User:Yujing Zhou/sandbox

Lingqing Lion Cat
Other names	Shandong lion cat shi mao (狮猫)
Common nicknames	Snow Lion, big white cat
Origin	China
Domestic cat (Felis catus)

LingQing lion cat

white lion cat

As known as Shandong Lion Cat. A cat breed not CFA certified, but most Chinese breeders believe it is a potential breed. Originated in Linqing, Shandong China. The standard LinQing lion Cat usually has pure white hair, the hair on neck and back has a length of up to 4-5 cm which makes them look like a lion when standing. The total number of LingQing lion cat is under 1000 now.

Physical characteristics

The classical lion cat has soft long hair on neck and back, which make them looks like little lion when they standing. Not like their ancestors Turkish Angora cat who only have a single layer of hair, lion cat has two layers hair and the undercoat layer is softer silky and thermal retention short hair. Compare to the Angora cat, Lion cat has a bigger robust body, and rounder head shape. The standard lingqing lion cats are required to have couple of eyes in different color (ying yang eyes) which is similar to persian cat, but lion cat has longer puss and straight nose.

Origin

The genetic origin is unclear yet, but there are two popular statement about it: 1. the ancestors of Lingqing lion cat is the Turkish Angora cat which was shipped to Xingjiang through the silk road, then they developed into a cold-resistant breed which has two layer of coat and larger size. 2. Lingqing lion cat is the hybridize species of local lihua cat and persian cat. The earliest official record of this cat is in Ming dynasty, 《万历野获编》（wang-li-ye-huo-bian）.Emperor Jiajing made a golden coffin for his lion cat.

Popularity

"Pair of Cats and Baby at Play" (狸奴婴戏图), a painting by an anonymous Chinese artist of the Song Dynasty period.

This high quality cat breed with great ornamental value is often given to guests as a local treasure. Linqing lions and cats raised in the homes of residents in Beijing, Shanghai, tianjin and other big cities are all from this source.

In ancient China, the lion cat was regarded as a precious gift which could bring the good luck and was popular in royal family. Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio has one story about lion cat, called 《the grate rat》. The story is about a magical, intelligence lion cat killed an evil gaint rat. Gong Zizhen, a poet of the late Qing Dynasty, wrote a poem praising the lion cat --《memories of lion cat in the North》.

Breeding Controversy

Lion cat used to be a stable breed in ancient China, which has significant, unique heritable feature. This breed shrinks due to the history issue and the import foreign pet breeds. Even though hard to find purebred Lion cat nowadays, however there is a lot of Chinese cat breeders believe this is a high potential breed, the main reasons are: 1. the genetic base of this cat is already exist, so it's possible to revive this species by Line breed bred traits breeds. 2. As the popularity of imported pets' declines, more and more Chinese breeder begin to pursue the classic breed again, which extend the market of old Chinese species cat. 3.Even though lion cat has not been confirmed by any famous cat association yet, it don't mean it is not existing. Just like the Lihua cat which has been exist for thousands of years but has just got international recognition recently by CFA.

External links

• strange tales from a chinese studio-THE GREAT RAT
• Acceptance and Advancement of New Breeds and Colors
• The Messybeast.com Cat Breed List
• Lingqing lion cat breeding resource develop and analyse in Chinese.

Category:Cat breeds Category:Natural cat breeds Category:Cat breeds originating in China