Truda's dream started way back in 1975 when she acquired her first pedigree show cat, a Blue Burmese girl. Sadly she died quite young and Truda was heartbroken but undeterred she got another and a Brown. She also treated herself to a Tawny (Usual) Abyssinian girl.
The first time she showed them she won Best Kitten with the Brown girl and although the Blue didn't do very well on the show circuit, she gave Truda lots of lovely kittens.
Neither of these are in the Australian Mist ancestry but Truda's first Abyssinian is. She is the mother of NINTU NEPENTHYS, a Cinnamon Abyssinian and the source of the light brown gene from which the Gold and Peach Mists are derived.
Initially her Abyssinian was a nightmare to get into kitten and would go off call as soon as she was put in the car to go to stud. Eventually Truda trundled her around the corner to a friends Burmese stud and success!!. She produced a lovely litter of kittens and from then on Truda was able to take her to stud without any problems.
Meanwhile, back around the corner, the hybrid daughter had decided to make her own arrangements and had a litter of wildly striped, necklaced ticked tabbies and some fantastic spotted tabbies.
This triggered ides which started to grow and Truda planned to mate this hybrid girl to her own stud but it never happened. So Truda created her own Burmese x Abyssinian.
Around the same time Truda also made an application to The Royal Agricultural Society of Cat Control for an experimental licence but was told to go away, produce some kittens to support her theories and then they might consider it.
She wasn't a very experienced breeder nor did she have any idea of the time, cost andthe heartbreaks that lay ahead of her. It was never part of her plan to devote the better part of her life to developing a new breed.
It took her a couple of years to breed the kittens to produce in support of her application for an experimental licence and move forward.
Truda was Experimental Breed Co-Ordinator for the New South Wales Cat Fanciers Association (The direct heir of the RASCC).
The breed was temporarily called "Spotted Mist Foreign Shorthairs" and for the first ten years "The Spotted Mist"
Truda felt it a bit pretentious to call them Australian but finally with the development of the Marbled pattern she felt there was a pressing need to change the name.
In 1998 this beautiful breed was named "The Australian Mist"
They have been developed over more than 20 years and have a large gene pool of over 30 foundation cats.

Australian Mists are a cocktail of half Burmese and a quarter each of Abyssinian and Domestic.
The Burmese contributes the dilution for the colours, the "laid back" nature, four of the colours, some pattern and the general size and conformation.
From the Abyssinian comes the ticking to develop the pattern, two colours and a touch of lively intelligence.
As for the Domestics, these contribute the best spots but mainly their vigour and a spoonful of "uncossetted" cat genes to improve teeth,kidneys and mothering qualities. They also help stabilize the litter sizes to around the feline average of four.

The exciting Marbled pattern, accepted as part of the Breed in 1997 has "popped up" throughout the development of the breed and is growing in popularity.

The breed is the brainchild of Dr truda M Straede of the NINTU cattery and was developed from an idea way back in 1977 to full register in 9 years. This is a wholly Australian breed of cat which has been created under the very strict regulations of the NSW Cat Fanciers Association Inc. It is now recognised by the governing councils Australia wide.

Sound Husbandry and Selection, combined with Genetic insight and the perseverence of experimental breeders, has led to a pleasing uniform but genetically broad based population of cats which are now available to any interested buyer.

Interestingly Truda has time for a hobby amidst all these goings on.
She breeds
MAINE COONS!!
"Way to go Truda" :o)

Australian Mist Description, Temperament & Suitability

A moderate, medium boned cat with round heads and large ears and eyes. Their coats are short but resilient and it shows a delicate pattern of spots or marble swirls against a misty background. Their legs and tails are barred and ringed and their faces lined. Eyes are large and expressive and the nose, whiskerpads and chin broad which gives them a generous expression.

Australian Mists are excellent mothers, moderate breeders and superlative studs. Neutered cats, females and kittens fit in very easily with all sorts of other pets. Their belief that no person or animal could do anything but love them makes integration very easy with any but the extremely aggressive. The temperment is such that the entire males can live in small groups together.
Being people orientated they are quite content to be indoor pets and happily remain indoors between dusk and dawn. The hunting instinct of cats cannot be changed but can be redirected towards interacting with people.
They are a true companionable pet which quickly become members of the family.
A very tolerant cat, disinclined to scratch making them an excellent pet for children of any age. As kittens they are lively but do sober as they grow up. They take to the nearest lap with or without invitation and like to hang around and see what their people are up to.
For showing, Australian Mists seem to enjoy the outing and the attention. Best in Show awards are frequent and several cats both entire and neutered have reach the dizzy heights of Gold Double Grand Champion status. Both Spotted and Marbled Mists have been awarded the much coveted
"Supreme Exhibit in Show" 

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