ORANGE PERSIANS. 



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colour than a really good orange lying full 

 length in the sun. There is, however, rather 

 a prejudice against them, chiefly because some 

 people persist in calling them ' sandy ' or ' red,' 

 both of which names are quite misleading. I 

 have several times had people say to me when 

 visiting my cattery, ' I have always thought 

 I did not like sandy cats, but I have never 

 before seen a cat of such a lovely colour as the 

 one you have just shown me.' Six years ago, 



it is very rarely seen. The absence of markings 

 usually means absence of the rich orange colour 

 so much admired. Any white on chin or bib 

 is, of course, a blemish, and for breeding or 

 show purposes such an animal is perfectly 

 useless. 



" An orange stud cat is a very useful animal 

 to have in a cattery, for crossing with him will 

 improve many colours, viz. tortoiseshell, brown, 

 grey, and sable tabbies ; while if he is mated 

 to a blue_ queen the kittens, if orange, are 

 beautiful in colour brighter, I think, than if 

 two orange cats are mated together.. In 



CURIOSITY. 

 (Photo: Mrs. S. F. Clarke.) 



when I first took up cat rearing, it was rare to 

 see any orange cats at the shows, but now they 

 and the creams form one of the most beautiful 

 classes, and they have a specialist society of 

 their own and an energetic secretary in Miss 

 Mildred Beal. 



" There are two classes of oranges, one which 

 has the ordinary tabby markings, more or 

 less distinct, and the other which is ' necked ' 

 all over the back in small patches, and which 

 is usually not nearly so bright in colour as the 

 so-called ' tabby ' markings. The correct thing 

 is to breed a totally unmarked orange ; and, 

 although many people claim this for their pets, 

 13 



mating with other colours it is a toss-up what 

 colour will predominate, but the only way 

 to ensure all orange kittens is to mate with 

 orange queens, when, according to my experi- 

 ence with my stud cat (' Torrington Sunny- 

 sides '), the results are all orange. Mated with 

 tortoiseshells the orange kittens are very good ; 

 but mated with blacks the strongest colour 

 carries the day, and the kittens are mostly 

 black or tortoiseshell, seldom orange. Silvers, 

 chinchillas, and smokes should, of course, 

 never be mated with oranges, as the result 

 would be. a horrible mixture ! Orange queens 

 were at one time very rare, and even now 



