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Nebelung
cat
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Photo of Nebelung
Cat
Lovenblues Mozart Bronikowski : ©
Helmi Flick
This
is what Helmi says about
this photograph, "This cat
was a Regional Winner, Southeast Region, TICA, and was photographed at
the 2007 SE Regional Awards Banquet and Cat Show in July of this year.
He was tired of being shown at cat shows and was ready to do his part
with the ladies (so to speak) so was pulled from the show after
Saturday and only came in on Sunday to be photographed. We found him to
be a good model and we think he enjoyed his time in the spotlight."
Introduction
The Nebelung
Cat
is
not the rarest
purebred cat but my calculation
but the breed is one of the
rarest (on a scale of 1-10 she'd rank 7).
The founding cats of
this breed are two siblings, a male (Siegfried) and a female
(Brunhilde). These two cats were the offspring of a cross between a
female Black Domestic Shorthair (a cat called Elsa) and a father cat
that looked like a Russian Blue. Seigfried was born in August 1984 and
Brunhilde some 5 months later.
The
father cat was a longhair resembling a black Angora in the words of
founder/breeder Cora Cobb. The beginning of this breed then was from
Domestic Shorthair (DSH) (moggie) and Domestic Longhair (DLH) stock as
opposed to pedigree stock.
Cora Cobb says that she was informed that the successful introduction
of a new cat breed from non-pedigree purebred stock or by way of a
genetic mutation had little chance of success in attaining championship
status at TICA. (the CFA do not recognize this cat breed).
Lenny -
Nebelung cat - much loved by the
photographer
photo ©Leamington-Malfoof under
a
creative commons license
Lenny above looks a typical Nebelung cat. However his fur is probably
too long.
Development
Siegfried and Brunhilde were two out of six in the litter. Siegfried
had medium-long blue hair. He was an outstanding kitten, big and
handsome. Brunhilde was born from the same parents some 6 months later.
She was also a blue longhair and very pretty. Her hair was longer and
silkier than Siegfried's hair. Cora thought that their outstanding
appearance heralded the creation of a new breed of cat.
In 1986 Cora mated Seigfried with Brunhilde. The result was a success
with the kittens having the silky long hair of Brunhilde and
Siegfried's Russian Blue type body. Cora decided to start a new breed
and
the long journey to achieve that objective began. I have gone over the
beginning in some detail as it really is the most important part of
this story.
Cora found the TICA very helpful and the TICA registered the breed in
1987 under New Breeds. In 1997 the breed achieved full recognition as a
Champion breed.
In the early years of the
breed she faced opposition from Russian Blue breeders.
The breed is also one that did not start from a "standout" genetic
change as happens in the mutated breeds (e.g. American Curl).
Since the early years there has been a lot of careful breeding
including crossing with the Russian Blue. The Nebelung although a rare
breed is now well established. This breed is recognized by the World
Cat Federation (WCF) and Livre Officiel des Origines félines
(LOOF). It seems the breed is more established in Europe and Russian
than in the USA and North America. The Nebelung is also accepted (I
believe) with CFF (Cat Fanciers Federation) and TCA (Traditional Cat
Association).
Nebelung
cat - Buju
- photo copyright and
by V
La
(Vanessa)
This photograph is published under a creative commons license
History
| Time
line |
Aug
1984 |
Birth
of Siegfried (S) offspring of a
black domestic shorthair and a Russian Blue look-a-like. He was the
first Nebelung cat. |
| Jan
1985 |
Birth
of Brunhilde (B) offspring of same
parents as Seigfriend. |
| 1986 |
Siegfried
and Brunhilde mate to produce 3
fine kittens |
| 1986 |
Suggested
name for the new breed was
"Longhair Russian Blue" |
| 1987 |
- TICA
accept the breed as Longhaired
Russian Blues.
- Schatzi a
female from the 2nd litter of S
& B mated with a champion Russian Blue
|
| late
1980s |
Both
S
and B die. Brunhilde of unknown
causes (illness I guess) and Siegfriend by a car in a car park. |
late
'80s
-early '90s |
Cora
exports Nebelungs to France (Paris)
while showing her cats in the New Breed Category. Some remain in France. |
| '92-'93 |
Cora
and John (husband, I'm guessing) where compelled to start a cat
club "High on Cats" and held 1st show in Denver under TICA |
| 1994 |
Cora
discovered a Nebelung living in the Netherlands that had been
imported from Russia (was this cat described as a long hair Russian
Blue by the Russian breeder?) |
| 1996 |
Silver
Streak one of Cora's Nebelungs
declared best of the best NBC at a St. Petersburg cat show.
The trip to Russia was intented to enter into breeding program with
Russia breeders. This failed to work out. |
| 1997 |
Sigrdrifa
one of Cora's little Nebelung
star cats had won Best of Best NBC at a cat show. Her lovely behavior
at the half yearly TICA meeting convinced the TICA board to grant full
championship status to the Nebelung - well done Cora and husband.
Cora buys a Russian Nebelung (Winter Day Georgin of Nebelheim - George)
imported to USA. He was a good traveller. George became the first
TICA
champion |
| 1997-8 |
Cora
achieves deserved success in the show ring with descendants of the
original Nebelung cats. |
Update 28-7-09: Comment from an unknown but I believe knowledgeable
person:
The Nebelung is
actually
a semi-longhaired cat--more on the length of a
Somali versus an Aby. That is why Aleksandr is such a lovely boy, his
fur is more the length wanted. The Neb that Cora found living in the
Netherlands, Timofey, actually was imported from Russia as a Russian
Blue, but his fur grew longer than normal...we have no contact anymore
with Lettie, the breeder who imported him nor do we know what happened
to him or his decendants. Again, the Nebelung is also accepted by many
of the smaller, independant european registries, ie Neocat etc, in
Europe.
Appearance
and Character
Elegance, as the picture below shows clearly is one attribute of this
cat breed. They have the Russian Blue body with long silky hair. The
draft breed standard was based on the Russian Blue with an amendment to
take into account the long hair. Otherwise the standard is the same as
for the Russian Blue. The Nebelung "recreates" (Cora's word) the
Russian Blue longhair.
This breed is reserved with strangers but loving and close to their
human companions.
This cat should have long limbs supporting a long body with a long
plumed tail. The eyes are green and there is a slightly old fashioned
look about this handsome cat. The Nebelung looks a bit like the cats
you see in the 1900s photographs.
The breed is essentially a Russian Blue
with semi-long body hair and long tail hair. Blue (blue/gray) is
currently the only
color.
The
fur is fine and light, and the Nebelung cat sheds a lot. Be
prepared for lots of hair. She can be a lap cat. The voice may be whiny
and this cat is laid back.
Photo: ©
Jjtlondon under creative
commons. Note: this cat is in fact the international champion Nebelung Aleksandr van
Song de Chine.
He is a stud cat and lives with Michel and Anke at their cattery. What
I am saying is that I am not sure the credit (Jjtlondon) taken from the
Flickr website is correct as I think the photo has been taken by Michel
or Anke. Their
cattery is listed at the base of this page.
The
Name
The name "Nebelung" is, apparently, a fusion of two words, the German
word for mist, Nebel,
and the Nibelungenlied
(The Song of the Nibelungs) a German poem written between the 11th and
14th century. The source for this is the Wikipedia author. The
Wikipedia author has assessed this to be the case but this is not "set
in concrete". Anybody with something better, please tell us by
filling in this form.
Lenny Nebelung
cat - photo ©Leamington-Malfoof
under a
creative
commons license. This photo is a cropped version of the
original. Cropping
is allowed under the license.
His fur is
probably too long to be a perfect "type" but he is damned handsome.
Breeders
I have decided not to list from a Google search. There are not many. As
I said on the rare
breed page this is a fairly rare
cat.
NEBELHEIM
CATTERY
This is the cattery belonging to the founder Cora Cobb. I am not sure
where they are located, possibly Denver as that was the last place Cora
Cobb worked from in her description of the history of the Nebelung cat.
I'd start here.
Azadeh
Nebelung
Located I believe in the Netherlands. Run by Michel and Anke. Their
champion stud boy illustrates the Wikipedia article on this cat breed.
He's on this page here.
Le
Pors
This cattery is not a specialist Nebelung breeder. Located in Dartmouth,
Nova Scotia, Canada (opens new
window to a Google map).
Paradigm
Nebelungs
Small website which doesn't say where they are. Not sure if they still
function.
Sources:
-
http://www.nebelungs.org/
- Wikipedia
- Messybeast
- http://www.catconnect.com/Int/Portrait/frri_nebelung.htm
- Wikipedia
authors' comments
- http://www.geocities.com/heartland/acres/7070/
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Nebelung cat to Grey cat breeds
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