Personality:
- Intelligent, playful, and athletic.
- Affectionate and tactile.
- Happiest when they can share their household with a companion animal.
History:
Until breeders worked to remove it, at the turn of the century many Siamese had white markings. The Snowshoe is a return to a Siamese of Victorian times, with a heavier body, rounder head, and striking white markings. To create the breed, cat fanciers crossed traditional Applehead-style Siamese with blue or black bicolored American Shorthairs. Accepted for championship in The International Cat Association (TICA) in 1994. Not accepted by the Cat Fanciers’ Association (CFA).
Body Type:
- Medium-sized, well-balanced, long and firm without being extreme.
- Head is a broad, modified wedge with medium, slightly-rounded tip ears.
- Brilliant blue eyes have an oval shape.
Coat:
- Coat is short to medium short, smooth, and close lying.
- Basically a pointed cat, with a paler base coat and either blue or seal colored points on face, ears, legs, and tail.
- White markings can be found in various degrees on the face, chin, chest, stomach, and feet.
- Only Snowshoes with extensive white mustaches, a prominent white blaze, or a white V-mark on the face, can be shown.
- Piebald patterned cats—cats having white on 50% of their body or with white on the back and hips—are sold with alter agreements only.
Health and Wellness:
- Because this breed is a hybrid with traditional Siamese in their background, some cats will have kinked tails and/or crossed eyes. These defects do not affect the well being of the cat but are grounds for disqualification in the show ring.
What you should know:
- Since Snowshoes are still a relatively new breed, there are still a lot of different ideas about what they should look like.
- Do research before purchasing your Snowshoe and discuss variations with breeders.
- Because the breed was founded by using traditional style Siamese, some Snowshoes may have kinked tails or crossed eyes.
