The Exotically Wild With A Twist!
Last Updated 02/22/2008
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11-14-07 Mohave Bob Article In Brazilian Caes & Cia Pet Magazine
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Translation
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Feline with varies peculiarities
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In the photo, the Mohave Bob cat still in development and origination of the mixture between four rare races: Desert Lynx (characterized for the wild aspect, spotted pelt and ears with tuffs ): Snow Bob (cat of short tail, with more fingers that the usual one): Selkirk Rex (famous for the long curled coat and): Highland Lynx (with wild aspect and ears turned for tras) the idealizer of the Mohave Bob, Stacy Adams of North American, involved with cats since 2004. Its objective to form a race that congregated the main characteristics of the ancestral ones: appearance of cat of the weeds; tuffs on the one in the ears; shortened or absent tail; more fingers that usual the five in the front and four in the back ones; pelagem crespa; e at least in part of the cases, ears with tips located for tras. The Mohave name was given in reference to the desert of Mohave, in Arizona, Place of origin of the race, the term bob comes of bobtail, that assigns to the lack of tail or its shortening. The first batch of Mohave was born in February of 2006. Today there are 22 units of the race in the world, all in U.S.A., the work of four breeders. The recognized Mohave and only for the Rare entity ties the moment and Exotic Feline Registry.
About Mohave Bobs
The Mohave Bob is a new breed created from crossing the Desert Lynx, Highland Lynx and Selkirk. The cross can produce up to 4 different mutation in one cat, these include the natural bob tail, polydactyl feet, curl back ears, and curled coats. Because of the genetics of the different mutations it is very important that these cats be breed carefully. NOTE MOHAVE BOB SHOULD NOT HAVE ANY WHITE ON THEM UNLESS THEY ARE SNOW COLOR POINTED!
NATURAL BOBTAIL
The natural bob tail, although I believe does not contain the Manx tailless gene but more of the Pixie Bob tail gene (This is not the tail gene found in the Manx, nor the Japanese Bobtail, nor any other breed.), there could be risks when breeding two natural short tails. This mainly would be if breeding stock has the gene for the Manx tailless in their lines. The Manx tailless gene is dominant; kittens from Manx parents are generally born without any tail. Having two copies of the gene is lethal and kittens are usually spontaneously aborted before birth. This means that tailless cats can carry only one copy of the gene. Because of the danger of having two copies of the tailless gene, breeders have to be careful about breeding two tailless Manxes together. Problems can be avoided by breeding tailless cats with tailed ones and this breeding practice is responsible for the decreasing occurrence of spinal problems in recent years. (wikipedia) In my personal breeding program I usually breed natural short tails to docked tails although my lines do not carry the Manx genes in the lines.
POLYDACTYL
The polydactyl feet too can have risks of extra claws between the thumb and forefingers that have a tendency to curl in the wrong direction. Breeders and owners need to watch for this in individuals in the breed with the polydactyl feet. Polydactyl (extra-toed) cats. There are probably many genes, both dominant and recessive, that cause polydactyl in cats. Most cases of polydactyl in cats are perfectly harmless. (http://www.messybeast.com/poly-cats.html)
Pd = Thumb-cat polydactyl gene. The Pd gene (dominant with incomplete penetrance) causes the benign, pre-axial form of polydactyl where one or more extra toes occur near the dew claw. Often, the dew claw is converted into a thumb. There are occasional problems such as fused claws or claws facing in the wrong direction, but generally, this form of polydactyl is harmless.
On the other hand, the "hamburger-feet" polydactyl gene is associated with gene for radial hypoplasia (RH). The 1995 European Convention for the Protection of Pet Animals considers RH an impairing condition. In a scandal in the late 1990s, an experimental breeder in Texas tried to perpetuate this deformity as the "Twisty Cat" breed. Mild RH can cause the post-axial form of polydactyl - enlarged paws, extra three-jointed toes on the outer, little-toe side of the paws, and no thumb. X-rays can determine the structure of the extra toes and whether the cat has the gene for RH. Cats with the gene for RH should never be bred. Cats with severe RH have unusually short front legs. They move like a ferret and they tend to sit like a squirrel or kangaroo and are colloquially known as squittens. In some RH cats, the forelegs are twisted with the long bones either severely shortened or absent. All polydactyl cats are banned from German cat shows, possibly because of confusion with the impairing form of polydactyl associated with RH.
CURLED EARS
This mutation is a dominant gene so litters will often contain a mix of curl-eared and prick-eared cats. It is impossible to tell which kittens will develop a good curl - they are all born prick eared. The ears curl up tightly over the next few days. During the next four months, the tight curl starts to relax until the final semi-curled state is reached. As far as is known, the gene does not cause detrimental side-effects.
The Hemingway Curl is a localized variety rather than a breed. The first Hemingway Curl appeared as a
spontaneous curl-eared mutation in a colony of polydactyl cats known as Hemingway cats (after the polydactyl cats of Ernest Hemingway) on Key West. Hemingway Curls have since been crossed with African Jungle cat hybrids to produce the Jungle Curl breed. (http://www.messybeast.com/foldear-cats.html)
The curled ear mutation is from the Highland Lynx and not the American Curl. The Highland Lynx was created
using a Hemingway Curl. Because of the curled ear mutation, ear need to be checks as part of their grooming routine. The curling of the ear can cause irritation of the ear where the hair follows the curve of the curl which can occur, increasing the production of ear wax. The outer area of the ear should be gently swabbed with q-tips, it is important not to swab deeply into the ear as you may only push wax against the ear drum, causing pain and an eventual ear infection
CURLED COAT
The curled coat (rex gene) mutation is a dominant spontaneous gene which causes each hair (guard, down and awn) to have a gentle wave or curl giving the coat a soft feel, from the Selkirk Rex, so litter will often contain a mix of curled coats and straight coats. The soft, plushy, curly coat should feel with loose, individual curls. The entire coat should show the effect of the rex gene although curliness may be evident more around the neck, tail and belly areas. The coat requires proper attention and can feel greasy on some individuals due to the oily skin. This is something found in most of the rex breeds and sometimes carries over to the production of a great deal of dark earwax that must be cleaned constantly. Some individual kittens may have tearing eyes that will require washing due to the Selkirk and the Selkirk outcross breeds.
Not all Mohave Bob kittens have all four mutations
