Snowshoe Cat

A relatively new breed, the snowshoe cat first appeared by accident. In the late 1960's, shares PetMD, a Siamese cat breeder in Philadelphia, was startled to find three kittens in a litter with the common Siamese pattern, but with unusual white feet and 'socks.' The fur babies charmed the socks right off the woman, and after a slow start, she sought and received assistance from another breeder. This led to the crossing Siamese cats with American shorthairs, says PetMD however, over the past few decades, the preferred combination for snowshoes is the Oriental shorthair and the stockier, older Siamese, developing the breed as it is known today.

Another contributing factor in the slow rise and the rarity of the Snowshoe is that it adheres to such a rigid, preferred pattern, the markings of which are described above, which has impeded the breed's ability to achieve recognition from many of the world's leading cat organizations. It's very difficult to reproduce these types of markings because they're the result of recessive genes.

Additionally, the recorded history of the breed is spotty and inconsistent. According to TICA, Much of the history of the Snowshoe was lost due to poorly kept records over time, thus making it difficult to trace its ancestry. Interest in the Snowshoe fell to a low point in the 1970s but then its popularity was on the upswing, and the breed was accepted as experimental in the '80s, reaching full status recognition from TICA and American Cat Fanciers' Association (ACFA) in the '90s.

One of pop culture's most famous cats, Grumpy Cat (whose real name is Tardar Sauce), bears some resemblance to a Snowshoe, but her owners say she's a mixed breed. They say she looks to have some Persian, Ragdoll, or Snowshoe in her line. Tardar Sauce's parents, though, are not Siamese or direct descendants of an Asian line.

Interestingly, the ACFA notes that, although a new breed, the Snowshoe cat characteristics have popped up before the 1960s: There is evidence of its existence both in an old Victorian photograph of a purebred litter of Siamese in which the front kitten has four white feet and in an old Japanese silk-screen showing one peering around a corner at a spider. These two examples illustrate that the anomaly of white-footed Siamese has intrigued cat lovers for much longer than a few decades.

The Snowshoe cat characteristics that make her a unique and rare kitty are the very same features that cat lovers find endearing and delightful. She loves nothing more than to snuggle up with her pet parents and share the love.