1.) Overview and description of the domestic cat breeds (standards)
From Prof. Dr. F. Schwangart (Munich).
With 12 illustrations in the text and in Plates I - III.

INTRODUCTION

These standards are the result of many years of scientific and practical work with cats. I gave the detailed justification of my system in my monograph " On Racial Constitution and Breeding of the Housecat" (83 p. 29 plates, 2 text images, this magazine July, 1932, and as a brochure). I have supplemented this work, especially with regard to the relationship between domestic cats and wildcat breeds, in "The Foundation Plan of Felis and its Relatives. On the systematics and ecology of the Genus "(Abh. The Bavarian Academy of Sciences, N. F., Heft 52, 1943). Haltenorth provided an overview of the wildcats of the old world", especially of the subgenus Felis, whereby relations with the house cat were again discussed ("Wildkatzen der Alten Welt," published by Geest and Portig, Leipzig). Regarding the domestic cat, a section of this work contains references to its origin, while for its breeds reference is made to my work from 1932.

By "house cats" I mean all known domesticated breeds, including the so-called "pedigree cats" (Longhair, Siamese etc.). (This is also done in the book mentioned by Haltenorth). Among the previously controversial names for this community (domesticus, silvestris domesticus, ocreata domesticus and others), catus was selected by the nomenclatural decisive authority in accordance with the applicable provisions, i.e. "Felis catus". I subscribe to this custom wherever the scientific name is necessary.

As soon as I became acquainted with the various cat breeds, it became clear to me that so far the shape of these animals has not been given enough consideration as a race-justifying factor in comparison with the attractive colouring and that the profound meaning of the two tabby patterns ("tiger" and " Marble ") was almost completely overlooked. Even if the cat lags behind the dog in its tendency to change shape under domestication, it surpasses, for example, the horse, and with the possession of two fundamentally different patterns, one inherited from the wild ancestors and one that emerged in the domestic animal, it is unique. I already fully discussed these findings in the old edition of my standards (1928, 1929). In this version, the race terms are worked out more thoroughly, the whole thing is simplified and revised, and has been made more manageable for judges and breeders. In addition, several improvements have been made.

My observations on shape have led me, among other things, to distinguish a second breed of long hair in addition to the pedigree Persian with its pronounced head shape, i.e. the "German Longhair", and several breeds of Shorthair, where shape characteristics were combined with the absence or presence of pattern, and the characteristics of both pattern and the colour. I added the Siamese, Carthusian [Chartreux] and Abyssinians that were already present at the time to these races (see II, No. 2 - 4), such as the longhaired Birman, which is a product of crossing Siamese and Persians (and is of French origin). When the new short-haired breeds were introduced, I was guided by the wish that the native short-haired breed, which originally belonged to the "oldest nobility" of the cat family, should in future achieve the same reputation as the imported luxury breeds. There are not yet many pure-breeding lines of correctly created representatives of the Shorthair, but it has been shown that it is easily possible to breed them. Especially at Italian shows I have been able to identify and award excellent strains of these breeds. When judging, it must be a principle to give preference to demonstrably pure-blooded specimens, and the aim of breeding must be to ensure that only such animals can be awarded prizes, as is the case with the Persians and Siamese and in all other animal breeding.

Any animals that appear to be mixtures between breeds are already excluded from shows. In ideal shows animals that do not correspond to a breed are also excluded; otherwise, they can be taken into account in such a way that particularly pretty specimens receive "beauty awards", which, however, must by no means be confused with, or equated with, pedigree awards and must be appropriately labelled. Castrated longhair and shorthair cats should be treated the same way.

I have not set up a standard for tailless cats (so-called "Manx"), because anatomical studies have shown that taillessness and other tail defects (shortening, crippled tails) in cats are often associated with internal deformities, which are often seriously pathological and should be considered degenerative. They reach a degree that is life threatening. Such cats occur in all shorthair breeds, less often in longhair. They are to be kept away from breeding. An exception is made for the Siamese because of the high frequency of these deformations preferred in this ancient breed, insofar as they can still be exhibited. But the aim must be to breed this trait out, and the animals afflicted with them must rank below normal in judging. The degree of deformation determines the depreciation in points.

The judgment based on the evaluation of points must be accompanied by a judgment according to the principles of beauty. This must also extend to the way the cat moves, which is a good part of their beauty. Furthermore, the judge must always be aware that regardless of the scale of points, the animal must be viewed and assessed as a whole organism. In the point scales I have not included a category for "well-cared for", as is usually the case. Such a category narrows the scope for the categories that relate to parts of the body; it also affects the freedom of judges. Neglect and inadequacy can reach a level that it forces rejection or severe penalisation. In such cases, the judge must be empowered to freely determine the downgrading, which can range from the deduction of a few points to rejection of the specimen.

An overview of the standard scales of points shows that the same categories contain different maximum numbers for the different breeds, sometimes even for sub-types (see II, No. 2a - f) because these characteristics can be more important in one variety than in another.

I consider the point system of evaluation to be indispensable. This is the only way to make an assessment that corresponds exactly to the breed profile. For the exact value of an animal and for the placement of those marked with "excellent", "very good", "good", "satisfactory", the order according to the total number of points is decisive. The "prizes" which the cats are given afterwards do not express their absolute value, because that fluctuates with the number of cats in the show class and is partly determined by the value of the competitors, so prizes are "relative" and, moreover, are relative to a high degree. You have to keep this in mind for the breeders if they want to be informed about the true value of their animals, which is the point of judging.

I will just briefly point out the possibility of performance breeding in cats. Our cats are not only natural beauties, rewarding objects of breeding for beautiful appearance and lovable housemates, they are also excellent livestock. They deserve the highest esteem as rat controllers. They are also much more accessible to useful and fun training than is commonly believed. I have dealt with this specifically; in these breed descriptions I can neither go into the methods of testing the performance of specific breeds of cat, nor how to evaluate their performance, nor the future of performance breeding. It must be emphasized that these standards have nothing to do with the performance factor and that the pedigree cats ranked according to these standards do not have to be distinguished by special performances. I also advise the judge to suggest afterwards to those owners whose animals do poorly that such disappointments say nothing about their cat’s inner properties and should not harm their love for their cat.

I. LONG-HAIRED CATS (ANGORA).

Common features for breed 1) Persian and 2) German Longhair: Compact build, short sturdy legs, broad head with relatively short, broad-ended muzzle. Small ears. Fairly short, nicely carried tail (plume), pronounced long, soft fur (but take into account age differences, season, possible pregnancy!). Excludes "Half angora" [semi-lonhair]. Parting along the back, ruff, "britches" on hind legs.

Breed 1) Persians. Large round head, protruding forehead falling abruptly to a broad, short bridge of the nose, the base of which forms a saddle. Hairy slightly woolly. Bred for size and strength. (Plate I, Fig. 2).

Breed 2) German Longhair. Forehead sloping, not protruding, flowing in a gentle curve to the bridge of the nose or with very slight gradation. Bridge of nose without a saddle. Muzzle wide, not pointed (just like the Persian). The conformation may be a little less stocky than the Persian, the tail a little longer.

German long-haired shall be purebred. Any intermediate stages between the Persian type (above), which are common in some colours, must be eliminated. The breed was first distinguished by me in Germany, the name corresponds to one used in dog breeding. It is by no means restricted to Germany. It is closer to the ancestral form than the Persian. It is worth breeding because of its beauty, and it counteracts the degeneration of the Longhair. The widespread assertion that these are "pointed heads", which is a fault in all Longhairs, is based on unfair propaganda (Plate I, figs. 2 and 3).

Score for Persians and German Longhaired in all patterns.
Body shape and stature - 25
Head - 25
Eyes - 10
Fur (and skin) - 15
Colour or pattern - 15
Tail - 10
Total - 100 points

Colour and pattern groups (same for both breeds):

a) – Single coloured (black, white, blue, cream, orange, etc.).
Tendency to spots or pattern is excluded from this group. Steel-blue or light blue. Blacks not brownish. Nose, paw-pads, throat are dark blue and black. Eye colour in blacks is deep yellow, in whites blue or yellow (it is best to rank these separately). Deafness penalised; a high percentage of this found in blue-eyed whites (test with a whistle invisible to the animal). Pink is often required as the skin colour for whites, but because of the tendency to degeneration (deafness, etc.) associated with albinotic properties (pink skin, blue eyes), a dark skin is also desirable.

b) Chinchilla, Peach Colours, Smoke Cats (Without Pattern), Silvers.
Chinchilla lighter and darker tint. The hair tips are black, the black zone not too long. Too bright ground colour is incorrect. Merits: black rims of eyes and nose, black lips and soles, but white claws.

Peach colour: between bluish and orange, flesh-colored nose and pads. [goldens]

Smoke cats: whitish basal part of the hair, deep dark, smoked tip colouring. In the case of the "moro argentato" shade [dark-skinned silver], the white is silvery and the ruff is more silver than the rest of the hair. Nose and paw-pads very deep dark.

Eyes in this entire group, as always, depends on the coat colour, for example good amber for [black] smoke cats.

c) Patterned (tiger and marble).
The patterns in longhairs are not breed-based as in shorthairs. It must be well formed and stand out strongly. Form features for tiger-striped as well as marble apply to both of the long-haired races. All the colours mentioned and described under II, 2 and 3 apply. The nose can be black or red.

d) Piebalds (Two- and Three-Coloured Cats, Masked Cats).
No trace of pattern. Masked cats score higher than asymmetrical piebalds. These diminish depending on the predominance of white. "Tortoiseshell" (shades of black and yellow) take precedence over the "Spanish" (same colours, but with white) with otherwise identical properties. The colours of the tortoiseshell should be distributed over as large an area as possible, which is very rare here. Eyes according to the predominant fur colour.

Breed 3) Birman cats.
Semi-angora, a result of crossing Persian and Siamese. Of French origin, not imported as the name suggests. The only semi-angora that has been recognized so far. The only pure line known to me so far is "De Madalpour". The combination of the characteristics that make for great beauty has hardly ever been successful. Cats that look different, even if called "Birman", "Tibetan" and the like, are to be disqualified. Only those meeting the original French description are permitted: body elongated, well proportioned, a little low. Head short, ears large, forehead protruding, nose slightly arched up, eyes large, dark blue, iridescent, hair massively long, parted on the back, very long on the tail, forming a flag. Ruff. Basic colour light cream with golden tones on the neck. Mask, tail, ear, paws in the same deep brown as the Siamese, but the brown-booted paws have pure white claws. (Plate II, Fig. 8).

Score for the Birman breed:
Body shape and stature- 20
Head - 15
Eyes- 20
Fur - 10
Colour, tone, markings - 20
Tail - 15
Total - 100 points

II. SHORTHAIR CATS.

Breed 1) Siamese cats.
Medium-sized. Stature elegant, but not too elongated. Paws small. Head proportioned, elongated, not too narrow, ample distance between the eyes, slightly narrowing between the ears. Forehead flat, nose elongated, ears large, broad at the base. Eyes large, of a pronounced, deep, bright blue (azure, cornflower blue); depending on the incidence of light, pupil has a ruby shimmer. The last being preferred. Cross eyes are a flaw. Hair very short, velvety to slightly straw-like. Basic colour evenly tinted, sand to deep fawn-coloured (so-called "chocolates"), then the striking darker brown of the sharply delineated characteristic "mask". Persistence of the milk-white youth colour, a darkening of the ground beyond the fawn colour, or any kind of marking outside of the mask reduce the value. The colour may be a little lighter on the underside. Normally formed tail barely smaller than with other shorthairs; stubby and crippled tails reduce the value depending on the degree of deformity. (There may be slight internal defects of a pathological nature.)

The breed comes from Slam, but everything that is written about the "temple or palace cats" there are traders’ tales and have been denied several times by the Siamese embassies. The selection is owed to Europeans, whose selections were only followed by local breeders. In an original Siamese cat picture book with descriptions from about a century and a half ago, the "Siamese cat" is missing. Directly imported specimens are usually built more coarsely with a tinge of deep olive green in the basic colour. It is noteworthy that our specimens, which run free a lot, can approach this colouration. One should be conclusive about the rating of such animals. (Plate II, Fig. 7).

Score for the Siamese breed:
Body shape and stature - 15
Head - 15
Eyes - 20
Fur - 10
Colour and tone - 15
Markings ("Mask") - 15
Tail - 10
Total - 100 points

Breed 2) Short-haired.
Sturdy, thickset legs, short, strong neck, relatively short tail that tends to be bushy at the end. Bred for strength and size. Broad skull, short face with a broad-ended muzzle. Nose straight or slightly hooked, forehead stepped towards the nose, but not protruding, ears may be relatively small, also somewhat narrow. The stripe names are self-explanatory. They can be continuous or interrupted. Transitions in this and in the basic colouring is not penalised, but typical representatives of the different types are preferred. Only the mixing of red tiger colouring with the rest is penalised. For ‘a’ – ‘c,’ a small white throat (or chest) spot is permitted, for ‘a’ it is considered a preference, for ‘f,’ however, it is detrimental.

Heavy "tigers" often carry the blood of the Nordic wildcat, the secondary strain of domestic cats. The specifications of the standard take this into account,

Shorthaired Varieties:

a) Wild Coloured Tiger Cat. [Mackerel Tabby]

Straw-like, wildcat-like hair, ears heavily hairy on the inside, stripes mostly interrupted and not prominent. The background colour is more or less pale grey, "zone-coloured" [banded] on the hairs, with a touch of a yellowish, slightly reddish or brownish tone. Eyes green, depending on the background colour also yellowish. Short tail, slightly bushy at the end. (Plate II, Fig. 5).

Score for Wild Coloured Tiger Breed:
Body shape and stature - 25
Head - 25
Eyes- 10
Fur - 10
Pattern and colouring - 15
Tail - 15
Total - 100 points.

b) Slate Tiger Cat.
Hair a bit rough rather than straight. Stripes more prominent than in the previous one. Slate-grey background. Eyes green. Point scale as for a. (Plate II, Fig. 6). .

c) Silver Tiger Cat.
Breeding for colour is more important here than size. Fine silver tone, from which the stripes should stand out sharply. Soft hair. Eyes greenish. The tail may be a little thinner than the previous breeds.

Score for Silver Tiger Breed:
Body shape and stature - 20
Head - 25
Eyes - 10
Fur - 10
Pattern and Colour - 25
Tail 10
100 points

d) Blue Tiger Cat.
Basic colour is that of a "silver-blue" solid colour cat. Fur as in the silver tiger. Eyes greenish to deep yellow. Scales of points as in the Silver Tiger Breed.

e) Brown Tiger Cat.
Strong hue of chocolate brown in grey. Hair slightly straw-like to velvety. The basal part of the hair may be light as in "smoke cats", but the pattern must contrast clearly. Eyes orange, amber, also yellow to green if there is a lot of grey in the background colour. Scale of points see Silver Tiger.

f) Red Tiger Cat.
Red-brown stripes on a yellow or red-yellow background, hair slightly strawy rather than too soft. A strongly contrasting pattern is very important, as is the typical tiger cat head shape. Both of these are often less pronounced in this variant. Eyes yellow, orange, amber.

Score for the Red Tiger Cat:
Body shape and stature - 25
Head - 25
Eyes - 10
Fur - 10
Pattern and Colour - 20
Tail - 10
100 points

Breed 3) Short-Haired Marble. [Classic Tabby]

Body shape handsome, but not too heavy and stocky. Legs medium high, neck moderately strong, head carried high. Tail of medium length and strength, not bushy. Proud overall appearance. Upper head slightly arched, forehead with only a slight indentation to the nose. Muzzle extended without tapering. Impression of a "large face". Must have the typical peculiar pattern. The "loop" can enclose a light halo with or without a dark inner spot; it can also be filled in. Its lower arc can be closed or slightly interrupted near its base. The marble pattern allows further variations, but the basic shape, especially the loop, must always be clearly preserved. The back of this breed should have three parallel longitudinal stripes. These can also merge into a single broad line. The pattern on both sides should be as symmetrical as possible. The fur must be velvety or at least approach this. The colours are identical to those of the short-haired type. In terms of colour, silver marble and red marble appear to me to be most beautiful when the pattern has strong contrast. It tends to fade in the red tiger.

Fig. 1. Marble breed, pattern diagram (after Brooke, supplemented by F. Schwangart).

An open question is how this pattern changes over the course of a lifetime. I have repeatedly seen it deteriorate. That would not abolish the breed as such, but it would have to be considered and examined for the conditions of its occurrence. The marble pattern is based on a domestic mutation.

Score for all variants of the short-haired marble:
Body shape and stature - 20
Head 20
Eyes - 10
Hair - 10
Pattern and colouring - 30
Tail - 10
100 points

Race 4) Slender Breed ("Egyptians"]. [=Foreign Shorthair type]

Body shape: opposite to the short-haired breed. Exceptionally slim, long-legged, delicate. Slender, slightly curved neck. Long, thin, consistently smooth tail. Head carried high, narrow, top slightly arched upwards, forehead without indentation to the bridge of the nose, but straight or slightly saddled. Muzzle elongated, sharply tapering. Ears large or slightly elongated and narrow. Eyes slanted. Hair velvety, not strawy. None of the pattern types are permitted, but on the other hand, all colours, solid colour or piebald, are permissible, even "smoke colour", provided that no pattern is associated with it.

Black and blue look particularly favoured and are rightly preferred. There are beautiful breeding lines of these. The colour always has priority over form in the evaluation. The Slender Blue may be "steel or silver blue". The colour of the eyes depends on the colour of the coat (Plate III, fig. 10 - 12).

Score for the Slender Breed, all colours:
Body shape and stature - 30
Head - 30
Eyes - 10
Fur - 10
Colour - 10
Tail - 10
Total 100 points

Race 5) Carthusians. [Chartreux]

Big, heavy, stocky. Stocky legs. Short, strong neck. Head position more horizontal. Relatively short but not bushy tail. Head broad, heavy, big ears. Forehead stepped towards the nose, muzzle short, broad. Face shape details still under consideration. Hair as velvety as possible. Colouring blue; "Steel and silver blue" permitted. Eyes amber yellow.

This breed is to be strictly distinguished from the Slender Blue (II, 4). Intermediate forms are to be disqualified. The head of the Carthusian must not approach the powerful characteristics of a Persian head. The ancestry must be purely shorthairs. The popular crossing to the Blue Longhair to exaggerate the shape is not allowed.

Score for Carthusians:
Body shape and stature - 25
Head - 25
Eyes - 10
Hair - 10
Coloring - 20
Tail - 10
100 points

Race 6) Abyssinian.

Barely medium-sized, slender, but not elongated or long-legged. Delicate movement. Head in proportion to the overall stature. Medium slim, not long-muzzled. Relatively large distance between the eyes, relatively smaller between the ears (similar to the Siamese). Pronounced tufts on the ear tips. For the nose leather, the standards require flesh-coloured with dark outline. Although it has the look of the African wild cat, it is dark. Eyes large, round, clear. Fur very short, close-lying. Colouring rabbit-brown, finely mottled with black and deep yellow (a wild colour; banded hairs). Fine shading along the back to the end of the tail ("eel stripe"), black tail tip. Dark shading between the ears. Underside graduated from deep grey to rust brown. Inside of the legs rust brown. No pattern or markings, even the legs have no hint of stripes. Pads and toe ends black, the dark colour between the toes can be seen as lines from above.

These "Abyssinians" are not exotic species from Africa, but rather an English breeding product resembling the wildcats there. (The opposite legend refutes the details, especially the red nose.) They can also be bred from Italian stock, for example. In order to avoid approaching the short-haired type, one should pay strict attention to the absence of markings, which appear as slight stripes, and furthermore to the stature and colour details. The pure breed is rare.

Scoring for Abyssinians:
Body shape - 15
Head - 15
Eyes - 10
Hair -25
Coloring - 25
Tail - 10
100 points

Appendix

Some groups of short-haired cats that do not belong to these breeds are entered at shows, but only as applicants for "beauty prizes", not as breeding types. This subheading includes solid colour cats of heavy and medium build, except for the Carthusians, which have breed value. Likewise, two- and three-coloured cats of medium and heavy build and corresponding head shape. Here, the evaluation takes place according to the principles of general beauty. Solid colour, tortoiseshell, masked cats and similar symmetrically coloured cats are preferred. Neutered pedigree cats also only receive beauty awards. The following are to be excluded from shows: piebald tabbies, marble tabbies, tabby or marbled distinctly Slender Cats, multicoloured, and solid coloured with more than half of the body surface in white. The exhibition of such animals endangers the concepts of breed or is constitutionally detrimental.

Perhaps one day breeds can be obtained from the varieties admitted to these beauty classes,. Their approval now means a concession to an exhibiting public that is not yet certain in terms of breeding.
Graefelfing 1949.

EXPLANATORY TABLE

Plate I, Fig. 2. Pedigree Persian (blue), "Michael of Allington". Owner: Margarete Risch, Dresden. Photo: "Dresden workshops."
Fig. 3. German long-haired "Fuchs von der Rheinburg", national winner in 1932. Bes. Dr. med. Heine, Leipzig.
Fig. 4. The same head from the front.

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Plate II, Fig. 5. Wild-colored short-haired "Silvester". Owner. Ernst Braun, Berlin. Photo O. K. Vogelsang, Berlin. Multiple exhibition winner.
Fig. 6. Grey Tiger "Simson". Owner Joseph Lesti, Vienna. Short-haired winner there in 1932. Head profile.
Fig. 7. Siamese cats, cattery Frau E. Sacher-Petri, Breslau, "Foto-Knapp", Breslau.
Fig. 8. Birman cat. From the Revue Feline de France "(Clichy-Seine 1931), line" de Madalpour ".

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Plate III, Fig. 9. "Peterle" (steel) and "Mausi" '(silver-blue) "von Kantheim". Carthusian. Owner Alma Hansen, Kiel. Photo A. Lehmann, Kiel 1931.
Fig. 10. Slim breed, black ("Egyptian"). Tomcat "Moro". Owner. Privy Councilor Dr. Karl Woermann Dresden. Photo Atelier Ursula Richter, Dresden.
Fig. 11. Slim breed, black ("Egyptian"). Cat "Maja". Owner. Mrs. Alma Schulze, Dresden. "Dresdner Fotogr. Workshops".
Fig. 12. Slim breed, black ("Egyptian"). Cat "Nerina von der Josefstadt". Owner. Dr. Stephan Zimmermann, Vienna. CAC and "Ehrenpreis der Stadt Wien" 1952. Aufn. Dr. Br. M. Klein, Vienna August 2, 1952.