The Australian Mist (formerly known as the Spotted Mist) is a
breed
of cat. This breed
was developed in
Australia
in the late 1970s, hence its name. The breed was developed by crossing the
Burmese,
Abyssinian, and
Domestic shorthair cats to create a shorthaired cat with a spotted coat. The
name was changed from 'Spotted Mist' to 'Australian Mist' in 1998 when cats with
marbled coats, rather than spots, were accepted as part of the breed.
Australian Mists are medium-sized shorthaired cats, with a round head and
large, expressive eyes. The coat patterns have three levels of definition; (1)
ground colour, paler than pattern; (2) pattern, delicate though distinct from
ground colour; (3) appears to wear a misted veil, caused by random ticking in
the solid colour areas. The legs and tail are ringed or barred, and the face and
neck also have delicate lines of color. Australian Mist cats come in seven
colors: brown, blue, chocolate, lilac, caramel, gold and peach.
As a relatively new breed, all Australian Mist catteries are in Australia,
however desexed cats have been introduced to America and several other
countries. The breed is now accepted for Championship status by the World Cat
Federation. The Australian Mist will celebrate 20 years as an accepted
Championship breed in Australia during 2006.