DreamQuete Exotics and Highlanders
"A meow massages the heart."
- Stuart McMillan
HIGHLANDERS!
TICA's Newest Preliminary New Breed!!
Look for us in the show halls as we begin showing our cats in PNB
beginning May 1, 2008
This is NorthshoreCats Jazz of DreamQuete
He is a seal lynx point shorthaired Highlander. Jazz is our new Highlander boy, and we are expecting great things out of him as our foundation stud. He has nice heavy boning, sturdy body, wonderful square muzzle, and nice ears that should relax into the nice Highlander curl as he matures. I will be posting pictures as he grows! While his eyes look red in the pic, they are a beautiful blue. Many thanks to Brian and Sharon of NorthshoreCats for this amazing boy!
Earizistibles Aria of DreamQuete
has joined our Highlander family along with her sepia spotted shorthair sister, Rory. Aria is a gorgeous blue sepia classic tabby cpc longhaired girl who will be one of the foundation queens in our Highlander program. She has the perfect degree of ear curl, and look at that wonderful muzzle! Thank you Cindy of Simply Earizistibles for his wonderful girl!
We hope to have our first litter of Highlander kittens in spring/summer of 2008 . . .if Jazz cooperates!
Please visit these Highlander breeders:
NorthshoreCats J-Zee of DreamQuete
The Origin of Highlander Breed:
The Highlander breed first began development in 2004 with its roots tracing back to the Highland Lynx,. An east coast breeder developed the Highland Lynx in 1993 and although given the name that included “lynx”, these domestic cats were not of any lynx ancestry. These cats immediately attracted interest and a devoted following rapidly developed due to their unique looks, size, and playful, clown-like personalities. Upon welcoming the Highland Lynx into our homes and families we immediately realized that these cats were special, both in personality and looks. Uniting together we worked to set up our breeding programs and develop a standard that we all agreed to adhere to and began working to develop a cat with a “big cat look” in a purely domestic breed.
In late 2005 we took the name Highlander to further identify our cats as a breed of their own merit. We worked diligently to educate the public; to bring about an awareness of how special these cats are, both in personality and looks; and mostly to earn respectability for this breed and eventual championship status as a member of the cat fancy in one of the largest cat registries in the world, TICA
Our foundation cats were carefully hand picked for the qualities important to our development in producing the Highlander’s “big cat look“, with domestic short hair and domestic long hair being allowed as acceptable outcrosses when needed. It is important to note that Highlanders have never used any other recognized breed as an outcross.
We have carefully selected each and every Highlander foundation cat by a combination of the unique Highlander profile that immediately draws attention to the long-sloping forehead, intense wide-set eyes separated by a wide nose with substantial nose leather that gives the Highlander a look of its own. The nose, muzzle, and chin form a blunt look, giving an overall boxy appearance in profile. The Highlander has also maintained the loose curl that affects the top 1/3rd of the ear. It is not a tight curl like the American Curl, and we believe it came from a Canadian breed called the Hemingway Curl through the Highland Lynx. These incredible features all tie together to create the unique “big cat” look of the Highlander breed in a domestic cat.
Highlander breeding programs continue to selectively breed to protect and enhance this distinctive look as well as to enhance the bloodlines to keep them genetically different and pure from other breeds.
Although their look is one of power and fierceness, Highlanders are fun-loving,
good-natured cats that constantly entertain their humans with zany antics. They enjoy being the center of attention.
Highlander Breeders Group
Look at that near-perfect profile!!
Although in the summer of 2007 the Highlander was an Experimental breed seeking advancement to Preliminary New Breed and could not be shown in TICA for Championship titles, the kittens may be shown from the ages of 4-8 months as Household Pet Kittens (HHPK). Aria and Jazz showed their stuff at the Great Lakes Regional Show in Grand Rapids, Michigan on August 3-5, 2007. It was a wonderful time showing these darling kittens to judges, exhibitors and spectators, most of whom were seeing a Highlander for the first time. The expression on judge Dwayne Barnes' face in the picture below with Aria pretty much says it all. The Highlanders were a hit!
Above: Judge Dwayne Barnes' 2nd Best All Breed HHPK, Jazz!
Right: Judge Dwayne Barnes and Aria.
Far Right: Judge Bobbie Tullo and Jazz.
Right: Judge Connie Webb's Best All Breed HHPk, Aria!
Far Right: Connie with Jazz
Below: Connie judging Aria and Jazz.
Left: Judge Judy Chapetta and Aria.
Right: Aria wants to escape from Judge Lisa Dickie's AB ring!
Below: Judge Judy Chappetta with Aria and Jazz.
Aria earned 5 Best HHP Kitten awards at this show and finaled in 15/17 rings.
Scroll down to the bottom of the page to read the article, "The Incredible Highlander," published in the January, 2008, TICA Trend, the official journal of The International Cat Association!
THE OFFICIAL TICA BREED STANDARD FOR THE HIGHLANDER CAT
HIGHLANDER BREED GROUP (HG/HL)
The Highlander (HG) is a medium to large shorthair domestic cat. Well-muscled and feral in looks, the Highlander has the look of the "big cats" in a purely domestic breed. Highlanders are playful and good natured. The Highlander Longhair (HL) is the long hair version.
HEAD40 points
Shape 6
Ears 10
Eyes 5
Chin 6
Muzzle 6
Nose 4
Profile 3
BODY40 points
Torso 10
Tail 10
Boning 8
Musculature 7
Legs/Feet 5
COAT/COLOR/PATTERN20 points
Length 4
Texture 4
Pattern 6
Color 6
CATEGORY: All.
DIVISION: Solid, Tortie, Tabby, Silver/Smoke.
COLORS: All.
PERMISSIBLE OUTCROSSES: Domestic longhair/shorthair, not a member of a recognized breed..
HEAD:
Shape: Wide inverted pear-shaped head with substantial width to muzzle.
Eyes: Medium to large set far apart. Set on a slight bias. Slightly flattened oval in shape. Eye color independent of coat color except in Pointed Category
Ears: Medium to large, wide at the base, set as much on the top of the head as on the side, as erect as possible. Ears must be firm at the base, flexible at the tips. Loose relaxed curl with little backward direction, allowing the tips of the ears to be clearly visible in a frontal view. Ear furnishings and ear tufts are desired but not required. Kittens may have a greater degree of curl but not more than 90o.
Muzzle: Full, wide, strong with a definite break. Prominent whisker pads should make muzzle appear squared. Muzzle length makes head appear longer than wide.
Chin: Strong and deep. Must align with top of jaw.
Profile: Rounded back skull, sloping forehead, straight profile. Nose, muzzle and chin form a blunt look in profile
Nose: Wide with substantial nose leather
BODY:
Torso: Medium to large in size with noticeable depth. Rectangular in shape. Straight back with hips higher than shoulders. Overall muscled, athletic appearance. Males are proportionally larger than females.
Legs: Medium in length, back legs longer than front..
Feet: Medium to large, rounded with large knuckles. Longhair (HL) must have toe tufts.
Tail: Short and thick. Bone length must be a minimum of 2 inches in adults with proportional length in kittens. Must not extend past the hock. Slight kinks and curls are allowed.
Boning: Moderately heavy and substantial.
Musculature: Well-muscled.
COAT/COLOR/PATTERN:
Length:
(HG) Short, dense and resilient.
(HL) Long hair up to 2-1/2 inches with shaggy belly hair, longer than the rest of the coat.
Texture:
There will be texture variations depending upon the color of the cat.
(HG) Resilient, snapping back into place
(HL) Soft
Pattern:
Spotted : Random pattern preferred. Spots should be well-defined. May be oval, round, squared or triangular in shape.
Classic: Will have spots and swirls distinguishing it from the normal classic pattern.
Pointed: Expression of the underlying tabby pattern is desirable.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION: The Highlander began its development in 2004, tracing its roots back to the Highland Lynx. The Highland Lynx that were originally used in the development of the Highlander have no other breeds within a three generation pedigree. The Highlander is a muscular, athletic domestic cat. Selective breeding has contributed to protecting the unique features and enhance the bloodlines. Highlander cats come in both short hair and long hair.
LOCKETS: Withhold All Awards
ALLOWANCES: Tarnishing in Silvers
PENALIZE: Ears that are not open or wide based, ears too small or low set. Tips of ears not visible from frontal view in adults. Kittens with more than 90o curl.
DISQUALIFY: Ears not erect. Tail too short, too long or docked.
Temperament must be unchallenging; any sign of definite challenge shall disqualify. The cat may exhibit fear, seek to flee, or generally complain aloud but may not threaten to harm. In accordance with Show Rules, ARTICLE SIXTEEN, the following shall be considered mandatory disqualifications: a cat that bites (216.9), a cat showing evidence of intent to deceive (216.10), adult whole male cats not having two descended testicles (216.11), cats with all or part of the tail missing , except as authorized by a Board approved standard (216.12.1), cats with more than five toes on each front foot and four toes on each back foot, unless proved the result of an injury or as authorized by a Board approved standard (216.12.2), visible or invisible tail faults if Board approved standard requires disqualification (216.12.4), crossed eyes if Board approved standard requires disqualification (216.12.5), total blindness (216.12.6), markedly smaller size, not in keeping with the breed (216.12.9), and depression of the sternum or unusually small diameter of the rib cage itself (216.12.11.1). See Show Rules, ARTICLE SIXTEEN for more comprehensive rules governing penalties and disqualifications.
