 |
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
|
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 . 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.
|
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.
|
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.
|
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.
 |
 |
| 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.
|
Photo of Tumbleweed: © Helmi Flick
From
Singapura Cat to Home page
|
|
|