SNOWSHOE

A white-footed breed made in AmericaThis new breed resulted from a desire to combine into one cat the points of the Siamese and the gloved paws of the Birman. It was created in the United States in the 1960s by Dorothy Hinds-Daugherty, a breeder in Philadelphia, by crossing the Siamese with the bicolor American Shorthair. The Snowshoe looks like a hefty Siamese sporting white gloves.Recognized by T.I.C.A. in the 1980s, the breed has been somewhat successful in the United States but remains rare.

Head:Medium-sized, shaped almost like an equilateral triangle (u), with slightly rounded contours. Slightly flat forehead. High cheekbones. Fairly broad muzzle, neither too broad nor pointed or angular. No whisker pinch (u). Straight nose with very slight curve at the base of the forehead. Firm chin.
Eyes:Fairly large, oval, walnut-shaped, slightly slanted. Separated by one eye-width. Color: blue, as intense as possible.
Body:Well-balanced, semi-foreign, can be inscribed in a rectangle. Croup slightly higher than shoulders. Slightly arched back. Medium-boned. Muscles powerful but not massive.
Tail:Length in proportion to the body. Moderately thick at the base, tapering slightly to the tip.
Coat:Short, thick, shiny hair lying flat against the body. Very slight undercoat. Classic Siamese colors: seal, blue, chocolate, and lilac.The color of the extremities (points) should contrast clearly with the body color, which is always lighter. The eyes are always blue.Inverted V on the forehead, white markings on the paws. Ideally, four even gloves. The nose leather may be white with no coloring, flesh colored, or multi-colored.In the mitted variety, the white should cover no more than 1/3 the body. In the bicolor, the white should cover no more than 2/3 the body. Among the recognized varieties are:- seal point: dark buff coat on the back, light buff on the belly and chest with brown points- blue point: bluish-white body, with a lighter belly and chest. The points are dark bluish-gray.Snowshoes are born all white, and the points darken with age.