29 January 2004 Hi, everybody, Bonjour tout le monde - Fire up your printers - I think this is going to be too long to read onscreen! I spent most of last weekend at the Geneva expo telling other breeders what I saw at the NFO  x-color recognition show in Wiesbaden-Neuenhausen. I'd like to pass along some of my impressions here, for those of you who may have seen these cats only in photos and who are not familiar with the proposal. There are a few snapshots attached - not the greatest photography, but I thought you might be interested in seeing the dark paw bottoms on the reddish-looking (no, not red, and not cream!) cat, and the unusual tone of the "blue" tabby "fox". More glamorous pictures of new-colored cats can be seen on Christa Utescheny's web site: www.v-arlesbrunnen-nfo.de and on the sites of some of the other catteries represented at the show. Dr. Langewische had prepared copies in three languages of the proposal for acceptance of the colors. This version is updated since the one I sent you with the World Show report. I am attaching the French translation today, and will try to get back to you over the weekend with the German text and Dr. Langewische's official English translation. The presentation was serious and well-organized, and I was happy to get my first look at the cats and to speak in person to some of the breeders and to Dr. Langewische, who, along with Christa Utescheny, has written up the proposal. Thirty-four x-color cats were presented, from several German catteries, including the following:  v. Arlesbrunnen, Icecat's, Magic Starlight, Tailor Hill, Baltimoor, Grüntal, av Trulla, fra Drommeskogen, Born Castle, av Haithabu, Porfyrgarden, and Broetzingen. The breeders were eager to talk about their cats, of course, and generous in letting me take them out of their cages for a closer look. My first reaction was to a red-looking male.  "Why is that cat not red?" I asked Christa (av. Arlesbrunnen). "Well,' she answered, ‘ because his parents are black tabby and blue tabby.' Okay - what distinguishes him to the eye from a red tabby? I didn't see it until she took him out of the cage, but along the spine, and down the tail, the guard hairs were black, and the bottoms of his feet were black, something you would, of course, never see in a true red cat. Then we moved on to a "dilute" cat, and even I could see that this color was a whole 'nother thing. I wouldn't have mistaken this for blue, but it reminded me of some blue-cream-tortoiseshells whose colors are really mixed together - only, the "cream" parts were more beige than cream. Other "diluted" cats looked a bit like creams, but with the dark paw pads. Lovely types for the most part - I can certainly sympathize with the breeders' desire to "legitimize" such fine-looking litters. As to liking or not liking the colors personally, I don't think this is really a consideration. After all, some people don't care for  whites, silvers, or whatever, and one of the most attractive things about our breed is that there is pretty much something in the color repertoire to suit every taste. Christa emphasized that it is imperative to see the colors properly recorded, so breeders can make up their own minds whether or not to use certain lines in their breeding programs. She notes that in Germany there are "independent" associations which register the colors as "cinnamon". This nomenclature needs to be cleared up in FIFé, she says, and passed along to the other registries. In the past, most of us were concerned that if the colors had come to us by way of some unsanctioned outcross, they might be associated with genetic problems or vagaries of type from another breed. Dr. Langewische mentions the Somali in his report on the test matings - and I recall that we also worried about Colorpoint Persians (we know that Persian blood did get into some of the old lines) and semi-longhaired Oriental cats like the Javanese. There was an overwhelming consensus that the colors should not be admitted until they were properly identified. If you wish to review past discussions, you will find reports of our annual World Show meetings on my web site - (http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/L_P_swepston/index.htm) - there is a link on the index page to "World Show NFO Reports. The most extensive debate on the "new color" issue took place at the Poznan show in 1998. Patience is its own reward, they say, and we do now have the evidence of some test matings to the effect that, no, the colors are not caused by the recessive B-alleles (chocolate, lilac, fawn, cinnamon) and they do not seem to come from Somali background. It's fascinating to read about the test-matings, and reassuring to have the scientific reference. All the same, some feel that further trials are still in order, and would like to know not only what the colors are NOT but also more fully what they ARE. In any case, our gratitude and a big tip of the hat is due those breeders who have contributed their time and expertise to these projects. The offspring of test matings like those described in Christa's cattery cannot be sold as purebred Norwegians or as Sacred Birmans; the breeder loses a whole reproductive season of the mother cat, without being able to recuperate costs through kitten sales. In addition it must be discouraging to attend show after show with your cats, and to pay out entrance fees and travel expenses, without ever being able to win a certificate.  Obviously, this is one reason we have not seen the new-colored cats much outside of Germany. (Most of my friends in the Swiss and French clubs have never seen them at all.) So - all credit where credit is due! X-color breeders say the new colors are caused by a recessive gene that acts on black and blue hairs. As the I gene (inhibition) affects the hair by depriving it of color at the base (the cause of our colors silver and smoke), this "x" gene gives the black and blue hairs a reddish tinge - hence the suggested name "fox" to describe it. Many of us were unhappy with the term "fox" when we saw Dr. Langewische's draft proposal at the World Show - (many still are) - but it must be said that it's difficult to think of anything really appropriate. I heard one of the judges say of a "dilute" cat, " I just don't know HOW I would describe it. Beige maybe? Tan?" I myself wish they wouldn't name the colors after a non-feline animal. Of course, there is already  "chinchilla", to which we are accustomed - but it bothers me to think of that narrow fox face with the long, long muzzle.... The use of the letter "u" as the proposed EMS designation also met with skepticism. The justification for this choice was that so far the colors were thought to be "unique" to the Forest Cat breed. However, those of you on the FIFé e-mail list will have seen recent messages to the effect that this color phenomenon also seems to exist in some Bengals and Ocicats, with the cats being registered simply as black and blue tabbies. Without seeing the cats in question, it is difficult to know whether we are talking about the same thing - (and of course, at least in my part of the world, one sees few Bengals or Ocicats of ANY color) - but it would be interesting to delve into this more closely before claiming an NFO exclusivity. Perhaps comparing notes with these other breeders could shed more light on the NFO situation - why not open the door to a dialogue with them before making a definitive proposal? One of my original questions is answered in the final version of Dr. Langewische's report. Since the gene only affects black and blue, the proposal has been altered slightly from the version I sent around earlier, to exclude red cats and dominant whites from the spectrum. Tortoiseshells remain, however, as they are partially black or blue. I did find the few silver "foxes" I saw a bit confusing.  As we all know, it's sometimes difficult to be sure of  regular silvers, especially the diluted colors - the addition of the new element doesn't make it any easier. I agree with what Jette suggested earlier: if these colors are to be accepted it might be wise to start slowly, beginning with those that are easiest to identify - both for the breeders and the judges - before moving on to the more complicated ones. (I also agree with her suggestion that since all the x-color cats so far are descended from  Kløfterhagens Babuschka,, it should be specified in the proposal that, at least to begin with, no cat without Babuschka in its lineage may be registered as one of the new colors.) As for the "goldens" - it's been debated often whether or not the golden color, caused as it is by a polygenetic transformation, really deserves its place in the NFO palette, but of course it's already there in the FIFé standard, designated by the symbol "y", and to remain consistent the x-color proposal does take it into account. I expect it will always be up to the individual breeder's taste whether to call his cat "black golden" or "warm brown" tabby. I didn't notice any cats at the recognition show that were called "golden", so didn't think to ask how you can see what is the golden part of the color and what is the fox - but I'm starting to wonder now. You will remember that some "x-colored" cats were actually registered as goldens in order that they might compete for certificates;  Dr. Langewische writes that while some of the "x" cats may indeed be golden as well as "fox", the new colors themselves cannot be identified as "golden". Dr. Langewische tells in his report of a test-mating that dealt with non-agouti x-colored cats. He says that although the new colors had only been observed in tabbies, there had been rumors of kittens born to x-color parents but having a different look. They were not shown, or they were sold as pets, or they were described as bad silvers. Actually, he says, their color at birth could be easily mistaken for silver, and there is a tabby pattern, a "ghost pattern", which fades away in time, as the basic fur color brightens. In the end, he says, these cats have "a very bright, red brown color, with dark brown colored noses without surroundings [i.e., borders], and dark brown paws. A third test-mating was performed to show that these animals may be non-agouti animals in the new colors." I did meet the father of this test mating, Aragon aus Broetzingen (parents: CH Icecats Grampus, NFO ns,  x  La-Luna av Arlesbrunnen, NFO x p 23), who had a rich rusty-hued coat. Apparently he was registered originally as a black-silver-mackerel-tabby, and he truly bears no resemblance at all to that color!  In the list accompanying the written proposal he is listed as black-fox-smoke. Born 9 June 2002, he still bears strong traces of the aforementioned ghost striping. Summing up, I would say we stand like this concerning the proposal. On the one hand, new-color breeders have worked hard and in good conscience. They have spent much time and money and would like, understandably, to see their work validated and their extremely handsome cats legitimized. They make the perfectly reasonable argument that for those breeders who do NOT like the x-colors, there is at this point no way to look at a pedigree and be sure whether or not they are hiding in the background. With proper documentation it would be possible to avoid the colors if one wished. It may be argued that research on the colors can be continued after recognition takes place, but many of us would prefer to have certainty first and recognition afterwards. (Thank goodness, they weren't recognized in 1998 as chocolate, lilac, fawn, and cinnamon!) Still, 12 years is a long time to work without any obvious reward, and I think everybody can understand the breeders' impatience. On the other hand, there is considerable resentment in the rest of the Forest Cat community because of an impression that the German proposal has been sprung on us unexpectedly. Of course, no country is obliged to consult any other before making a proposal to the General Assembly, but this is a topic we have been discussing on the international level for the past 10 years. It concerns all of us, and there is a strong feeling that international dialogue should have been sought on the drafting of the proposal. (I can't help remembering the extraordinary effort made by Jörgen Frithioff to involve breeders from all over the world in deciding what should go into the proposal for the updated NFO standard.) It is upsetting that the convenient timing of the proposal and the recognition show has made it impossible for the new NFO Breed Council to comment on them officially. It is unlikely that the next few years will bring any matter of similar importance before the council, and in all correctness they should have been given the opportunity to express their opinion. I was told in Neuenhausen that the new-color breeders had been quite open all along, and that all the news and pictures of kittens from the test matings were available online. Well, that's fine if someone tells you about it so you can go have a look at the web site, but no one did. I have over 170 breeders on this mailing list - including some who have worked with the x-colors - but the first I knew of this proposal was when a draft copy was handed to me ten minutes before the World Show meeting. I was also told that these cats have been showing in Germany for some time now. That's fine too, for people who go regularly to German shows. I myself last showed there in 1997. So I think the sentiment many breeders and certainly the BC members have of having been kept in the dark is not unfair. The Breed Council problem is as follows, and affects the councils for all breeds in this first year. In order to make a proposal to the General Assembly, the council must vote on it among themselves by the end of December; if there is a   majority in favor, the proposal is presented to FIFé in the three FIFé languages by the end of January. That's the rule. The glitch is that no provision was made for this year, and the councils were only just being formed at the end of December. For this reason, none of the councils is in a "legal" position to comment on proposals put forward concerning their breeds. We are most distressed by this, but are waiting to see what develops. There is a lot of discussion on the FIFé and the BC Secretaries' lists. I spoke at some length with FIFé president Eric Reijers about the problem, and some of you have probably read his comments to the FIFé list. He says the rules cannot be changed at this point, but that he is hoping there will be no proposals accepted concerning standard or colors for any breed before the pertinent councils have had a chance to review them. As I say, we are waiting it out, and trying to think of a solution. Before leaving you, I want to give you a list of the NFO BC members. Eric tells me that though the lists are officially "closed" for 2004, you may still send in your application and your ten Euros, and be part of all the Breed Council e-mail discussions. The only thing you would not be able to do would be vote - and as that doesn't look like an option this year anyway, what have you got to lose? It is true, we are conducting discussions almost exclusively in the English language, but I always think it's easier to read a foreign language - with a dictionary if necessary - than to listen to people speaking. If you are reading these messages I send you, then I think you should do fine in the BC group, so don't let the language discourage you from signing up! Reminder: you download the form from the FIFé site, study the requirements, fill it in, and send it along with 10 Euros to the president of the FIFé club where you have your pedigrees. That person will okay it and send it on to Penny Bydlinski. Sorry - I don't mean to leave the other associations out in the cold this time, but really, all my news at the moment seems to come from FIFé. Please bring me up to date about the rest of you out there! Are you also having discussions about the new colors? How would your associations and your breeders react if they are accepted in FIFé? If you have any further comments or questions you may contact Paula at [email protected] Back to Proposal Back to NFCFA