Untitled - Kyina & Talisker Cats Breeders of Russian Blues in ...

Correspond,enee CornerReaders are invited to send contributions to this feature and sotojoin in the useful exchange ofideas, experiences and knowledgc.Letters should be concise and dear preferably with iterrs ofgeneral interest.COLOUR CONSCIOUS CATSI've just rearl Tailplc, e. 1p \uu1Januarl issu- and was inrercsred lo nor-.how scientists have established the colourvision of cats and how thev (the cats)invariably picked out the red from anarray ol various coloured buttons.I have becn making ancl selling to catlovers various coloured I'elt mice. Whengiven the choice, cats invariably choosethe red one and proceecl to play with itlike a real mouse.Miss B. Ostrehan,'Iorquay, Devon.SIA-MANXI see in your issue ofJanuarv that aSiamese-Manx cross has been exhibited inSan Diego. I think the Wcstern provinceCat Club of Cape Town may claim precedence.The late Father Fowler,s Sia-Manx was exhibited at their show iast;'ear. He resembles a Siamese Scal pointwith definitely high hind quarters anclcomplete absence ol' tail. He is also avery charming person.Miss P. Ashby-spilhaus, Regislrar,South African Cat llnion.WHAT IS A SIAMESE ?It is said that " onlookers see most oIthe game." If onlookers har.e .,cattr,',friends the.v certainly hear most of it. The" game " at the momcnt. arising out ol'proposed regulations regarding the pedigreeof cats eligible ibr registration,appears to bc summed up in a quizquestion : " What is a Siamese cat ? ,,Commonsense and the rules of tl.reFancy have hitherto provided a simpleanswer : " One that looks like one. i.e.,has the lamiliar short hair, body shapeand colour pattern.', Now it has beensuggested that its owners must first becatechised. What were its parents like,its grandparents and its great-grand_parents ? Onlv when ail questions areansl erecl satisfactorily can one say" Siamese " or. if one is the owner, sendthe cat to a sho$,.Any onlooker with a spice of curiositywants to know the cogent reasons foraltering such a tradition. He will betold that cats with questionable ancestryhad won prizes and that it would be aterrible disaster ifsomeone bought-one ofthese to breed from and was faced with ared. white and blue Coronation kitten.Not being an admirer of grandmotherlylegislation, the onlooker might be inclinedto reply, " If anyone was such afool as to buy a cat for breeding withoutstudying its pedigree, serve them right.,,Enquiry among biological friendssatisfied the onlooker thar the idea thattwo cats with the familiar Siamesemarkings could have black. blue, brown,lainborv or any other colour but Siamesewas an old wiy"es' tale. They would breedtrue till Judgnent Day. His scientificl'riends also told him that a S.p, Siameservas rcally a black cat rvith a factor inher_ited from both parents restricting thedark colour to its points ; that a B.p.Siamese was a blue cat with similar restriction,quite possiblv having originatedfrom a cross between a S.p. Siamese anda Blue self ; and that all the fuss was" much ado about nothing.','fhen our onlooker lvas told :,, Theydo it with dogs.', He was amazed thatany lover of the lordly and superior catrvould want io bring it into line withdogs. Certainly, if he had suggestedexchanging the royal name by which the22