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Singapura Cat

Singapura Cat
Singapura Cat - Photo of Emerald: © Helmi Flick


Introduction

The definitive and authoritive story of the origin of this cat is written by Sarah Hartwell. No platitudes, no reciting of what is expected by cat fanciers but simply the unvarnished truth.

The official story is that the Singapura comes from Singapore. The name "Singapura" (meaning "Lion City") comes from the name given to Singapore in 1299 by a Sumatran prince.

The image fostered by the cat fancy (and the Singapore Tourist Board - SBT) is one of colonies of feral Singapura cats scurrying around the large
Drain Cat
Photo of drain cat © wayne_Lim
Singapore drains (the "Drain Cat") or on the river banks (the "Singapore River Cat"). Perhaps I am exagerating slightly smiley. The picture of the cat, right, was taken in Singapore.

Yet the truth is that the Singapore Cat Club (based in Singapore) could not help breeders from Europe and Japan who wanted to import cats of this breed because there were none in Singapore (unless you count statues - see picture below). At least that was the case at 2003 or so.

Only about 1 in 1000 of the native Singapore cats resembles this cat breed. The typical feral cat of the area is an understandably nervous bobtailed cat with tabby and tortoisehell coats.

Singapura cat
Photo: © doctordoodad
The truth is probably that this sweet looking cat was created (rather than discovered) by an American cat breeder who mated the Abyssinian and Burmese breeds, having taken these cats to Singapore. This happened in 1991. The SBT in promoting Singapore used the Singapora Cat as an emblem at a time when the breed was becoming popular in the West and probably mainly in the USA.

Singapura cat statues
Photo: Sinagapore cat statues © xcode
This in no way detracts from the appeal of this delicate and elegant looking, yet robust and muscular cat, the smallest in the cat fancy and just bigger than the miniature and teacup cats that are specially breed very small.

However, when I read about the origins of the Singapura Cat my mind is drawn to thinking of the Sokoke cat an equally interesting cat with an equally interesting and glamorous (alleged) history. I don't know, but it just may be that the history of the Sokoke has been ingenously fabricated to boost the appeal of the cat. There may be other examples. Wrong? - tell me here.

Singapura Cat
Photo of Gunner: © Helmi Flick

History


Date Event
Early 1970s? Breed "discovered" when almost certainly, in fact, created  -a hybrid of Abyssinian and Burmese.
1982 CFA recognize this breed
1988 CFA grant full status (Championship competition).
1991 Singapore Tourist Board promote this breed as a cat of Singapore.

Appearance and Character

Two things stand out, her size and her coat. The Singapura is a little bigger than the size of a miniature cat and weighs 5-6 lbs for females and 6-8 lbs for males, against, for example, the big domestic cats at 13-20+ lbs (Maine Coon).

The second is the Abyssinian-like coat color but in the more subtle shade of light beige. The color has also been described as "old ivory". The pattern is the same as the Abyssinian, however. The coat has sepia brown ticking.

The classic eye color is as you see in the photograph of Emerald at the top of this page (green) and can be yellow and hazel as well.

Her character, as might be expected of a small cat, (with Abyssinian and Burmese genes) is playful, people orientated and intelligent.


Singapura cat Singapura cat
Tumbleweed playing and watching © Helmi Flick

Breeders

I can find no individual breeder websites in the first 7 pages of a Google search. That possibly means that this cat is not that popular. The sites I saw beyond page 7, were of breeders breeding more than one cat breed.

I list here, therefore a short selection made by me. If you are a cat breeder and would like to build a website that would top the rankings within 7 months; or, if you would like a dedicated page on this site, contact me, and I'll tell you how to do it. 

The list:

Tres Joli Singapura Cattery
Located in Danville California, USA.

Goldlay
Located in South Buckinghamshire, England. This cattery also breeds Birman, Burmese and Siamese cats.

Singapura cat
Photo of Tumbleweed: © Helmi Flick



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