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We will post kitten pictures occasionally. We can be reached by e-mail at: BirchCrestCattery@hotmail.com We can be reached by phone at (603) 785-5264 (no calls after 10:30pm EST)
This exquisite little girl is a Brown Mackerel Patched Tabby. A Patched Tabby is a cat whose tabby pattern remain unbroken, despite the fact that the coat changes color. Since this girl is a Brown Patched Tabby, she is a brown tabby with areas of red tabby. The Mackerel part of her color description means her tabby pattern is the thin penciling around the body, like a tiger. Patched Tabbies can be Silver Patched, having areas of silver tabby mixed with areas of cameo tabby, or Blue Patched Tabbies which have blue tabby mixed with cream tabby. The tabby patterns can be Classic, Mackerel, Spotted, or Ticked. Patched Tabbies are a female only color.
These three
little girls are all "Torties"
A Blue-Cream is the dilute form of a Tortie. Here the cat is a random mix of blue hairs and cream hairs. For the show bench, we like to see a soft intermingling of colors. It is possible to have a Blue-Cream Smoke. Since we have two (non-white) colors making up a Blue-Cream, all Blue-Cream cats will be female.
When there are patches of red and black on a white background, you have a Calico. There are also Dilute Calicos which have patches of blue and cream on a white background. Ideally, the cat must be more than a third white; with white on the legs, belly, chest, and face as blaze of white (an inverted "V" over the nose and extending up the forehead). Girl to the right is a Dilute Calico, long-hair, Scottish Fold with straight ears. Smoke Calicos and Smoke Dilute Calico occur when the silver gene is present in a Calico or Dilute Calico, respectively.
At BirchCrest we love Tabbies! A Tabby may be brown, blue, silver, red, cream, cameo (red-silver) or cream cameo (cream-silver). The Patched Tabbies are two-color tabbies discussed above. These two boys are blue tabbies. The boy to the left is a long-haired Scottish Fold with straight ears. The boy on the right is a British Shorthair showing the proper warm undertones. The next photo
is of a Silver Mackerel Long-haired, Scottish Fold with folded ears. You
can see that her tabby markings are deep
black and
Finally, some
breeds allow the Color-Point pattern. This pattern has color confined to
the
Planned Litters We are hoping that the following litters will be able to be bred within the next six months. The gestation period for cats is 63 to 72 days if the breeding is successful. After the kittens arrive they remain with their mum and littermates until they are 14 to 16 weeks old depending on their individual maturation. Some kittens are quite bold and are ready to leave at 14 weeks and others need a little longer to feel secure. British Shorthairs and their related breeds, the Scottish Fold and the Selkirk Rex, are VERY slow to mature and you will have LOTS of KITTEN TIME.
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Send mail to with questions or comments
BirchCrestCattery@hotmail.com
about this web site.
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or Tortoiseshells.
Torties are a female only color. Each
Tortie is one of a kind, as each cat's coat is a random mix of read hairs and
black hairs. The silver gene can be combined with Torties to
produce a Smoke Tortie. The Smoke Tortie
will still have the
random
mix of red and black hairs, except that the
bottom 25% of each hair will be silver.
When the cat is a rest it will
appear to be
a "normal tortie". However, when the
cat moves the silver can be seen. This produces a lovely sparkling effect.
background
color is a silvery almost white. To the right is her littermate sister a
Silver Classic Tabby. The Classic Tabby pattern has thicker lines and has
a butterfly mark over the shoulders and a "bull's-eye" on the sides. The
pattern produces a darker effect. The tabby pattern on a long-haired cat
can be obscured somewhat in the hair. A blue tabby can have the silver
gene to produce a Blue-Silver Tabby. This is a lovely delicate color of
steel blue markings on a shimmering silver background. 
warm brown color with deep, dark markings. On the Show circuit warm
coppery browns are preferred. To the right is a Brown Mackerel Tabby,
Long-haired Scottish Fold male. He shows nice deep, dark marking with
intense copper eyes.
example of this color. He is a very "hot" red with deeper spots forming
the mackerel tabby pattern. Cream Tabbies are the dilute form of Red
Tabbies. They should be a "cool" toned pale cream with slightly darker
marking. It is important that the cream base is not too warm or the cat
will look like a poor example of a Red Tabby. The photo to right shows a
Cream Mackerel Tabby. Also in the photo is a Silver Spotted
British Shorthair. Tabby cats may also have white markings to produce a
Tabby With White. These cats should be at least a third white with white
on the face (blaze or inverted V preferred), chest, belly, and legs.
We must not forget to mention the solid or Self colored cats. The little
girl to the right is a Blue British Shorthair. Self colored cats may be
Black, Blue, or White. White cats may have blue eyes, copper eyes, or odd
eyes (one blue eye and one copper eye). Solid colored cats may also have
white markings to produce a Bi-Color. These cats should be at least a
third white with white on the face (blaze or inverted V preferred), chest,
belly, and legs. You may read about "solid red" or "solid
cream" cats, however these are tabby cats who have been bred for minimum
contrast between the base color and color of the tabby markings. When done
properly you see a cat that appears almost one level shade of red or cream.
Persians breeders are good at producing these colors. More often you will
a Red Tabby or Cream Tabby with poor markings. British Shorthair and
Scottish Fold breeders do not focus on those colors.
points (ears, facial mask, legs, and tail). Siamese display the
Color-Point pattern. The photo is of a Seal Point Persian male.
Selkirk Rex may be Color-Points. Associated with the Color-Point pattern
are the colors Chocolate (warm, creamy, brown) and Lilac (a soft pinkish-gray).
These colors are allowed for Selkirk Rexes. The British Shorthair
and Scottish Fold MUST NEVER be Pointed, Chocolate, of Lilac.