The Tiffanie is a

cat The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the ...

breed similar to the Asian Shorthair except it has semi-long

fur A fur is a soft, thick growth of hair that covers the skin of almost all mammals. It consists of a combination of oily guard hair on top and thick underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as an ...

length. The breed belongs to the Asian Group and is generally recognised in any of the Asian Shorthair or Burmese colours and patterns. Like the other cats in the Asian Group, the breed was developed during the 1980s in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

by crossbreeding a Persian Chinchilla and a Burmese. In

cat registries A cat registry or cat breed registry, also known as a cat fancier organization, cattery federation, or cat breeders' association, is an organization that registers domestic cats (usually purebred) of many breeds, for exhibition and for breedin ...

that recognise the breed, it is officially registered under the name Tiffanie or within the Asian Group as Tiffanie or Asian Longhair. In some registries the colouration is restricted to silver or golden ''tipped'' or ''shaded'', and the breed is registered as

Burmilla The Burmilla (a portmanteau of Burmese cat, Burm-ese and Persian cat, Chinch-illa ) is a List of cat breeds, breed of domestic cat, that originated in the United Kingdom in 1981. It is a cross between the Chinchilla Persian and Burmese (cat), B ...

Longhair or Australian Tiffanie. Among the

cat fancy Cat fancy describes the subculture that surrounds cat lovers and their Hobby, hobbies involving the appreciation, promotion, Cat show, showing, or List of cat breeds, breeding of cats. Animal fancy, Animal fanciers of cats may refer to themselve ...

the breed is also known as the Asian Semi-longhair. The Tiffanie is often confused with the now extinct and unrelated ''

Chantilly-Tiffany The Chantilly-Tiffany or Chantilly/Tiffany, also known as the Chantilly or the Foreign Longhair, was a breed of domestic cat which originated in the late 1960s in North America. The Chantilly breed never got off the ground and has always been ...

'', or Foreign Longhair, a longhaired North American breed originating from chocolate-brown cats of unknown origin. Similarly, the ''Tiffany'' in the NZCF (New Zealand) refers to a ''Burmese longhair''.

History

Origin

The Tiffanie was developed in the 1980s in the

as a longhaired version of the Asian Shorthair. The breed origins can be traced back to matings between a Persian Chinchilla and a Burmese.

Recognition

It has full recognition in the

GCCF The Governing Council of the Cat Fancy (GCCF) is a cat registry, established in 1910 and the largest organisation that registers Pedigree (animal), pedigree cats in the United Kingdom. It was formed from a small number of cat clubs which were ...

LOOF Loof or Lööf (Swedish variant) is a Germanic surname that may refer to: * Anders Lööf (born 1961), Swedish male curler * Annie Lööf (born 1983), Swedish politician * Annika Lööf (born 1966), Swedish female curler * Augustine Loof (born 1996 ...

, SACC, preliminary status with the WCF, and has registration only status with

The International Cat Association The International Cat Association (TICA) is considered the world's largest genetic cat registry. Originally a North American organization, it now has a worldwide presence. The organization has a genetic registry for pedigreed and household pet ca ...

. The ''Australian Tiffanie'' is recognised by ANCATS and the ''Burmilla longhair'' by ACF, which are distinctly different in colour to the Asian Semi-longhair Tiffanie as these only come in silver or golden ''tipped'' or ''shaded''.

Australian Tiffanie

One governing body in Australia (

Waratah National Cat Alliance Australia’s famous waratah (genus ''Telopea'') is an Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the isla ...

, WNCA, now the Australian National Cats Inc., ANCATS) uses the name ''Australian Tiffanie''; however, international acceptance and standardisation did not follow. It is different from the European Tiffanie and the North-American

. The Tiffanie from the UK is also originating from crossbreeding

chinchilla Persian The Persian cat, also known as the Persian Longhair, is a long-haired breed of cat characterised by a round face and short muzzle. The first documented ancestors of Persian cats might have been imported into Italy from Khorasan as early as ar ...

and Burmese cats. However, Australian Tiffanies are essentially longhair

s, as they only come in silver or golden tipped or shaded. The breed is separately developed in the late-1990s in Australia from European Tiffanie cats by breeding them back to the chinchilla Persian. Therefore, many Australian Tiffanies contain more than three-quarters chinchilla Persian and retain the appearance and temperament of the Old-Fashioned chinchilla Persian. To summarise, the Australian Tiffanie and Tiffanie from the UK are both developed from crossbreeding chinchilla Persians and Burmeses, but the Australian version contains more chinchilla Persian. Consequently, only silver and golden tipped and shaded is allowed in the Australian Tiffanie. The name's use is declining in favour, due to the lax standards for the breed name, the lack of unique identity and the varied genetic makeup.

References

External links

FBRL Breed Page: AsianAsian Cat Association
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230322191600/https://asiancatassociation.co.uk/asian-cat-breed-information/ , date=22 March 2023
Asian Group Cat Society
Cat breeds Cat breeds originating in the United Kingdom