The California Spangled is a breed of domestic cat that was bred to resemble spotted wild cats, like the ocelot and leopard. They were originally bred in the 1980s and were only ever a rare breed, and usually expensive, priced between US$800 and $2,500. The popularity of two other spotted cats breeds, the Ocicat and the Bengal, overshadowed their development.
Inspired by the poaching death of a leopard, the anthropologist Louis Leakey motivated Paul Arnold Casey, Jr. of California to breed a domestic cat resembling a small leopard in order to emphasize how important it was to preserve the leopard.
California Spangled cats are a crossbreed of many strains, including the Abyssinian, American Shorthair and British Shorthair. Despite their wild appearance, they are completely domestic.
Read more about California Spangled: History, Appearance, Personality
Famous quotes containing the words california and/or spangled:
“But why go to California for a text? She is the child of New England, bred at her own school and church.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“I shall state silences more competently than ever a better man spangled the butterflies of vertigo.”
—Samuel Beckett (1906–1989)