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Ojos Azules Cat
A note about the photograph. There is only one (yes one) definite photograph (other than the one above and below, but read below) of the Ojos Azules Cat and that is by Channan Photography (Richard Katris). I have emailed him twice without response so can't use the photograph despite it being used on other websites without a credit. Anyway the photograph featured above is from Webshots (the photo is on their server and downloaded when this page is loaded so it may load a little slowly). This kitten is claimed to be a Ojos Azules Cat. I can't vouch for it but she looks like a younger version of the cat photographed by Mr Katris. Suffice to say this breed is basically a moggie with deep blue eyes..... If any visitor to this website has a photo of a cat of this breed please post it on the forum - thanks.... The OjosAzules is a cat breed born out of a genetic mutation. The gene is dominant. The mutated gene produces a deep blue eye color that is unassociated with coat color (e.g. blue eyed white cats or colorpoint cats). Genes come in pairs. When both copies of this mutated gene (homozygous state) are present in the cat she dies in the womb due to cranial deformities which are associated with this gene. The same sort of problems occur in the breeding of dwarf cats. In dwarf cats the defects associated with the dwarf gene are tight chest and spinal deformities (Pectus Excavatum and Lordosis). Read about the dwarf gene by clicking on this link.However, there is no associated squinting, deafness or cross-eye with this mutated gene. To me, though, the way this gene works (i.e.detrimentally) really must prelude this breed from progressing. Yes, deep blue eyes are lovely but the primary concern is obviously health and I don't see how the breed can be justified as the benefit (blue eyes) is outweighed by the detriments (fatal defects). Breeders will avoid the fatal defects by breeding the Ojos Azules Cat with cats of another breed for example a non-pedigree Domestic Shorthair (DSH). But the resultant litter will be 50% blue eyed cats and 50% not blue eyed. In a strictly commercial sense this is not satisfactory for the breeder and would encourage unscrupulous breeders to breed blue eyed to blue eyed (some dwarf cat breeders do this). As the defective kittens die in the womb there is no commercial problem as to how to deal with kittens with cranial deformities but this is clearly morally unacceptable. Perhaps I shouldn't state my opinion on this cat but this breed is a breed "too far". Going back to the 19th century people didn't think much about cat breeds and showing cats. The idea of showing cats and breeding them began in the lat 1800s. As in all things human, things have to go too far before it is known where the limit is.
In the area of development of breeds the CFA is more conservative and I am gradually beginning to see the wisdom of that. They register 41 breeds. However, I disagree with their management of the breed standard for the Ultra Persian (a development "too far"). The TICA is it seems more adventurous in having 64 (including longhaired and shorthaired of same breed) different breeds registered with the association. The Wikipedia author says that this breed is unregistered (I have corrected this as at 24-10-07). TICA have registered the breed in both long and short hair types in 1991. The TICA breed standard (latest date is 5-1-04) states that out crossing should be with DSH or DLH (i.e. to a cat not of a recognised breed - this must be for health reasons). As a consequence all patterns and coat colors are acceptable. The mutated gene causing the blue eyes also tends to result in the coat having white patches on the peripheral parts of the body. When the Ojos Azules is a colorpoint these white patches will distinguish the cat from a non Ojos Azules Cat as colorpoints will have blue eyes (but I presume less deep in color) This blue eyed cat was first noticed among a feral cat group in Mexico in 1984. She is a medium sized cat and extremely rare still. A person in Australia claims to have found an Ojos Azules in the middle of the road about one year ago. Click on the link to see the article he submitted through the forum on this site. NOTE: The author of the Messybeast website (Sarah Hartwell - thanks Sarah) says that there may well be a lot more blue eyed cats independent of coat color than has been thought. This may mean that the mutated gene that gives us the Ojos Azules Cat is more widespread than thought or, in other cases, a different gene is in action. You can see a non-white blue eyed cat here (I can't reproduce as this is not a creative commons photo) Sources:
Ojos Azules Cat to Home page
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