Tibetan Cats
WE HAVE THE UK'S FIRST TIBETAN KITTENS. MEET THEM ON OUR TIBS PAGE.
Tibetans are a semi-longhaired version of the Tonkinese cat. The founder of the breed is Agnes Driessen of The Netherlands. Her work in creating these beautiful cats began in 1992. Here in the UK, Tibetans are a brand-new breed, as yet unrecognised, but on the continent they are already quite well established. FENK, the Dutch Independent Cat Association, was the first registering body to accept Tibetans and championship status was granted in 1997. Thanks to Agnes’ exports and other breeders’ initiative, Tibetan kittens are now being produced in 14 catteries across 8 countries around the world.
Puddha's Palace is so far the only cattery in the UK to produce Tibetans.
Brown Sepia Tibetan
Breeding programmes differ from place to place with some registeries stipulating only Balinese, Burmese and Tonkinese cats be used in the breeding programme. Others permit Tiffanies (Asian Longhairs) of Burmese Colour Restriction and some even exclude the use of Balinese in subsequent generations of Tibetans so as to keep the type quite separate from the Orientals.
Blue Mink Tibetan kitten
Tibetans are elegant cats. They are not as svelte in body type as the Orientals nor as chunky as the Burmese: Their conformation lies halfway in between. The coat is semi-long, silky and close-lying with a beautiful plumed tail. The colouring of Tibetans is the same as for Tonkinese, they come in three patterns:
Mink (muted points, gentle contrast on the body, aquamarine eyes).
Sepia (slightly diluted, mostly solid colouring, gold eyes).
Point (dark points in stark contrast to the body colour, deep blue eyes).
Tibetans come in 30 different colours across the three patterns (ten colours for each pattern) and include Brown/Natural, Seal, Chocolate/Champagne, Blue, Lilac/Platinum, Red, Cream and Torties.
Platinum Mink Tibetan kitten
Tibetans, like Tonkinese, are bred from Oriental and Asian cats and are thus very spirited, outgoing and people-orientated characters. They are intelligent, playful and can be both vocal and demanding companions.
Our Tibetan foundation breeding pair, Phoenix and Lhasa
Our first litter of Tibetans have been bred from our Seal Point Balinese and our Brown Smoke Asian Longhair and as a result are first generation Tibetans. All these kittens are Natural Mink coloured and may also a have silver undercoat known as Smoke.
Natural Mink Tibetan kitten
Being the UK's first breeder of Tibetans is a very exciting step in my cat-breeding career. Particularly because I have created them from scratch. In time I hope to add more Tibetans to our family by importing cats from overseas. If you wish to enquire further about this beautiful and precious breed of cat or the kittens we have available, please contact me.
Champagne Mink Tibetan kitten
Photos used with kind permission from Patrizia Schiozzi - Cattery van de Heldere Maan - www.catteryvandehelderemaan.nl