66 CATS AND ALL ABOUT THEM 



I would never recommend fanciers to try and breed from 

 a queen that has confirmed snuffles. There is no doubt 

 that the kittens are affected by this complaint in the mother, 

 and are weak and ailing. Snuffles can doubtless be cured 

 in young cats, but when this distressing disease has been of 

 long standing, it is really hopeless. 



A good tortoiseshell female Persian is a splendid invest- 

 ment, but care should be taken to obtain a really fine 

 specimen. There are several cats called tortoiseshell, 

 which are really tortoiseshell Tabbies, others that have 

 streaks of colour running into each other. A good Tor- 

 toiseshell is a combination of red, yellow, and black 

 patches, without any white. A Tortoiseshell queen can be 

 mated with advantage to a^ost any coloured sire, and her 

 litters may, and probably will, be very varied. I think that 

 even the rising generation in the cat world know how rare 

 a thing is a Tortoiseshell Tom ! 



It is f ilse economy to purchase cheap and indifferent 

 queens, if you intend to go in for breeding and exhibiting. 

 1 am inclined to think that more depends on the quality of 

 the dam than the sire. Certain it is that the kittens more 

 frequently take after their mother as regards colour. A 

 Black female mated to a Blue stud seldom has more than 

 one like the father, and I have frequently known the whole 

 litter to be of the mother's dusky hue. 



It is always advisable before sending your queen to mate 

 to find out the pedigree of the stud she is to visit, so that 

 in-breeding may be avoided. I am not against one mating 

 of father and daughter, or mother and son, for I have known 

 excellent results from this arrangement, but the experiment 

 must not be repeated. Avoid entirely the mating of brothers 

 with sisters. 



If your young queen has shown signs of wanting to mate 

 more than twice, do not keep her back again, although she 

 may be under a year old. 



Any one possessing a well marked silver tabby Persian 



