20 CATS AND ALL ABOUT THEM 



resulted, and many a tale of woe has reached me concerning 

 the difficulty of rearing Silver kittens. But I feel sure better 

 times are in store for this breed, and certainly Silvers vie 

 with Blues in popularity. The points of a Silver cat may be 

 summed up thus : A pale shade of silver as free from 

 shadings and tabby markings as possible ; eyes green. For 

 some time it was considered that Silvers might have either 

 orange, yellow, or green eyes, but now the highest authorities 

 in the Silver Society incline towards green eyes. I think 

 judges in general give their verdict in favour of this colour, 

 and I am sure they all desire only one class for Silvers and to 

 keep them as distinct as possible from Silver Tabbies ; the 

 one class, namely, Silvers, to be as free from markings as pos- 

 sible, and the Silver Tabbies to have clearly denned black 

 markings on a pure silver ground work. It is these markings 

 that give the distinguishing feature to the beautiful breed of 

 Silver Tabbies. I admire the splashed-type more than the 

 delicately pencilled variety. There are very few really good 

 specimens in the Fancy, and it is a great pity some of our 

 clever breeders do not take up Silver Tabbies and try to pre- 

 vent them from being crossed with nondescript Silvers, 

 thus weakening the markings and damaging the breed. 



I think it is generally known in the Fancy that I am par- 

 tial to Brown Tabbies, and truly I believe they occupy the 

 warmest corner of my cat-loving heart ; perhaps, because I 

 first started with a Brownie, or possibly because they have 

 been a very looked-down-upon breed. However, as every 

 dog has his day, so I hope a good time is coming for this 

 truly handsome type of cat, so suggestive of a tiger. In build 

 Brown Tabbies ought to be decidedly large and massive. 

 The groundwork should be a rich tawny colour, with dark 

 black markings very clearly defined ; the legs evenly barred, 

 and distinct rings round the neck, like so many chains. 

 What are generally exhibited as Brown Tabbies lack the 

 orange or golden tone, and have too much drab or grey in 

 their colouring. The eyes should be yellow or orange. Any 

 white in Tabby cats is a decided blemish. 



There is a tendency now to breed Orange cats with tabby 

 heads and legs and self-coloured bodies. This seems a 

 mistake. No doubt an entire Orange cat without any mark- 

 ings would be very handsome, and perhaps some of our 



