History
In the 1960s, a cat, owned by Siamese cat breeder Dorothy Hinds-Daugherty, produced a litter of Siamese kittens in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Three of the kittens had unique markings, consisting of white points and feet. Intrigued by their looks, she began working to breed cats like them, using seal point Siamese with bicolor American Shorthairs. The offspring of those cats lacked the Siamese points, but by breeding the offspring to Siamese cats, the desired look was accomplished. Hinds-Daugherty named the breed "Snowshoe" because of their white feet. Hinds-Daugherty promoted the Snowshoe at local cats shows, though they were not recognized at the time. Hinds-Daughtery eventually abandoned the Snowshoe breeding program, and it was taken up by Vikki Olander.
Olander wrote the first breed standard for the Snowshoe, and succeeded in obtaining the Cat Fanciers Federation (CFF) and the American Cat Association's (ACA) "experimental breed" status for the Snowshoe in 1974. However, by 1977, Olander was the last breeder of the Snowshoe in the United States. After struggling to keep the breed alive, Olander was contacted by Jim Hoffman and Georgia Kuhnell, who were interested in the breed. Other breeders joined Olander, Hoffman, and Kuhnell, and they obtained the champion status from the CFF in 1983. In 1989, Olander left the program, as her fiancé was allergic to cats. However, by then the Snowshoe had a strong following, and the breed attained champion status with the American Cat Fanciers Association in 1990 and was recognized by The International Cat Association in 1993. Currently, breeders work to attain acceptance with the Cat Fanciers Association, but struggle with the lack of cats and breeders needed for the association's requirements.
Snowshoes are also fully recognized by the Fédération Internationale Féline, the American Association of Cat Enthusiasts, and the Cat Fanciers Federation.
Read more about this topic: Snowshoe (cat)
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