The East Sussex Cat Club

Welcome to the Asian Tiffanie breed profile

Tiffany cat - Arthur
photograph ©lapietra (Marianne)

As is often the case the history is a little cloudy. I feel the history of a cat breed's creation and development is quite important as to certain extent, it defines the breed. This is particularly so in the case of the Thai (Traditional Siamese), for example.
reading of the history of the Tiffany cat is that either this cat is a discovered cat (in 1967) and bred from thereon, or the breed is the creation of crossing Foreign Longhair/Angora, Havana, and Abyssinian cats.
In 1967 a cattery owner, bought two young semi-foreign long haired chocolate colored cats, one male and one female as part of the sale of an entire estate (this may have been on the death of the previous keeper). These two cats mated and in "breeding true" all the offspring where the same as their parents. The color is a "self color" (solid color with no banding on the hair shafts). In Canada in 1973, and running almost in parallel with the USA creation/development of this breed, it is said that the same type of cat, of unknown ancestry, as had happened in the USA, turned up at the home of a Canadian. Thus began the Tiffany cat's history in Canada, from which point, breeders began to develop the breed.

Another confusing area is the name of this breed. You'll see this cat breed called both Tiffany and Chantilly. They describe the same cat breed. What apparently happened is that British breeders of the Burmilla began calling the long haired version of their cat breed, "Tiffanie". The long haired Burmilla is described as the Tiffanie on the GCCF website (2008). To try and avoid confusion the Canadian breeders coined the name "Chantilly" for their cat. As a result the cat breed has two names. The name selected depends on which cat association is used for registration.

TICA and CFA don't register the Tiffany or Chantilly. The ACFA register the Chantilly as "EXP" (presumed to mean "experimental"). The Traditional Cat Association calls this breed "Tiffany/Chantilly". The Cat Fanciers Federation don't seem to recognize the Tiffany cat. I wonder whether the confused history/development has something to to do with the reluctance of cat associations to recognize this cat breed.

It seems that in Australia the Tiffany is a cross between the Burmese and Birman (although the Australian Tiffany breeder (see below), which provided this information from their website spells this breed "Burman"). Sorry about this but there is an Australian Tiffanie as well. This is a Longhaired Burmilla and Chinchilla Persian hybrid. Because there is some confusion over the naming of breeds Tiffanie, Tiffany, Longhaired Burmilla etc., I decided I'd try and explain the difference. See the explanation here. The chocolate Tiffany cat is the original color. The chocolate coloring has lighter patches and picks up the light beautifully as shown in the heading picture.

Through outcrossing, the coat colors have been expanded to include: cinnamon, fawn, lilac, blue and black. Patterns have also been introduced including: ticked (the Abyssinian is the classic ticked cat), mackerel (see this pattern on the Toyger, for example) and spotted (the Bengal is the classic spotted cat for me, but another cat with a great spotted coat is the Egyptian Mau).

Being semi-longhaired means a certain amount of upkeep but less than the high maintenance Persian, which is long haired. In addition there is no undercoat, which reduces matting. The Tiffany cat has nice ear furnishings. Their coat is nice and silky to the touch, rich in color and very full.

Breeders of this cat are concerned with retaining the original conformation, which is very normal and balanced, a great asset for a cat breed. All the most popular breeds have a balanced appearance. Tiffany cats have lovely plumed tails.

GCCF Standard of Points

General Type Standard  for all Asian Short Hairs and Semi-Longhairs

 The cats of the Asian Group are elegant cats of medium size and foreign type; the overall type should be the same as the Burmese cat.  Any tendency to Siamese type or the cobbiness of the British is not permissible.  In character they are alert, active and intelligent with a very friendly disposition.

Head – Forms a short balanced wedge with width at the cheekbones tapering to a blunt muzzle and showing good width at the jaw-hinge. The top of the head should be gently rounded between the ears, which are set well apart.  In profile the head should show a good depth between the top of the skull and the lower jaw, the brow should curve gently to the bridge of the nose with a distinct nose break; the nose should be straight with the tip of the nose leather in line with the chin.  The chin should be firm and of good depth, and the bite level and even. The head, elegantly carried on a neck of medium-thickness, should be in proportion to the body.

Ears - Medium to large in size, broad at the base with rounded tips and set well apart so that the outer line of the ears continues the angle of the upper part of the face to produce a butterfly-wing outline from the front.  In profile the ears should have a slight forward tilt.  Ear tufts and streamers are preferable in the Asian Semi-longhair (Tiffanie).  Allowance should be made for correctly shaped but over-large ears in kittens where the head size and shape is still developing.

Eyes – Large and lustrous and set wide apart, the top lid forms a slight curve slanted towards the nose, the lower lid is fuller and more rounded; overall the eye shape and set is distinctive, giving a unique expression typical to the Asian and Burmese breeds.

Body - Slender and of medium length and size, it should feel hard, lithe and muscular and heavier than its appearance indicates.  The back should be straight from shoulder to rump.  The chest should be generous and gently rounded, but not disproportionately broad.

Legs and paws - The legs should be slender, elegant and in proportion to the body, of medium length with the hind legs slightly longer than the front legs, paws neat and oval in shape.

Tail - Medium to long, to balance the body, carried proud and of medium thickness, tapering slightly to a rounded tip.   The length should be sufficient for the tip to reach the shoulder when the tail is brought gently around the side of the body.

Coat - The coat of the Asian Shorthair should be short, fine and lie close to the body, the texture should be smooth and satin-like with a glossy appearance.  The Asian Semi-longhair (Tiffanie) should have a fine and silky coat, medium long, except over the shoulders and without a woolly undercoat. 

Condition and temperament - The Asian should be an even-tempered cat.  Any extreme or aggressive temperament should not be encouraged by breeding and should be penalised by Judges on the show bench.

SOP Specifically For Tiffanie

Coat Pattern and Colours - The coat may be Black, Blue, Chocolate, Lilac, Red, Cream, Caramel, Apricot, Cinnamon, Fawn, Black Tortie, Blue Tortie, Chocolate Tortie, Lilac Tortie, Caramel Tortie, Cinnamon Tortie, Fawn Tortie or the Burmese colour restriction of any of these colours or their silver varieties, in any of the recognised Asian patterns. 

N.B.  The Tabby patterns will be less distinct on the semi-longhair coat.

Coat Length and Texture – Medium long except over the shoulders where a shorter length is permitted, fine and silky in texture, without a woolly undercoat.  The coat should appear dense, but lie flat along the spine and display a glossy shine; the coat should lengthen down the body to form fringes or “frills” along the lower edges of the body and under-parts. The tail should be plume-like.  The furnishings from inside the ears should form streamers and tufts at the tips of the ears are preferable.  A ruff is desirable in the mature cat and, all other things being equal, preference should be given to the cat with a ruff and full breeches.  Tiffanies do not normally achieve full coat until mature (2 years plus) and allowance should be made for shorter coats and lack of ruff in kittens and adolescent cats.  Allowance should also be made for toe-tufts making paws seem larger than they really are.

Note:  The coat lies flat along the body, but forms a ruff around the neck and tends to form fringes or frills along the lower body thereby disguising the underlying bone structure.  By smoothing back the coat it is possible to study the lines of the body, which should be of slender, elegant and of medium Foreign type exactly as per General Type for all Asian cats.

Withhold all Awards for:

1. As in Asian General Type standard

Withhold Certificates or First prizes in Kitten open Classes for:

1. Too short a coat in adults

2. Shaggy, woolly, coarse or badly groomed coat. 

3. Heavy boned cobby body or legs, large round paws; any tendency towards Persian type 

4. General Asian withholding faults.

Faults:

1. Lack of plume, ruff or breeches in a mature adult.
2. General Asian faults

SCALE OF POINTS