|
Although nominally linked to the land of the Pharohs, this breed is actually thought to have some of its beginnings around the Indian Ocean coast and Southeast Asia. There is evidence that ticked cats were seen in Calcutta in the 1830’s. When the breed was first exhibited in the 1870’s those cats were imported to England from Abyssinia (now Ethiopia), having been brought back to England by soldiers leaving the war.
As previously noted, the breed was introduced to (or more accurately, developed in) England in the 1870’s. Ticked cats already existed in England (and often called “Bunny Cats” after this pattern) and early breeders worked with these cats, the newly imported cats, British Shorthairs, and other cats of unknown parentage to develop a breed that would be evenly ticked all over with no tabby markings.
It was exported to the United States in the early 1900’s and breeders on both sides of the Atlantic continued to develop the breed to set the standard through the 1950’s and into today.
|