feral cat that lives in several regions from Egypt and the Middle East to Southeast Asia. His natural habitat is jungle scrub-land, marshes and reed beds. The Jungle Cat dates back to the days of the Pharoahs being depicted in Egyptian hieroglyphics hunting fowl for their Pharoahs. Archeologists have also found the Jungle Cat mummified along with Domestic cats and African Wild Cats, leading researchers to believe that the domestic cat as we know it today owes its ancestory in part to the Jungle Cat.

The Jungle Cat has a plain, unspotted coat that can be sandy brown, reddish or gray. Melanistic Jungle Cats have reportedly been seen in Pakistan and India although no scientific proof exists. The Jungle Cat has black bands on tops of their forelegs and on the tip of their tail. They have a long slim face, tall rounded ears each topped with tufts of black hair.

The Jungle Cat can range in weight from 15-35 pounds, depending on habitat, with the larger of the breed located in Soviet Central Asia. It is important to understand that the Chausie is not as large as the Jungle Cat but can be larger than the average domestic cat.

Jungle Cats are found to have one of the widest distributions of all the small cats, and is found on three continents. In Africa it occurs only in Egypt, while in Europe and Asia, its distributions spans more than 25 countries. Israel, Jordan, and Syria in the east; north to the Caspian Sea and Afghanistan, and east through India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and south western China and into Indonesia.

In Egypt, the Jungle Cat has the nickname "Reed Cat".

What better name to represent our Chausie breeding program and as our TICA Cattery prefix than the name "REEDCAT CHAUSIES".

REEDCAT@snowline.net
(760)249-6000
MERYL B. PEEK
WRIGHTWOOD, CALIFORNIA. 92371

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