Brazilian Shorthair

In 1985 the engineer Paulo Samuel Ruschi, founder of Brazil's first cat federation and of the first cat club in Rio de Janeiro, set out to turn the cats living in his country's streets and parks into a breed. His theory is that they descend from Iberian cats that arrived on Portuguese ships from 1500 onwards and that, over the centuries, the climate made them lighter and more streamlined. After years of experimental breeding, the WCF accepted it in the late 1990s and it became the first Brazilian breed with international recognition. It is a medium-sized, agile cat, finer than the European but not as extreme as the Oriental type, with large ears, very expressive eyes and an extremely short coat with no undercoat. Playful when young and somewhat calmer as an adult.

The coat is almost no work: a rubber mitt now and then and little else, because it sheds very little. Daily play, scratching posts and high places. It adapts just as well to a flat as to a house, always with secure windows and balconies. Outside Brazil it is extremely rare as a pedigree cat; if it is the temperament you like, an ordinary cat adopted from a shelter is much the same.

Its genetic base is broad and no inherited diseases of its own have been described. It is affected by the common cat problems: tartar, excess weight, cystitis and kidney disease with age. Neutering, vaccinations, parasite control and an annual check-up, as for any cat.