Cat breed · Australia
The Australian Mist (formerly known as Spotted Mist) is a breed of cat developed in Australia. It is a cross between the Abyssinian, the Burmese, and domestic shorthair spotted tabby cats. The Australian Mist has a distinct and unique faded coat appearance hence the name. Their eyes are green, and they bear eumelanistic colours and spotted or 'marbled' tabby patterns in their coats.
Appearance: The Australian Mist is a medium-sized short-haired cat, with a round and medium-sized head, a broad nose, and large green eyes. Eye colour can range in any shade of green from chartreuse to aquamarine. Ears are moderately large with a rounded tip to them. The coat is short to medium in length and feels smooth and silky.
Coat Patterns: The coat pattern consists of three aspects:
the background colour, which is paler than the tabby pattern;
the tabby pattern in the darkest base colour; and
Health: Conditions commonly screened for in breeding Australian Mist cats include pyruvate kinase deficiency (PKD), feline hypokalaemic polymyopathy, neonatal isoerythrolysis, and progressive retinal atrophy.
History: This breed was developed in Australia in 1977 by Dr. Truda Straede with a gene-pool of approximately 30 foundation cats. Dr. Straede submitted a plan to the Royal Agricultural Society of New South Wales Cat Club (RASCC) for a breed with black ('brown'), blue, chocolate, and lilac colourings. The distinctive 'misty' coat was obtained by crossbreeding domestic shorthair (non-pedigreed) spotted tabby, Burmese, and Abyssinian cats. The sepia point of the Burmese is combined with the ticking gene of Abyssinian and with a spotted tabby coat. The first generation of the breed was accepted into the RASCC experimental category in May 1980 and in April of 1986 the fourth generation was accepted as the 'Spotted Mist'. In June 1997 the marbled variety of the breed was accepted by the RASCC and Waratah State Cat Alliance (WNCA). Due to the newly accepted marbled variety it was decided by the Co-ordinating Cat Council of Australia (CCCA) and the Australian Cat Federation (ACF) to rename the breed — in an unanimous decision the name 'Australian Mist' was chosen.
