64 CATS AND ALL ABOUT THEM 



natures. Two brown Tabbies mated together often produce 

 a black in the litter, and generally a very good specimen. 



Do not let your queens mate before they are nine months 

 old, and it is better to wait another three months if possible. 

 I do not think sufficient attention is paid to the desirability 

 of stud cats and queens being in good coat at the time of 

 mating. 



It is considered the correct thing to forward your fee for 

 mating at the same time you send your queen. The usual 

 rule in catty circles is to allow a second visit should the first 

 prove unsuccessful, but this cannot be insisted upon, and 

 therefore it is better for the sender to ask if this courtesy 

 will be permitted when writing to announce the despatch of 

 the queen. 



I have often been asked if I consider that the litters of a 

 Persian queen who has mismated previously with a common 

 cat are in any way affected afterwards. I believe this ques- 

 tion has never been satisfactorily answered, but I know a 

 case in point, and certainly these kittens of a good Persian 

 sire and dam are remarkably poor specimens and are what 

 might be called half-breds. I can only attribute this to the 

 blue female having twice strayed from the paths of virtue 

 previous to the attentions of the prize-winning Persian. 



If you are purchasing a self-coloured cat, be careful to 

 examine whether it has a white spot or tuft of white hairs on 

 throat or stomach. This is a decided blemish, and repeats 

 itself in future generations. Our best judges consider a 

 white spot should count as a point against a cat entered in 

 a sett-coloured class. This is much fairer to both exhibitor 

 and judge than to relegate a good Blue or Black with the 

 few offending white hairs to the " any other colour class." 



One of the most difficult cats to breed is a pale Cream, 

 uniform in colour, and having no markings on head and 

 legs. A Tortoiseshell and a Blue often produce good 

 Creams. 



