AY Honors/Cats - Advanced/Answer Key
| Australian Mist |
|---|
|
| Country of origin |
| Australia |
| Breed standards (external links) |
| (WNCA - includes an explanatory document) |
The Australian Mist (formerly known as the Spotted Mist) is a breed of cat. This breed was developed in Australia in the mid 1980s, hence its name. The breed was developed by crossing the Burmese, Abyssinian, and Domestic shorthair cats to create a shorthaired cat with a spotted coat. The name was changed from 'Spotted Mist' to 'Australian Mist' in 1998 when cats with marbled coats, rather than spots, were accepted as part of the breed.
Australian Mists are medium-sized shorthaired cats, with a round head and large, expressive eyes. The coat patterns have three levels of definition; (1) ground colour, paler than pattern; (2) pattern, delicate though distinct from ground colour; (3) appears to wear a misted veil, caused by random ticking in the solid colour areas. The legs and tail are ringed or barred, and the face and neck also have delicate lines of color. Australian Mist cats come in seven colors: brown, blue, chocolate, lilac, caramel, gold and peach.
As a new breed, the majority of Australian Mist catteries are in Australia, however desexed cats have also been introduced to America and several other countries. The breed is now accepted for Championship status by the World Cat Federation.
