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York chocolat |
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TranslationFrancis Vandersteen |
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OriginThe York chocolat is a breed of cat native to the United States. |
| This cat is characterized by its chocolate-colored shorthair or semi-longhair coat. |
A brief historical overview |
| The breed was born accidentally in 1985 in New York State. Janet Chiefari owned a black and white semi-long-haired alley cat named Blacky. She had a litter with the neighbor's cat, an all-black male. In this litter, one little female stood out from the others: she was chocolate-colored. She was named Brownie. She also had a litter, including a black, semi-long-haired male named Minky. Together, they had two kittens, both semi-long-haired. The female was two-tone chocolate and white, the male uniformly chocolate. Janet Chiefari realized that she had two different kittens. Their fur was particularly soft and intensely colored. So she looked into genetics and set up a breeding program with her four cats. A cat judge confirmed that her cats were unique and unlike any other breed, and advised her to take them to shows. She went on to win several prizes, but always in the “alley cats” category. One thing led to another, and so began the process of getting the breed recognized. She chose a name very representative of these cats: York for the origin, chocolate for the color. The breed standard was established in 1990. At that time, the breed was still recognized as “experimental”. In 1992, the York chocolat was recognized as a definitive breed and admitted to shows. |
Behavior / characteristics |
| These cats are described as cheerful, energetic and playful. They are said to make friends with the whole family, but have a favorite human to whom they demand a lot of attention. However, these traits are entirely individual and depend above all on the history of each cat. |
Head |
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Cranial region |
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Head |
The head is almost round. | |
Facial region |
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Forehead |
The forehead is slightly rounded. | |
Eyes |
The eyes are oval, large and wide open. The two colors accepted are gold or green, with the exception of bicolor models, which accept blue or odd eyes (one gold, the other green). | |
Body |
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Generality |
This is a fairly large cat: 6 to 8 kilos for males and 4 to 5 kilos for females. | |
Tail |
| The tail is well furnished at the base and should be fairly long. |
Limbs |
| The legs are long and slender, yet powerful. | ||
Forequarters |
Hindquarters |
Feet |
| Rather small, round feet. |
Coat |
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Coat and texture |
The York chocolat coat is soft and silky. Dense but with very little undercoat, it is rather short and uneven on the shoulders, lengthening on the sides. A ruff is possible in winter. Accepted colors are chocolate and lilac, uniform or two-tone, but as intense as possible. Blue is pending recognition. | |
Authorized marriages |
| Only matings with other York chocolat are permitted. |
English (United Kingdom) 
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