The Russian Blue cat originated in an area of the White Sea named Archangel and was brought to England early in the 19th century. It appeared in cat shows as the Archangel Blue. At the end of the 1800's the cat became known as the Russian Blue. After a long history of of being rejected at cat shows because the judges preferred British blue breeds, and the distain for the name Russian due to politics; the breed almost died out. By the end of the Second World War, there were so few individuals left that inbreeding was a fear, so they were bread with Siamese Blue Points which caused them to take on the look of a Blue Oriental Shorthair. In the mid-sixties, a group of breeders succeeded in breeding the original characteristics back into them. The coat on these cats is blue-grey, and the nose and paw leather are also blue-grey. but some are being born with an all black coat or an all white coat. These anomalies are not recognized by most cat associations as pure Russian Blues. All Russian Blues have intense green eyes. These are very agreeable, gentle, and docile cats that love peace and quiet.  Source: Encyclopaedia of Cats by Esther J. J. Verhoef - Verhallen  ⓒ  1998

 The Munchkin Cat was first bread in 1983. In Louisiana, USA, two cats with very short legs for found in the street. One of them was pregnant and gave birth to four kittens. Two of them displayed very short legs. Breeders picked up on this and developed the Munchkin through crosses with domestic cats. The gene that carries the trait for short legs is a dominant gene, so they can be bread with selected domestic cats to get the munchkin characteristics. The Munchkin cat became an official breed in 1995. They are currently bread in the United States and France where some of them were taken. The munchkins can play and climb trees like any other cat, but they have trouble jumping, therefore jumping on a table is a little difficult for them. They can display all eye colors and coat colors and are a very friendly cat.  Info taken from Encyclopaedia of Cats by Esther J. J. Vernhoff - Verhallen  © 1998

 The American Curl has backward pointing ears making it a very distinctive cat. In June of 1981 a half-starved black female cat with strange ears was found in Lakewood California. The kitten was named Shulamith. She became the founder of the American Curl breed. She was nursed to good health and gave birth to four kittens in December of that year. Two of them had curled back ears just like their mother. The American Curl is very friendly with children, other cats, and even dogs. They are very playful, need a climbing post, and lots of toys. They have no undercoat, so their fur is very easy to look after. The cats' ears are their most remarkable feature. They are not flexible like other breeds. They stand upright at the corners of the head and curl smoothly backwards then pointing towards the center of the skull. A person shouldn't try to bend their ears because of their inflexibility. Because the gene that causes this breed's unique ears is not linked to any adverse side-effects, they can be mated with other American curls. They are usually mated with American shorthairs. The gene that produces the curled ears is dominant so most of the litter will have the trait. However, the offspring will also carry the normal gene and pass it on to some of the kittens. Information came from Encyclopaedia of Cats by Esther J. J. Verhoef - Verhaller ⓒ 1998

 The Scottish Fold is called a Fold because of its unique floppy ears that are the result of genetic mutation affecting cartilage. The Scottish Folds originated in Scotland in 1961 when a white kitten named Susie was discovered with floppy ears. They are born with straight ears but after 3-4 weeks develop folded ears. The genetic mutation affects cartilage in their whole body causing arthritis and lameness. Therefore they should not be bread with other Scottish Folds. The are usually crossed with American or British Shorthairs to minimize risks. Scottish Folds have rounded faces and round eyes which causes some people to think that their faces look an owl's. They are known to be gentle, affectionate, and good-natured cats. Despite the mutation, there is nothing wrong with the cat's hearing. They can hear just as well as any other cat. These cats come in any color or pattern and their eyes range in color from blue, green, teal, copper, gold or hazel. It may be of interest to some that Taylor Swift has two Scottish Folds. Info was sourced from all over the internet.

 The Chartreux is a blueish short-haired sturdy cat first named in Paris. It is thought to make its first appearance as early as the sixteenth century. Most interest in this breed is in France and Belgium and not much interest elsewhere. These cats are friendly, placid temperament, good natured. They get along with other cats and even dogs. The Chartreux Has a glossy coat with a slightly wooly undercoat. The coat is soft to the touch and does not lie flat but stands away from the cat's body slightly. This breed comes in every shade of blue from ash-grey to slate-grey, but cats with an ash-grey coat are the most popular. The eye color is a golden copper to amber. There can be no hint of green for a Chartreux. Information came from Encyclopaedia of Cats by Esther J.J. Verhoef - Verhallen  ⓒ 1998

 The Manx cat originated on the Isle of Man of the west coast of England. These cats generally have an ordinary appearance except for one fact: it has no tail or an extremely short one. There is a misconception that that Manx cats have difficulty jumping and climbing; but this is not the case. The absence of a tail does not seem to hamper this feline's mobility at all. It is believed that a small mutation began in the cats genes about four centuries ago on the Isle of Man. As the cats continued to breed, there began to be more tailless cats than ones with tales. These felines did not escape the attention of cat fanciers around the world. Breeders began to be bread them in the 1800's and they started to appear at cat shows in the USA and Europe in the late 1800's. There are two Manx varieties: the shorthair and the semi-longhair. The short-haired Manx has a double coat that feels very soft and thick, because the soft short undercoat pushes up the medium long top coat. Common Manx colors are red, black and blue, possibly with tabby markings, also with white markings and pure white. The eyes can be green or yellow and shades of yellow-green. White cats may have blue eyes or odd colored eyes. Information taken from the Encyclopaedia of Cats by Esther J. J. Verhoef-VerHallen. © 1998

 The Exotic is the short-haired variant of the Persian Cat. This breed is a good choice for people who like Persian type cats but are not prepared to put in the significant amount of time required to care for their coat. All the colors found in the Persian occur in the Exotic. The first Exotic was bred in the USA. A breeder who kept American Shorthairs and Persians mated an American Shorthair tom with a Persian longhair queen. What resulted was a Persian in type with a the father's short fur coat. Word got around of these kittens and it was decided to start a breeding program to establish the short-haired coat in the Persian type. The coat of the Exotic is soft and dense. It shouldn't lie flat but always stand out from the body slightly. The hair is slightly longer than a British Shorthair's Because the Exotic is a short-haired Persian, the breed comes in all the colors of a Persian Longhair. Exotics can be white, black, blue, red, cream, chocolate and lilac. Then there's the parti-colors depending on the amount of white in the coat and the type of markings. Vans are predominantly white with two spots of color on the head and a spot on the tail. Harlequins are like the Vans but with additional spots on the body. The Bi-color is one third white and another color. The is usually a white inverted "V" on the forehead. The Tri-color has two colors plus white. Tortoiseshell or Tortie Cats have different colors in their coat but no white. There are four different tabby patterns: ticked, mackerel, spotted and classic. Tabbies may be black, red, cream, blue, chocolate, or lilac. This info was taken from Encyclopaedia of Cats by Esther J. J. Verhoef- Verhallen ⓒ 1998