Australian Mists make perfect pets for children of all ages, even very young ones, as they are tolerant of handling, and are not inclined to scratch. As kittens they are lively, but sober up a little on maturity. Their life expectancy is in the mid to late teens.
Australian Mists thrive on human contact, making them happy to remain indoors between dusk and dawn or to be wholly indoor pets, an advantage as most people now prefer to keep their pets indoors. This also protects native wildlife. Some Mists can be trained to go for walks on a lead.
Their tendency to crawl into the nearest lap with or without invitation and to constantly hang around to see what people are up to, makes them excellent companions for home workers and those house bound due to illness or disability.
Neutered/spayed cats and kittens fit in easily with all sorts of cats and dogs. Selective breeding has further enhanced these qualities, creating a truly companionable pet, which quickly becomes a member of the family.
Emma and Chief
This carefully crafted breed of delicately spotted and marbled cats is tops for temperament, full of love and fun, bright but relaxed. Very popular with first time pedigree cat buyers, it's well bred but not extreme appearance appeals as essentially cat.
The Australian Mist is of moderate size, medium boned, rounded of head, with large eyes and ears. The coat is short, but resilient, the tail is plumply furred. The colours are warm brown, blue, chocolate, lilac, gold and peach; the pattern is of delicate spots or intricate marbled swirls against a misty ground, with legs and tail ringed and barred, and the face lined. Eyes are large and expressive in a range of greens. The nose, chin and whisker pads are broad giving the face a generous expression.
Developed over more than 43 years ago, the Australian Mist contains half Burmese, and a quarter each Abyssinian and Domestic. Burmese contributed the dilution for the colours, the laid back nature, four of the colours and some of the pattern, as well as general size and conformation. From the Abyssinian comes the beautiful ticking to develop the pattern, two colours, and a touch of lively intelligence. Domestics contributed the best with spots, but primarily to vigour, with a dose of cat genes improving teeth, kidneys, mothering qualities, and helping to stabilise litter sizes around the feline average of four. The exciting marbled pattern, accepted as part of the breed in 1997 has popped up throughout the development of the breed and is growing in popularity.
These delectable short-haired cats were the brain-child of Dr. Truda Straede (Nintu Cattery) and were developed from the idea to full register over nine years from 1977. This wholly AUSTRALIAN breed of cat has been created under the very strict regulations of the NSW Cat Fanciers Association Inc, and is now recognised by governing councils Australia wide. Sound husbandry and selection, combined with genetic insight, and the perseverance of the experimental breeders has led to a pleasingly uniform, but genetically broadly based population of cats, which are now available to any interested cat buyer.