THE WHYO CAT
WHYO CAT
This "breed" was reported in The Neenah Daily Times (Wisconsin) on 19th March 1900 and reprinted in a number of other newspapers throughout March and April that year. It was also mentioned in an article in the Pittsburgh Weekly Gazette in June 1903. The report referred to "a breed of cats that has taken prizes at the show every year since the establishment of the institution." Whylo was a half-starved and abused street cat rescued by the politician, and great cat-lover, John Mulqueen. Although part of her tail had to be amputated, she recovered and became devoted to him.
Mulqueen named the cat Whyo [misspelled Whylo in a later report] after a notorious lower East Side gang. In 1895 Whyo, by then an old cat, was entered in the cat show in Madison Square Garden where she won a prize in her class. Every year since then (i.e. 1895 – 1900) the Whyo "breed" was represented, and every year it was a prize winner. The report did not mention which class, so these were non-breed cats or household pets.
According to the report in 1903, "He did not know then that the name and breed of this wretched feline would exist long after the Whyo gang was a thing of the past" (the last member of the Whyo gang was caught in 1901). There was no attempt to develop the breed in any organised manner, so these were random-bred cats, but wherever the Whyo was crossed with any other type of cat, the breed (i.e. "type") deteriorated. Crosses were made with Maltese (meaning any domestic shorthair) and with other breeds, but only where the Whyo was pure was it at its best.
The Whyo cat was described as a large tiger-striped cat with four white stockings. The original Whyo weighed fourteen pounds, but a good Whyo in 1900 weighed sixteen pounds. It was heavy in the front, with a wide chest "like a bulldog," bowed front legs and a rather flat face with a broad mouth. The ears were lynx-like, with heavy fuzzy hair at the edges rising high, and tufted ear tips.
From the description we can deduce that Whyo was an alley cat (she was described as a slum cat in report titles), possibly of Maine Coon type,- broad-chested and with tufted ears which suggests semi-longhaired. It's evident that Whyo had kittens, though none are mentioned by name. It sounds as though Whyo's kittens were dubbed Whyo cats when Mulqueen found them homes, making this "a breed that never was."
This report was printed in a number of American newspapers , under various titles, in March and April 1900:
New breeds of either cats, dogs or cattle are rare. The history of the greater portion of them extends over a long period of year and includes many trials of crossing and recrossing of breeds, always the best, and of failures without number. Here is a story of the development of a breed of cats that has taken prizes at the Cat Show every year since the establishment of that institution. Where the breed began cannot be said, further than that a poor, half-starved cat was once rescued from death at the hands of street boys. No apparent effort has been made to develop the breed, and wherever there is a cross of any kind deterioration follows. The Whyo cat has been crossed with Maltese and other kinds, but where the breed is pure, and only so, there results a cat that is best of its kind.
At the time the famous Whyo gang was flourishing on the East Side, New York, John Mulqueen, who was then in politics in the Seventh ward, saw a cat which was being annoyed by a gang of boys. They had perpetrated the usual boyish trick of tying a tin can to the animal's tail and throwing stones at it as it ran. Mulqueen was a lover of cats. He loved all animals, but cats in particular, and would pick them up everywhere and bring them home, where he adopted them, caring for their infirmities or injuries until they were well enough to be given away to some kind-hearted neighbor. This cat in particular was the most woe-begone and wretched of its tribe. It had evidently been living on nothing except abuse for a long time, and had not found much that was fattening in this diet. Mulqueen rescued the cat and took it to his home. The string to which was attached the tin can had been so tied it nearly severed a portion of the tail, and an amputation was necessary. In other words the tail had to be cut off instead of the string. Mulqueen became very fond of this cat, and it followed him everywhere, showing in this the instinct of a dog. Mulqueen named the cat Whyo, after the famous gang that had defied the police tor years and which was still notorious on the lower East Side. He did not know then that the name and the breed of this wretched feline would exist long after the Whyo gang was a thing of the past.
In 1895, Whyo, then an old cat, was entered in the Cat Show in Madison Square Garden, New York. She won a prize in her class. Every year since then the Whyo breed has been represented and every year it has been a prize winner. The Whyo cat is a large tiger. The original Whyo weighed fourteen pounds. The size has been so developed that now a good Whyo weighs sixteen pounds. It is heavy in the front, with a chest expansion like a bulldog. To follow out the resemblance the front legs are bowed and the face is flat with a broad mouth. Four white stockings, a somewhat remarkable feature, are one of the characteristics of the breed. The ears are lynx, with heavy fuzzy hair at the edges rising high and with a "bouquet" at the points.