LOCATION
“The Fertile Crescent”. Commonly regarded as
“The Cradle of Civilisation”
In 2004 the French archaeologist Professor Jean Guillain discovered a burial site in the Neolithic or late stone age village of Shillourokambos
The most significant find was the grave of a young person of indeterminate sex who had been buried with a large cat.
As the cats remains were found to be buried with the person the available evidence determined the first recorded discovery of a domesticated cat.
The remains were found to be 9,500 years old and predate by some 4,000 years the initial discovery of cat domesticity in Egypt
In 328.A.D St Helena visited the Island of Cyprus to find it almost totally deserted of its inhabitants. This was the result of a drought that had lasted for 36 years. She found the Island to be swarming with snakes.
On her return to Constantinople she arranged for an entire shipload of cats from Egypt and Palestine to be sent to the Island to devour the poisonous snakes
The descendants of these cats are to be found today cared for by the nuns of the monastery of Saint Nicholas of the Cats on the outskirts of Limassol.
Timeline
9500 BC Evidence of cat domestication on CYPRUS
328 AD. Arrival of cats from Egypt and Palestine
1484 report on Cyprus cat activity by visiting Venetian Monk
1571: The invasion of Cyprus by the Ottoman Empire
1878 : The occupation of Cyprus by the British Empire
The cats of Cyprus have a genetic history stretching back over 18 thousand generations
Head From the front a long triangle, cheek line straight. Long straight muzzle and nose, with a slight dip under the height of the eyes. Strong chin and teeth. Front slightly rounded, slight dome to the forehead. 20
Eyes Olive shaped, from a bit rounder to a bit more oval. All colours allowed. Pale blue and light yellow is valued to be as good as dark blue and green. Colour should be uniform. 5
Ears Wide at the base, medium to large ears, placed in form of an open V with a slightly rounded space between the ears on the top-head. 5
Body Big and strong. Elegant, lean muscular body, not cobby. Long back and neck. Muscular shoulders and hips. Big body measurements. Morphology develops quickly. Due to development of breed, kitten could be less muscular but big boned from the beginning. Back legs slightly longer than front legs. 35
Tail Medium to long and in balance with the body measurement. In shorthair variety tip of tail more slender than the heavy root. 5
Coat Soft cotton-woolly semi-long coat with undercoat in winter, in summer much shorter and no undercoat. Not much topcoat covering, neither in summer nor in winter. Only on back very little (water-resistant) coat. Coat very soft to the touch. The longhair variety has a full, well plumed ostrich feather tail. 25
Colour All colours with the exception of chocolate, lilac, cinnamon and fawn, pointed colours and mink. Solid colour should be without white. In bicolour non regular colour setting is desired.
Condition 5
The CyCNBA, Breeding programme started in 2006 following the observations of feral cats that were living in the area.
It was clear that they did not conform to any recognised established breed.
A trial breeding programme was set up to establish if the cats bred true to type.
The results were astounding and the rest is now history
All the cats that were chosen for the breeding programme were selected by phenotype.
Swab samples were sent to Professor Leslie Lyons at Davis University, California for Genetic testing.
The test results showed that the minimum genetic make up of the cats used in the breeding programme was not less than 90.2% Cyprus The purest cat used in the Programme showed the genetics to be 98.6% Cyprus
The DNA results for the Cyprus Cat clearly demonstrate the purity of the breed brought about by 9,500 years or 18,000 generations of development by a cat breed in a captive environment with little influence from external migration.
Cats for the “Breeding Programme” were selected by phenotype prior to any genetic Sampling
Whilst we were unaware of the genetics at the time of selection. Our selection of the cats proved to be accurate as their genetic make up later confirmed.
CYPRUS CATS ARE A DISTINCT POPULATION WITHIN THE MEDITERRANEAN
A Breed from Cyprus could be developed
WCF Master Llelayne Cassidy
96.3% Cyprus
Llelayne Samira (Cassidy’s Grand Daughter)
98.6% Cyprus
Llelayne Jacob Cassidy’s Great Grandson (as you probably have never seen him before)
95.76% Cyprus
Phoebe of Limassol with Jacob’s Babies
97.98% Cyprus
Artemis of Amathounta
96.86% Cyprus