AZUL SHORTHAIR (AZS), AZUL LONGHAIR (AZL) - CATTERY CHONKY BEARS

Diana Sievert (nee Heinz), her boyfriend and her mother have been working with DBE British Shorthair since 2017. They have worked with several lines but encountered problems with some genes. With the "Oliver" DBE gene, there were multiple problems with DBE bicolour kittens; most died, or were deaf (heterozygotes as well as presumed homozygotes) or had weak immune systems. They also heard of adult mortality with the "Oliver" gene. While these may have had other causes (other genes from foundation cats) they decided to stop breeding with this gene.

They had also thought for years that it would be better to separate the DBE British from the "normal" British. In Germany, there was a problem due to a lot of latent cats being unknowingly purchased by breeders. As a result, a number of deaf kittens were born because the breeders bred latent x latent or didn't know how to work with the gene and they bred DBE x DBE. In Germany, the strict animal welfare rules forbid the breeding of cats likely to be deaf.

In 2022, they bought a British Longhair female (Happiness von Miesachtal) with the DBE Igor gene. They decided to work only with one DBE gene, so they neutered all of the other DBE cats to prevent mixing of genes. In 2023 they hoped to have the first kittens registered as a new breed from this girl. Unfortunately, there was a single kitten and it was stillborn. They gave "Happy" a pause and tried again, this time with a bicolour stud. On 27th March 2024, 5 healthy kittens were born: Commander Wolffe (lilac without visible white and odd eyes), Captain Rex (blue bicolor, blue eyes), Ahsoka Tano (lilac bicolor), Dexter Jettster (lilac), Naboo (lilac with minimal white, odd eyed)

Commander Wolffe has been kept as a future stud cat producing F2 Azuls. Some other breeders are waiting now for the next generation and want to work on this experimental breed too. The Azul Shorthair and Azul Longhair is an experimental breed, currently only recognized in the ARBC (Association of Rare Breeds of Cats, established by Anna Kalinichenko). The meaning of the breed name "Azul" means just blue (because of the blue/odd eyes) and has nothing to do with the American Ojos Azules gene.

Commander Wolffe is an Azul Shorthair F1 lilac (Igor Line F5), DBE–odd-eyed without visible white (AZU c 10 63/1 - 10 = DBE without visible white, 63/1 = odd-eyed DBE) will be the stud for producing F2 Azuls. As an F1 cat, he does not have the small, round ears and shorter, thick tail required for the breed, but he is best choice for stud cat.

They had decided on the breed name Azul at the beginning of September 2023, although the idea was already there much earlier. The original goal was to register DBE British as its own breed, but mis-matings had produced poor kittens and the DBE trait was prohibited by most clubs. Also, many BSH/BLH breeders did not want their breed's name associated with DBE. Since the DBE trait is not recognized in the British Shorthair/Longhair, the Azul Shorthair/Longhair allows breeders to continue working with the British phenotype combined with the DBE trait. Strict breeding rules have been set to prevent "wrong pairings." Azul Shorthair (AZU) and Azul Longhair (AZL) have been registered as an experimental breed. This very correctly keeps the DBE trait out of the main British gene pool.

To be registered as a new breed, a new breed standard is needed and just a different eye colour is not enough. The Azul breed standard is similar to the British, but is different enough to be registered as a new breed. British are often referred to as teddy cats, and the Azul has stayed with that look: cute little round ears, small to medium-sized and slightly rounded at present, but will be bred to be small and very rounded. The tail will be medium-sized and very thick. The mouth will remain short like the British, but healthy i.e. no overbite and not a flat nose.

BREED STANDARD
ARBC (Association of Rare Breeds of Cats) EMS Codes for Permitted Colours, Patterns and Eye Colours in the Azul Shorthair (AZU) & Azul Longhair (AZL)

Basic colours.
n - black
a - blue
b - chocolaté
c - lilac
d - red
e - cream
f - black tortie
g - blue tortie
h - chocolaté tortie
j - lilac tortie
0 - cinnamon
P - fawn
q - cinnamon tortie
r - fawn tortie

s - silver/smoke
y - golden

Permitted white percentage.
03 - bicolor - only permitted for pedigree creation.
08 - minimal white
10 - no white

Patterns.
11 - shaded
12 - shell
22 - classic/blotched
23 - mackerel
24 - spotted
25 - ticked
28 - karpati

Eye patterns.
60 - dominant blue eyed
62 - orange eyed - only allowed for pedigree creation.
63/1 - dominant odd eyed
64 - green eyed
68 - mosaic eyed (sectoral heterochromia)
69 - latent blue eyed (genetically DBE, blue eyes not expressed)

The Azul is a medium to large cat, muscular and stocky. The chest, shoulders and back are broad and massive. The legs are medium-long and muscular; the paws are thick and round. The neck is short and strong. The tail is medium-long and thick with a rounded tip and reaches to the shoulders. The head is rounded, massive, broad and has a strong chin. The nose is short, broad and straight. The profile is curved (without a stop). The cheeks are full and pronounced. The large, round whisker pads give the short muzzle clear contours. The ears are medium-sized, broad at the base, with slightly rounded tips. They are set wide apart. The eyes are large and round, set wide apart.

Azul Shorthair: The coat is short and very dense, not close fitting. Due to the sufficient undercoat, the coat stands out from the body like a plush coat. The texture is not woolly, it is tactile.
Azul Longhair: The coat should be long, smooth and very dense with sufficient undercoat. It should be tactile and not flat, it should stand away from the body and not flow. A ruff is desirable. The tail should be bushy, well-furred and full. The coat is quite rough, tactile, but somewhat softer than that of Azul Shorthair.

Minimal white is permitted; bicolour is only permitted for pedigree creation. Recognized colours are listed above. Breeding with other colours is not permitted.

Azul Shorthair and Azul Longhair cats with non-recognized colours are excluded from breeding and will be marked with a breeding ban.
Azul SH/LH cats with orange/brown eye colour (62) are excluded from breeding and will be marked with a breeding ban.

Permitted matings are Azul Longhair or Shorthair x British Shorthair or longhair.
Azul x Azul matings are not permitted.
Azul x any other breed matings are not permitted.
Any offspring from a forbidden mating will be excluded from breeding and marked with a breeding ban.
Azul SH/LH and their offspring may not be recorded as British SH/LH on the pedigree.

British SH/LH with a dominant blue eve gene and their offspring may not be recorded as Azul SH/LH in the pedigree; this is because there are different dominant blue eye genes in different British SH/LH derived breeds. Azul SH/LH must all have the same DBE gene.

A very special cat born in Cattery Chonky Bears is "Two Face". Two Face has latent blue eyes, meaning she has the DBE gene but it is not expressed. Her mother is chocolate, her father is lilac (chocolate + dilution gene), the kittens were lilac, chocolate and this girl who is lilac with a half-chocolate colour face. This mix of colours - dense and dilute both expressed - is genetically impossible. This is a similar appearance to the famous Narnia - black (dense) and blue (dilute) - which raises the question of a link to the DBE genes.

Two Face's chocolate mother is an F3 DBE. In the previous 2 years the same parents had produced 2 similarly marked kittens in a single litter, but both died within a few days. In 2018, the mother's sister also had a similar special marking, but was spayed and sold as a pet cat. This indicates something genetic because 4 cats from the same lineage had a similar appearance and impossible mix of colours. At the beginning of 2024, Two Face miscarried a litter of 7 kittens 10 days before the due date. Two of these appeared to be black with blue spots and white markings.