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Cymric Cat Cymric Cat Texanna ©
Helmi Flick
InroductionThe second thing is the name of the cat. Some websites say that this breed is named after the Gaelic word for Wales (this is incorrect, no criticism meant). The country of Wales, that is. Wales is, in fact, a part of the United Kingdom and governed by the UK Parliament, so it does not have a separate legislation although a large number of Welsh people probably think it should have its own government.  It is also thought that the
Cymric Cat was named after Wales
because this long
haired version of the Manx was seen there some time ago. This seems
likely as the north coast of Wales in about 50-70 miles south of the
Isle of Man, the original home of the Manx Cat (see map).However, the word "Cymric" is the native language of Wales and a form of Gaelic. Gaelic is or was spoken on the Isle of Man, in Ireland and Scotland. Cymric is used quite extensively in Wales still and the langauge is being kept alive. The English say that the people of Wales speak Welsh, but "Welsh" in Gaelic is Cymric. Well that's got that out of the way....:) Interestingly when you do a Google search for "Cymric" none of the listings (at least the early ones) refer to the language of Wales but to the cat. The third thing is, "how did this breed get the medium long coat?".
HistoryI am not going to repeat the history of the Cymric Cat as it will be the same as the Manx Cat except for the medium long coat. Somewhere in the development or evolution of this cat, she aquired a long coat.The question is did this occur naturally or is it due to a human intervention? One theory is that the Cymric was mated with a Norwegain Forest Cat that was imported into the Isle of Man by the King of Norway. This has the air of legend or myth to me and the history of domestic cat breeds is littered with myths and legends. Another story is that the Cymric Cat breed was started in Canada in the 1960s (implying human intervention). My personal view (for what it is worth) is that the long caot was acquired through deliberate selective breeding but I don't know when.
Appearance/CharacterRegistrationThis breed is not registered by the CFA (the No.1 cat association in the US) nor the GCCF (the UK No.1 association). It is registered by TICA, however. The TICA is more "progressive". She is also registered by the American Cat Fanciers Association (ACFA) and it is there breed standard that I use accompanying the slide show.
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