Smoky cats have always attracted the attention of animal lovers. They have a certain mystery. This coat is typical for many cat breeds. We will introduce you to some of them in this article.
Australian smoky cat
This animal is small in size with a pronounced eastern appearance. Cats of this breed are owners of a short, but not close-fitting coat to the body. Their main symptom is a special smoky pattern of the coat.
Breeding of these animals began in Australia in 1975. Breeders set a goal to breed a breed similar to Burmese, but with a spotty shade of hair.
For this, a special selection program was developed. Sociability, physique and four colors of the Australian cat came from the Burmese "sisters". Two more colors, cheerfulness and ticking were added by Abyssinian cats. Not purebred tabby left a "spotty" spotted pattern. The first kittens of the new breed were born in January 1980. At first they were called spotty smoky. Eight years later (in 1998), the breed became known as the Australian smoky.
The breed was fully recognized only in Australia. In the world, it is considered very rare.
Character Features
These smoky cats are very sociable. They are playful and complaisant, extremely attached to the house. Easily make contact with other pets, love to play with children, very calmly tolerate loneliness. They do not need to be taken for walks, and they can be indoors for a long time.
Asian smoky cat
These are gentle and affectionate creatures that need the attention and care of the owner. Asian smoky cats are very smart. So, they quickly understand what can be done in the house and what actions should never be performed.
That is why the Asian gray smoky cat will not cause any trouble to its owners. From them it will only be required from an early age to accustom the kitten to order.
It must be warned that the Asian breed of smoky cats is not suitable for owners who prefer their pet to play the role of a “sofa cushion”. These animals are very mobile, do not like to sit still for a long time, always find entertainment (and sometimes not the quietest) for themselves.
Breed description
As the name implies, this smoky cat breed belongs to the Asian group. Distinctive features are silver, light, and sometimes almost white undercoat, as well as a dark top coat.
American ringtail
The history of this breed began only in 1998. In the small town of Fremont, they found a tiny kitten named Solomon. Susan Manley came out of the baby, becoming interested in his unusual tail, twisted on his back, like a Siberian husky.
Susan later found in the vicinity of Fremont several more individuals with curled tails. The woman decided to try to breed a new breed. To do this, she crossed her newborn with a domestic cat, which after a while gave birth to kittens with curled tails. However, their tails were not twisted as much as their father. Only in 2000, the daughter of Solomon appeared kittens with gray smoky hair, which could fully be called ringtails.
Despite the fact that specialists in Canada and the USA are actively engaged in this breed, the American ringtail is still a rather rare breed that has been registered with TICA since 2005.
British cat
These are strong and large animals. Because of their manly appearance, these smoky cats very often become male favorites.
The ancestors of this breed were ordinary shorthair cats. At one of the stages of breeding work, the blood of long-haired individuals was mixed with them to improve the general type.
As a result, a modern and very popular breed has appeared - large-breasted large animals with a large head, stocky and short legs, and round large paws. The most popular cats are smoky. The first British Shorthair presented at an exhibition in London in 1971.
External data
The British cat is compact, with good proportions, muscular and strong with short muscular limbs. Round head on a short and thick neck. Wide skull, ears small. The muzzle is round, with a powerful and strong chin. Rounded forehead, nose straight, wide and short. The eyes are large, round in shape, set wide apart. The body is massive, squat and short, the chest is wide and deep. The tail is thick, medium length, with a round tip.
The coat is thick, stiff and short. It is desirable that the coat is so dense that with the movements of the animal it seems that it "breaks".
Character
Despite their manly appearance, these smoky cats are very affectionate, have a wonderful light character. They communicate well with other pets. These animals do not like to jump around the closets too much: because of their massive physique, climbers are not important, and some individuals are even panicky afraid of heights. Representatives of the breed are balanced and intelligent, do not differ in strong temperament. British smoky cats, photos of which can be found today in the mass of print publications about animals, are moderately active and playful. The animal is unpretentious, easily adapts to any living conditions.
California spangled
The name of this breed contains a word that means "spangled" in English. It is called California in honor of the American state in which it was bred.
The smoky color of cats of this breed creates the feeling that they are really covered with sparkles. The initiative to create this unique in its beauty creature belongs to the Hollywood screenwriter Paul Casey.
Breeding work started in 1971. The founder of the breed was a long-haired cat of the spotted silver tabby color and an Siamese cat of the old type. In the course of further work, blood was surged by Abyssinian, British Shorthair, American Shorthair, etc. In addition, outbred individuals also participated in the process.
Ten years later, breeders achieved the desired result, and Casey demonstrated the California spengled in 1986 in the hope of convincing people not to exterminate wild animals that look so much like their pets. At TICA, these cats were registered in 1987.
Breed characteristics
Great hunters. Extremely active. They need a lot of attention from the person, constant physical activity, outdoor games. Breeders are attracted by the good-natured nature of these animals.
Cats with well-developed strong muscles do not need careful grooming.
Persian smoky
It must be said that the coat of different breeds of cats in their color can vary significantly. For example, Persian smoky cats, the photo of which is given in our article, have a gray-black contrasting fur coat. In a calm state, the animal looks black, and in movement a silver-white part of the coat appears.
Persian smoky cats can have different widths of the light part - from a thin strip on the legs and head, noticeable only upon careful examination of the coat, to almost silver-white coat on the collar, belly, ears of the ears and lower tail. The standard allows a light silver M-shaped pattern on the head.
Siberian smoky
Unfortunately, there is no documentary evidence of when these beautiful furry creatures first appeared in Siberia. There is a version that Russian immigrants brought them several hundred years ago. Caught in a harsh climate, cats had to survive. It is obvious that only individuals with increased wool density were able to survive in such difficult conditions. From this we can conclude that nature itself formed the breed, using the unmistakable method - natural selection.
In addition, there is an opinion that the formation of this breed was also facilitated by wild forest cats that passed their genes to offspring. Siberian cat is considered an indigenous breed, which was formed naturally. And the felinologists could only bring to perfection what Mother Nature had in mind.
Animals of this breed have different colors - from monochromatic to two - and tricolor. According to lovers of this breed, smoky cats are especially attractive. Moreover, in this breed there are such varieties as “blue smoke”, “black smoke”, “red smoke”, etc.
In conclusion, I would like to say that no matter what breed smoky cats are, the main thing is that they are loved and desired in your house.