WHY CHOOSE AN AUSTRALIA MIST
The Australian Mist proudly wears the label "Made in Australia". They are highly intelligent but relaxed and very fond of people. They are one of the only cat breeds that could go to any household type for example for families with young or teenage children, they are exceptional with the elderly they are tolerant of any kind of handling and are very disinclined to scra
tch. They are very easily trained to walk on a lead and harness, play fetch, ride in the car or go just about anywhere you go they love to be a part of the human family. They are very adaptable and have a very common sense almost human intelligence and tend to blend into any situation they are put into. They interact wonderfully with other animals in the household. As kittens they are lively, funny and continually acting the clown but do slow down somewhat on maturity. Their propensity to crawl into the nearest lap with or without invitation and to constantly hang around to see what people are up to makes them an excellent companion for the home mum with young children, the home worker, or for the elderly or infirm who spend most of their time in the home. The Australian Mist people-centredness contributes to their willingness to remain indoors between dusk and dawn, or to be a wholly indoor pet. This is an essential characteristic for Australia, where some local councils have placed curfews on cats in order to protect the native wildlife. BACKGROUND ON THE BREED
Permission to develop an Australian breed was gained by Dr Truda Straede originally from Sydney but now living in Bunyip Victoria in 1977. Developed over more than twenty years, Australian Mists have a large gene pool, derived from over 30 foundation cats. The ancestry can be traced back to half Burmese, and a quarter each Abyssinian and domestic tabby cats. These three breeds formed the unique foundation stock that contributed to the Australian Mist. The Australian Mist was officially recognised in 1986. From the Burmese came the conformation of the head and eye shape, the rounded muscular body and most importantly the wonderful people friendly and outgoing personality. The four basic colours of brown, blue, chocolate and lilac also came from the Burmese. The Abyssinian contributed to two new colours which are unique to this breed those being the gold with its bronze markings on a cream background and the peach which is the only “pink cat” on the show bench. The misty appearance of the coat pattern is caused by the ticking, inherited from the agouti coat pattern of the Abyssinian. Some of the other characteristics inherited from the Abyssinian ancestry is the high intelligence, gracefulness and energetic activity. The domestic tabby cat is responsible for the spotted tabby pattern and the good healthy crossbreed vigor and vitality. There is nothing extreme about Australian Mists; they are of moderate size, medium b***d, rounded of head, with large eyes and ears. The coat is short, but resilient, the tail is plumply furred. The pattern is of delicate spots or intricate marbled swirls against a misty ground, with legs and tail ringed and barred, and the face lined. Eyes are large and expressive in a range of green. The nose, chin and whisker pads are broad giving the face a generous expression. Colour forms: Already six colour forms are recognised: Brown (seal brown markings on silvery fawn; Blue bluish-grey markings on silvery cream); Chocolate (chocolate markings on creamy-fawn); Lilac (dove grey markings on pinkish-grey); Gold (old gold markings on rich cream); Peach (salmon pink markings on pinkish-cream)
Australian Mist are excellent mothers, moderate breeders, and outstanding studs. Desexed cats, females and kittens fit in easily with all sorts of other pets. Their conviction that no person or animal could do anything but love them leads to ease of integration with any but the extremely aggressive. Temperament is such that even many males are able to live in small groups with other males. Australian Mists are easy cats to Show as they enjoy the outing and attention. Best in Show awards are frequent and several cats, including both entire and desexed, have reached Gold Double Grand Champion status.
