What is a Pedigree Cat?
The pedigree certificate is the key to every bit of record-keeping that is so vital to planned cat breeding; breeding that
will produce desired results. The certificate authenticates a specific cat as a full-fledged member of its breed. Most go back over four genera-tins of the cat’s parentage, although some organizations require as many as seven.
The pedigree is a natural step in a progression that began with the first cat shows in the mid-19th century. Owners began to have pride in their pets, to try to arrive at the “perfect” design for their pets, and finally to exhibit their results for others to see — and compete with.
Establishing standards of excellence for the “ideal” animal was the natural next step, followed by pedigree records as the means to authenticate and trace ancestry. But the pedigree certificate is much more than a guide to the past. In the hands of a knowledgeable and skilled breeder, it can he like a line dessert recipe in the hands of a master chef. There, in ice cat’s ancestry the breeder can learn of the recessive genes that the animal carries and can pass on to its genetic heirs. The breeder can also learn of the amount of inbreeding that taken place in the cat’s ancestors and the animal relationship to other, possibly noted and prize bloodlines.
A pedigree with gaps can be like a recipe with 1 ingredients not listed. The result of breeding animal, or making the dessert, is anyone’s guess. Atop course, just as in making a fine dessert, variables minter into the process occasionally, giving us somethithat no one could have anticipated. Mutation is one those variables in breeding.
Exactly when a breed or variety gets its official “papers” depends on the registering organization? Some allow kittens to be registered to ensure thither will be proper record-keeping for several wearier to being admitted to show. Others demand thseveral generations of the potential new breed first produced. Still others insist that a certain number tats or breeders be involved with a new breed befor0can be recognized.