SILVER OF THE PHARAOHS - Progress report

first published in "CATching UP" (official journal of the NSW CFA) Vol. 1, No. 3, 1999

Over seven years ago now, we combined our resources to breed the silver group of Abyssinians: our first Silver, Ch. Tongariro Sno Alpha, was born on the 30th January, 1992. The silver group of Abyssinians all have a silvery-white undercoat but differ in the colour of their ticking and paw pads. The Black Silver (registered simply as a Silver in NSW) has black ticking and black paw pads. The Blue Silver has steel blue ticking and mulberry coloured pads. The Cinnamon Silver has chocolate-cinnamon ticking and pink pads. The fur between the toes, on the hocks, at the tip of the tail, and any spinal shading, matches the colour of the ticking.

With our breeding program we have taken great care to maintain the good temperament and health of our cats and kittens - this we consider a priority while improving on the type and colour of our cats. At the foundation of our program we used several outstanding non-silver stud cats to set up different bloodlines, each of which now have distinct appearances.

With one of our lines, we are retaining the overall type and colour of the "classic" Abyssinian, while trying to improve on various aspects of the foundation cats. Many of these silvers carry cinnamon, or are Cinnamon Silver. Cats in this line have pale ticking, giving a soft silvery colour. The ticking is very even and our young stud, Ch Nivalis Moondancer, in particular, has the sparkle so desirable in a good silver.

An increasing number of these cinnamon line cats have good ear tufts and the most beautiful dark hocks - both features which seem to have been disappearing from the general Abyssinian population. One of our Cinnamon Silvers, Silver DGC Tongariro Sno Idyll, last shown in May in Newcastle, where she was Runner-Up to Best Abyssinian Cat in both rings, has long been known at home as "Chocky-Hocks." Nivalis Pharruca, a Black Silver, was just out of kitten classes for the Abyssinian Cat Club's 1998 show, where she was given a special award for the 'Best Coloured Hocks in Show'.

The temperament of cats in this line is quite delightful. Moondancer, with his "layed-back" temperament, collapses on veterinary tables, in his cage and on judging tables so that all may rub his tummy. At the 1998 Abyssinian Cat Club show, Tongariro Sno Lateefa, like her mother (DGC Tongariro Sno Betta) before her, was awarded a prize for 'Best Temperament in Show'.

With our second line we set out to introduce a change in the type of silvers, and now we have a more "modern" finer, longer body type. We have dubbed this our blue line as most of these cats carry blue and this, of course, is where our few Blue Silvers have been produced. Cats in this group have generally had a much darker ticking (due to the wider, darker bands of colour) than do cats in our cinnamon line. This darker ticking is in marked contrast with the silvery white undercoat giving an appearance not unlike the colouring of Alaskan Malamutes or Siberian Huskies.

There are fewer generations, and fewer cats, in our third line, best described as our black line as two tawny males, both from lines renowned for their ear tufts, were used with the foundation cats for this line. Our young stud GC Tongariro Sno Oyez and Silver DGC Tongariro Sno Eccles are the best known cats from this line - both cats with lovely ear tufts.

The differences between our lines is frequently highlighted at shows; it is interesting to see how one judge will put up cats and kittens from one particular line, while another will put another line forward.

Breeding Silver Abyssinians has its own particular difficulties. Any undesirable markings, such as barring or necklacing, often go unnoticed on non-silver Abyssinians, but these are very obvious on silvers, as is any rufous discolouration, because of the silvery-white undercoats. Within the first few years, we achieved a remarkable changes in type, ticking and eye colour, and for these features our best silvers are comparable with the best non-silvers. At present, the rufous discolouration tends to be unpredictable - a very clear baby kitten may become discoloured at 6 - 9 months of age, while a kitten that is biscuit coloured at birth may clear later. Some cats are clear at various times of the year, and rufous at others, in the most irregular manner (a favourite hypothesis is that it has something to do with whether or not we have entered them in a show!).

Nevertheless, our show results are encouraging. In 1998 we had four kittens regularly appearing in the Top 5s at shows. Two of these, Nivalis Xanakei and Tongariro Sno Phtahmiri, both Blue Silvers, achieved Best Female Abyssinian Kitten wins. Tongariro Sno Rhais, a Silver female from our cinnamon line, was another in the top 5s last year. Our great pride and joy last year was Nivalis Phandango, a silver male from our cinnamon line. He was placed in the Top 5 on a number of occasions and was Best Group 3 Kitten in Show at the Southern Cross Cat Club Show. Phandango went on to become the Best Silver Group Exhibit in the Abyssinian Cat Club's End-of-Year Awards. He is now a proven stud and we look forward to seeing how his baby kittens develop. Last year he pushed his litter mate, Nivalis Pharruca, out of the limelight. This year Pharruca is coming into her own, both as a show cat and as a brood queen. Her first litter, by Ch Nivalis Moondancer, resulted in a litter of sparkling Silver and Cinnamon Silver kittens, which was a much admired litter at the Group 3 Cat Club Show in March this year. One of these baby kittens, Nivalis Silver Samba, placed in the Top 10 kittens and made Runner-Up to Best Abyssinian Kitten at the same show. Samba, still a kitten, appears to be fulfilling her very early promise. We were delighted to be informed, by her new owner, that she has been placed as 5th Best Group 3 Exhibit at a recent show in Western Australia.

By Muriel Snow (Tongariro Cattery) and Fiona Mangan (Nivalis)