Chausie Show Cats

[Dr. Cris Bird]

Here are some body shots. This shows Tor stretching and about to leap away from Richard Katris. It's copyright Chanan, of course, but shouldn't be a problem showing a low res copy for educational discussion. You can see how LONG and pliable his body was. That's perfect. His tail wasn't so good, though. We prefer a slightly short tail. It doesn't have to be 3/4 length -- but it should be slightly short. That was Tor's worst fault -- his super long tail!



A good Chausie body is long and flat-sided, not broad or bulky. But the chest is vertically deep. That is, the distance from the spine to the surface of the tummy is significant. Because of that, when the cats bunch up and prepare to jump, they temporarily look chunky. It's all that deep, long chest getting bunched up like an accordion -- like this:



Okay -- on legs you want LONG and medium boned. The trick is, when they are quite young, like about a year old, the torso won't be fully developed. Here's a young F1 Chausie:



As they mature -- get closer to 3 years old and beyond -- the torso deepens relative to the legs. Here's what Tor looked like when he was close to 3 years old:



He was actually a little bunched up in that last photo -- his hind legs brought up under him a little because he was thinking about jumping up at a toy I was waving. But you can see that his legs are long, and yet the torso has dropped down with maturity and there's a lot of depth there.

The body on Chausies is very important -- and it's one area where I don't think many of the judges get it yet because we haven't had many good bodies to show them in the C and SBT generations. I think that is about to change, though.

 

[admin]

Thanks so much for all the pics and detailed explanation, Cristy! This is exactly what was needed to better understand the Chausie standard. I love the first and last pics of Tor...I do see his tail is a bit long, but what cat is perfect?

His lega are very long and his torso is deep...I have seen pics of bulky chausie's so seeing Tor and having the standard explained pictorially helps quite a bit.

 

[Dr. Cris Bird]

Thanks so much for all the pics and detailed explanation, Cristy! This is exactly what was needed to better understand the Chausie standard.

And I think it does help breeders of both breeds knowing the similarities and differences -- Savannah versus Chausie. It's easier then to see what makes each breed distinctive, not just "wild" looking. Easier to explain it to the judges then. It can also be easier to figure out what you are looking at when you encounter a back yard breeder cat that might or might not have an accurate pedigree.

I've appreciated being able to see the progression in the look of the Savannah breed in the PNB and ANB classes over the last 3 years. It's been helpful IMO to learn something about both standards.

 

[admin]

I completely agree...and I have always heard so much about the chausie and this beautiful boy named Tor that kicked butt in the rings...to now see him and understand the standard is so awesome! And then to compare and contrast the savannah cat and chausie is really a plus, IMO.

Both cats are hybrids and both are a but misunderstood at times...thanks again!

 

[Pam Flachs]

Wow...Tor is amazing! Thank you Bobby and Cristy for the pics and insight on the Chausie.

 

[Dr. Cris Bird]

Now I want to show you some photos of other Chausies. Don't want to leave you with the impression that Tor was the only one with anything going for him. LOL. Here are two photos of Sarsenstone Psusennes (Zen).



In this photo (above), you can't see type that well. I took the photo to show the grizzling. This boy was only 9 months old in the photo. He was born solid black except for a bit of misty grizzle on his chin -- but look at his pattern at 9 months old. That is an exceptionally heavily grizzled boy. That's what we want. He's got grizzle on his legs, his face, body, and even a little on his tail. The grizzle makes markings on his face show up just as they would on a BTT Chausie. The grizzle is so intense on his neck, he looks like he's got fine silver wires for a coat. That's why I named him Psusennes -- after the "Silver Pharoah."

This next photo shows his type at 9 months old:



In this photo, he's a bit in the shade, so you can't see the grizzling as well. But you can see the shape of his ears and muzzle. He has nice, big, broad ears, but they are set too far apart and too low. He's got some flattening over the eye, but not enough. He's got a long muzzle and long, high cheekbones. He's got a somewhat lanky body and somewhat long legs. So, he's quite a nice cat. He is only 10% JC, but he is B generation. Not eligible to show, but if he were eligible, I would not hesitate to show him. He has a wonderful temperament. He's just a little like a grizzled Tor, but he needs *more* of almost everything -- long body, long legs, flatter eye, etc. He needs to be big like Tor, too. He's only a medium size boy. I'd call him show quality at this time -- if eligible -- but only just. There is one other thing: he shows a lot of pattern on his body. The standard calls for even ticking on the torso of adult cats, whether they are grizzled or BTTs. They should have stripes on the legs and tail, but not the torso.

 

[admin]

I love the grizzled boys and Zen is also a handsome one...I can see that his ears are set too far apart and should be higher on his head...but he is gorgeous!!! I do like his lanky body though...

 

[Dr. Cris Bird]

Now I'll show you what a heavily grizzled cat looks like with the desired even ticking on the body:

This is Tasurt Independance. (Yes, there is supposed to be an "a" in the last syllable.) We call him Indra. Bobbie bred hm, and he is SBT. He isn't nearly as rangy as he needs to be. He isn't large enough. His ears are set too low. His sides are flat, but the shoulder isn't elevated enough and the length is not enough to give the right "disjointed" kind of lanky look. But he is heavily, beautifully grizzled and it's even on the body. There are no tabby markings on the body. His ears are nice and broad, just need to be taller and higher. His eyes have some of the right shape, though need more. He's got nice, long cheekbones, though the muzzle and head overall need to be longer.

But there's a lot there. Would I show him in championship? If his temperament were super good, I would. Because he's not comfortable in the show hall, I would not. I think even with a nearly perfect cat, if the temperament isn't good for showing, it's not worthwhile. OTOH, I think if the cat is happy and outgoing in the show hall and has some good things going for him, I'd show him even with several deficiencies in type.

So, that's it, I think. You need some strengths, but the cat doesn't have to be anywhere near perfect. The temperament does need to be good -- especially with the nondomestic source breeds because they are held to a higher standard.

 

[admin]

Now I'll show you what a heavily grizzled cat looks like with the desired even ticking on the body:
View attachment 2169
This is Tasurt Independance. (Yes, there is supposed to be an "a" in the last syllable.) We call him Indra. Bobbie bred hm, and he is SBT. He isn't nearly as rangy as he needs to be. He isn't large enough. His ears are set too low. His sides are flat, but the shoulder isn't elevated enough and the length is not enough to give the right "disjointed" kind of lanky look. But he is heavily, beautifully grizzled and it's even on the body. There are no tabby markings on the body. His ears are nice and broad, just need to be taller and higher. His eyes have some of the right shape, though need more. He's got nice, long cheekbones, though the muzzle and head overall need to be longer.

But there's a lot there. Would I show him in championship? If his temperament were super good, I would. Because he's not comfortable in the show hall, I would not. I think even with a nearly perfect cat, if the temperament isn't good for showing, it's not worthwhile. OTOH, I think if the cat is happy and outgoing in the show hall and has some good things going for him, I'd show him even with several deficiencies in type.

So, that's it, I think. You need some strengths, but the cat doesn't have to be anywhere near perfect. The temperament does need to be good -- especially with the nondomestic source breeds because they are held to a higher standard.

I see the grizzling and I see what you mean about his type. And I do agree with you about temperament. I really wish Zuri was not such a beast in the rings, but she is and I will have to settle for breeding her.

Thank you so much for the Chausie Educational thread..now I have something to really sink my teeth into when I am contemplating Chausie type. One can never learn too much about our breeds...and it is great to hear from two of the top Chausie breeders here.

 

[Dr. Cris Bird]

Bobbie mentioned that she had some nice kittens from her queen Fire this year that look like they may be show quality. I took one of them home with me from the last show of the year in SW Region two weekends ago. She is Tasurt Desert Dancer of Sarsenstone, 4 1/2 months old:



Notice the tall, slim, lanky body (especially for such a young kitten) and the vivid barring on the inside of the front legs. She's also got a great temperament. She handled well at her first show.



Nice, flat sides and lots of length already. Will only have more as she gets older.

Would like to see longer legs, taller ears, flatter eye, longer muzzle -- but with that body and temperament she promises to be a very nice show kitten. She's SBT. Bobbie has two more still with her.