All about chinchilla cats

Chinchillas, thanks to their charming little face, huge sad eyes and thick fur, look like plush toys. However, by their nature they are real aristocrats, and excessive squeezing and other “calf tenderness” are alien to this breed. Affectionate and intelligent chinchillas themselves come to the owner when they need a caress. All the rest of the time they relax impressively in a comfortable chair or on a soft stove bench.

Chinchilla cats belong to one of the oldest breeds, and therefore can boast excellent health and stable psyche. The country of their appearance is considered to be England, although scientists from other European countries also participated in the breeding process.

The breed was finally formed at the end of the XIX century, but the standard was adopted only in 1980. The first mention of the breed dates back to 1890, when the Persian cat was born a kitten of unusual color. The baby was named Tire, his mother was a Persian cat, and his father - a smoky Brit. Unusual baby attracted the attention of breeders, and began experiments on the breeding of similar kittens.

For realization of the conceived, the crossing of British and Persian individuals began. The result was the appearance of a breed with a long shimmering fur. At first, kittens with dark fur appeared in the light, their color resembling the gray-blue Britons. However, then individuals with a light pearl-silver hue were bred.

However, from the first offspring Tires kittens did not receive (or there is no official data). The first officially registered individual chinchillas were kittens born as a result of mating Betty's kitty with a smoky male. Kotu was given the nickname Silver Lambkin (1889) and began to consider him the ancestor of the chinchilla breed.

Difficulties touched and eye color of the animal. When mixing Persian chinchillas with classic Persians or silver British, kittens were born with yellow eyes. But after introducing the green-eyed tabby into the pedigree, the kittens received bright green eyes.

At first, only a chinchilla specimen with silver (blue) fur was considered pedigree. A little later, a golden variety was developed on the basis of a stabilized silver cat. In 1980, this type of chinchilla was also recognized as the breed standard.

Representatives of the breed owe their name to Princess Victoria (granddaughter of the Queen of Great Britain), who became interested in the unusual look and kindness of animals. With her light hand, the breed received this name. Several faithful Fuzzies lived in her palace.

Individuals of the chinchilla breed visually appear rather large, but this is only because of the bulk of the wool. On average, weight for males is 7 kg, for females - 5 kg. The animal has a strong, but soft body. The chest of chinchillas is rather wide, the back of healthy individuals is straight and even.

The body is held by powerful and rather short legs with rounded pads. Between the last tufts of fur usually stick out.

The head is round, it is medium in size with a rather pronounced chin. The nose is small, flattened. The ears are also small in size, covered with thick fur from the inside, and if the individual is long-haired, there are also brushes.

The tail is the real pride of chinchillas. It is short, rather thick and covered with fluffy hair along the entire length. Its length is on average 1-1.5 cm longer than the coat on the whole body. Because of this, it is necessary for a cat to raise its tail - and it seems that she is fanning herself with a real volumetric fan.

Characteristics of the breed necessarily include a description of the eyes. Large and expressive, they invariably attract attention. They have an unusual shape - round, slightly elongated in the corners and lowered. This gives the chinchilla a slightly sad and offended appearance. As a rule, the eyes of chinchillas are bright green in color, although there are individuals with gray-blue eyes.

Cats have long and thick hair with undercoat. The amazing effect of shimmering coat due to the color of the animal. At the base, closer to the body, the hairs have a lighter shade, gradually darkening towards the tips.

Chinchilla cats can be called noble aristocrats. They have a soft, docile nature, become attached to the owner and get along with the children - they suffer, even if they pull their tails. But whenever possible try to retire from the nursery as soon as possible. Left alone with itself, the animal will prefer special toys, rather than master furniture.

As already stated Cats are human-oriented, and therefore require increased attention to their person. Their favorite place is on the host's lap. Loneliness is contraindicated for representatives of this breed - they are under stress, yearn, they may even get sick. In this case, chinchillas are self-sufficient and do not like to invade their personal space. If the cat does not want to be touched and stroked at the moment, she will make it clear.

As kittens, animals can spend hours playing games, running after toys or rustling a candy wrapper. However, as they grow older, cats play less and less, as if demonstrating that they are representatives of the royal breed. The game adult cat will prefer bliss on some warm and soft place. At the same time, it is important to play with your pet, since a sedentary lifestyle is a direct path to obesity and diseases.

Representatives of the breed differ delicate character and ingenuity. Cats are clean, easy to learn. The owners also note that chinchillas are big fans of “talk”. They respond to caress with numerous purrs, they can mew to the owner when they are bored, or something disturbs them. The usual "meow" and "mur" in their "lexicon" has many intonations.

Chinchillas live an average of 12-15 years. Life expectancy depends primarily on the genetic characteristics, the absence of diseases and care.

Should remember that these individuals are prone to corpulence, which can shorten their lives. That is why it is important to monitor the pet's nutrition and provide him with quite a long activity.

Representatives of the breed went a long way of development, before the breeders managed to bring pets with unusual and, most importantly, persistent fur in the progeny. Today, there are 3 types of chinchillas.

Classic color for this breed. Ticking all over the body. The coat has a thick undercoat. Almost the entire length of the hair is white and only at the tip 1/8 of the part is black. This provides a beautiful shimmering silver shade. Black ticking is more pronounced on the tips of the paws, the back and the tail, which makes it feel as if a veil was thrown over an animal.

The cat has dark paw pads, always contrasting. The nose mirror, eyes and mucous membranes have a soft black stroke, as if they were painted on with a cosmetic pencil.

This species has a subspecies of chinchilla point.The latter has a lighter shade of hairs and undercoat, because of which the pet's coat looks snow white. From the silver look she got an amazing pearl shimmer.

The outer hair is already 1/3 colored black, which makes this look darker than silver. Given that the undercoat of the animal is snow white, and the black ticking on the paws and tail is enhanced, it seems that the pet has blurry stripes. At the same time, darker areas gently flow into lighter areas. As such, the stripes have no shaded variety. Between the fingers they have a dark coat.

This species appeared relatively recently. Cats have a peach-honey hue of a fur coat, and on the sides and on the tip of the tail, black ticking prevails, so it seems that the cat is covered in a light haze. Sometimes the undercoat can be bright peach color, and the ticking at the tip of the coat can be blue. This is also considered a breed standard. The main thing is that the overall color of the cat should be uniform - without spots and stripes.

Today, the breed is not fully formed, so there are new varieties - marble, chocolate (brown). The differences are based on the difference in tint of the tips of a cat's hair. They can be more silvery (blue), peach, cream.

Most of the kittens in the first 2-3 months have a pronounced tabby color (stripes), but as they grow older, the shade becomes more and more feathery, becoming even.

Depending on the membership of a particular breed, chinchilla cats can be of several types.

• British chinchilla. In Russia, these cats are known simply as "British", also the cat is known as the English. The classic representative of chinchilla.

• Scottish Shorthair Chinchilla. These cats are also called plush - for their very thick, pleasant to the touch and short fur. Scottish cats can be straight and lop-eared.

• Persian chinchilla. Another classic representative of its breed. The owner of the longest and fluffy fur of all chinchillas.

Long and fluffy cat fur requires everyday care. You need to comb it at least once a day, it is permissible to do it every 2 days. Otherwise, do not avoid mats. First, the animal is combed over the growth of wool, then - against.

On the face and cheeks, the hair is combed towards the face, that is, against hair growth. Do not worry that the animal will behave restlessly during these manipulations. Chinchillas love to be combed. Even against wool.

Like most felines, chinchillas are small swimmers. In addition, from frequent bathing they may turn yellow fur. To avoid this, the use of a special whitening shampoo. It is necessary to bathe a cat not more often than once in half a year, thus it is necessary to be ready to inadequate behavior of the pet. It is important to ensure that the water and foam from the shampoo do not get into the eyes and ears of a cat.

After water procedures, it must be wrapped in a warm towel and allowed to dry slightly in this form. You can dry your pet's hair dryer, setting the mode of warm air. Combing wet wool is undesirable.

During the combing and daily inspection of the cat's body, pay attention to the fur between the fingertips. It can also be combed out and, if necessary, trimmed. Otherwise, the wool in these places will lump together, rubbing the delicate pads.

An alternative to water and washing may be the use of a dry shampoo. It does not require rinsing with water, but simply combed out of wool. Pre-coat should be combed, and then rub dry granules into the fur.After a while, the fur is combed again. Apply dry shampoo should be every 14-17 days. From this the fur of the animal will become fluffy, shiny, remove excess fat and pollution.

There is no need for special care for the ears, it is enough to clean them with a cotton swab once a week or less, as it becomes soiled. Only the visible part of the ear is cleaned. Trying to penetrate deeply, especially with a cotton swab, is dangerous for the animal.

But for the eyes of cats, as well as for wool, requires constant care. The fact is that individuals of this breed are prone to increased tearing, so the eyes should be cleaned every day with a soft, damp cloth or a damp cotton pad.

Even a kitten should be taught to chinchilla claw, and at the same time once a week to cut claws with special tools. It is necessary to cut only a third of the claw, but if you cut a large part of it, the blood vessels passing in this part of the claw will be damaged.

As for walks, they are pleasant for the animal, but not necessary. If you live in a private house, you can let the cat out for a walk in the garden. Naturally, making sure that there he was not in danger, as well as wearing an antiparasitic collar on him. In the city of pet is better to walk on a harness.

It is important to keep the tray clean by changing its contents regularly. The filler is permissible to use any that is convenient for you. If you follow these simple rules, then there will be no unpleasant smell in the house, and the animal will not make a mess outside its toilet.

This breed of cats, like any other, you can feed on one of two food schemes:

• natural food;
• zookormami.

If we talk about homemade / natural food, the diet should include a number of mandatory products.

• Meat - rabbit, turkey, chicken, and sometimes other types of meat. It should be finely chopped and raw. You can pre-freeze the meat (for 10-12 hours), and then scald the pieces with boiling water. This will allow them to disinfect.
• A fish - It is enough to include sea fish (and only her) in the diet of a fluffy pet 1-2 times a week. Fish can be given only boiled.
• Milk products also give no more than 1-2 times a week. It is better if it will be low-fat cottage cheese, sour cream, ryazhenka.

Periodically, you can add to the diet of chinchilla carrots or chopped cabbage in boiled form. However, a particular cat can not tolerate vegetables. If the animal has a lack of weight, it is worth it once or twice a week to give it bran or buckwheat porridge, boiled in water.

They feed adults of this breed 2-3 times a day, kittens - 5-6 times a day. Because of the unusual structure of the jaw, chinchillas are not able to gnaw large pieces of food, so the food must be ground.

Before participating in exhibitions, for 10-14 days, it is recommended to feed the animal with feed for kittens. The latter is enriched with proteins and minerals, because of which the animal's hair will be particularly shiny and silky. Some products may cause a change in shade and deterioration of the fur of the animal, these include:

• egg yolks;
• milk;
• brightly colored fruits and vegetables;
• butter.

It is important to control the vitamin and mineral composition of chinchilla food. So, with an excess of vitamin A in the body there is a darkening of the hair of the animal. Vitamin deficiencies also adversely affect the health and appearance of the individual.

When eating homemade food, be sure to include vitamin and mineral supplements in the diet of fluffies. If the animal eats food, then there is no need for it, because zoocore is enriched with all necessary.In the winter and spring, it is useful to give the cat a special grass. It is better to grow it yourself and periodically “walk” the cat on the window sill. Let the pet itself nibble the necessary amount of weed.

If it is decided to feed the animal with ready-made food, preference should be given to dry premium or superpremium products. Today in the shops you can find food designed specifically for cats of Persian and British breeds. For chinchillas are suitable. The calculation of the daily dose of feed produced according to the formula - 70 kg of feed is required per 1 kg of cat weight.

Breeding chinchillas is not an easy task even for experienced breeders. This process is a kind of alchemy, the main difficulty is to obtain a stable characteristic color.

If you do not plan to take part in exhibitions, then a pair for the chinchilla can be selected from the Persians or the British, who have a golden or silver color.

If performances are planned, then only a purebred chinchilla with an ideal pedigree and fully meeting the standard can become a partner of the animal. In this case, it is better to choose a pair by contacting experienced breeders.

Knitting can begin after the onset of the first estrus, usually an animal at the age of 1.5 years. Regarding the frequency of mating, the views are divided. Someone believes that the mating can be done every estrus. However, experienced breeders remind that estrus can begin as early as 4-5 days after birth. If a cat is nearby at this point, it may be dangerous for newborn kittens. The optimal period between matings, according to these breeders, is 4 months.

Evidence of a successful mating is a calm, relaxed state of the cat. She begins to sleep more, in young cats (up to 3 years old) the nipples swell and turn pink. One month after mating the cat is rounded tummy. Pregnancy lasts 9 weeks.

After this time, kittens are born. If they have a pedigree, then after 1.5 months you should contact a specialized club. There the kids will be examined and given passports. This will allow selling pedigree kittens and participating with them in future exhibitions. Give or sell kittens better not earlier than three months. Until that time, the “child” should be near the mother - This is one of the guarantees of adult immunity and strong psyche of the individual in the future.

If you do not plan to “nurse” the offspring, you should take care of castration and sterilization of the animal. There is an erroneous opinion that castration is for cats, and sterilization is for cats. This is not true.

Castration is an operation to remove the gonads. In cats - testes, in cats - ovaries. By sterilization is meant a more gentle procedure. Males are tied up with spermidium ducts, for females - fallopian tubes. When sterilizing an animal, sexual desire does not disappear, but they cannot have offspring.

After the operation, it is forbidden to feed the animal for the first 6-12 hours (to avoid vomiting that is dangerous during this period), only water can be given. After returning from the veterinary clinic, the cat should be put in a warm place on a flat surface. You can not put the animal on an eminence, since after anesthesia there is disorientation. Pet may fall and be injured. As a rule, cats are restored the day after the operation, the cats wear a blanket for several days to protect the stitches.

Animal health consists of two factors - heredity and peculiarities of care. By nature, chinchillas got a fairly strong immunity, but the breed still has characteristic diseases.

In this pathology, the renal parenchyma is replaced by cysts. Those put pressure on the body, which reduces the functionality of the kidneys, there are nephritis and nephrosis. To determine the disease at the initial stage is almost impossible. Polycystosis is diagnosed when the cysts become large, cause pain, and the cat's abdomen increases in size.

If the cysts are well palpated, unfortunately, it is no longer possible to save the cat - the kidneys actually stop working, and instead of kidney tissues - cysts. At this stage in the life of the animal, they either put to sleep or keep a certain diet and give the cat medicine to alleviate its suffering.

With this pathology of the ventricular wall of the heart muscle thicken. This provokes heart failure, thromboembolism and even sudden cardiac arrest of the animal. Diagnose ailment is possible only with the help of ultrasound. Signal to the need for it can be shortness of breath and fatigue pet.

The disease is the death of light-sensitive receptors located on the surface of the retina. Disturbing signs of the disease are night blindness (reduced visual acuity at dusk and at night), highly dilated pupils, increased eye gloss. In mild form, the animal begins to see poorly in the dark, while heavy - threatens the individual with complete blindness. Effective treatment at the moment does not exist.

It is important to follow the vaccination schedule. Representatives of this breed are vaccinated against the following diseases:

• rabies;
• rhinotracheitis;
• cat's distemper;
• Calcivirosis.

After the first injection, revaccination follows in 2.5-3 months. Then vaccinations put once a year. As a rule, the vet himself selects the appropriate drug. In most cases, use of "Nobivak", "Trikat" and "Kvadrikat" as the compounds most favorably tolerated by the body of the animal.

About the British chinchilla, see the following video.