California Spangled is a feline breed. It was created to raise awareness about the plight of big cats in the wild.
A shorthair cat breed, California Spangled originated following a
fateful visit by Hollywood script writer and animal lover Paul Casey to
Tanzania, Africa, in the early nineteen seventies. Casey was shocked by
rampant poaching of leopards there for their skin and after motivation
by famed anthropologist Louis Leakey, decided to develop a breed that
would resemble the spotted big cats in appearance and generate
awareness among people regarding conservation of great cats in the
wild. The idea was that if people own a spotted cat of their own, they
would desist wearing of furs of other spotted cats. It was not until
the mid nineteen eighties that Casey was finally able to develop the
breed from a number of different cats including American and British
Shorthairs, Abyssinians, Angoras, Manx and Siamese. Though the
resulting Spangled cats gained initial popularity, they were not
enthusiastically received by many cat fancies who were not so keen in
adding another spotted cat to their registry at that time. Today very
few of these purebred cats remain.
Medium sized cats with short
hair, California Spangles are well muscled felines. They are lean and
sculpted and move like their wild cat cousins even as they have
entirely domestic genes in their heritage. Fur is short and velvety and
occurs in a number of colors including black, blue, bronze, brown,
charcoal, gold, red and silver. Spots are dark, well defined and
preferably rounded or blocked. At times they are arranged into
rosettes. Triangular and oval markings are also accepted. Tabby-like
stripes often exist on head, chest, throat, legs and tail. Head is
round with prominent cheek bones, almond shaped slanting golden to
brown eyes and high set ears.
The pretty cat, also known as
American California Spangled Cat, has two other variants as well. These
include the Snow Leopard Cat and the King Spangled Cat. The Snow
Leopard Cat is named after the big cat Snow Leopard of Asian mountains.
It has a light background and dazzling markings. The King Spangled Cat
derives its name from the King Cheetah. It has stripes and markings
that resemble those of the rare King Cheetah.
Healthy and active
animals, California Spangles resembles the wild African cats as they
move about in a crouched low-slung posture during play. They are very
fond of their toys and spend hours stalking and 'hunting' them. Like
leopards, they like to perch on high places and survey their domain
from above.
