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Mitzy is a Domestic Short-Hair!
The Domestic Short-Haired cat is a self-sufficient, easy-going, no-nonsense cat. They are often seen in the show-ring in the USA and Canada, but not so much in other countries.
American shorthairs can become quite large and muscular. They arrived on the ships of the first European settlers; being used as rat catchers on board and "slipping off" after arriving. These early pioneers developed thick coats and increased in size from their European counterparts as a measure to protect themselves from the native predators.
Domestic Short Hairs are the most predominant domesticated cat in the world. Although they originated in Egypt, their body type and weight has slowly evolved over the centuries to adapt to the region of the world where they live. Stocky cats with water-repellent topcoats and dense undercoats that held the warmth evolved in the Northern climates, while smaller, longer, leaner cats with thin, sparse coats that let the heat dissipate developed in the warmer parts of the world.
The short-haired breeds that have evolved to cope with hot climates have fewer secondary "down" hairs and shed what they do have at a faster rate. The cold weather, long-hairs have more "down" hairs and retain them longer. If the short-haired breeds are still too hot, they shed their primary hairs at a faster rate.
The colors of a cats' hair is produced by skin cells that form into patch shapes during the fetus's development and control the feeding of pigment into the hair shafts. A gene called the inhibitor gene allows pigment to fill only the first part of the hair to grow. This produces a variety of subtle patterns that appear to change as the cat moves. Different degrees of shading give us shaded and silver colors and silver tabbies, which have appreciable colors, and "frosted" coats.
We are pleased to welcome Mitzy to our practice!
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