Scatty Cats online resource for cat lovers, breeders and owners.
We are devoted to providing a wealth of invaluable information, details and contacts for cat owners and breeders
 

Selective breeding in domesticated animals is the process of developing a cultivated breed over time.

Selective Breeding Methods

In general, the owners of the animals use three strategies to refine local populations:

1. Isolation. There must be a period in which the members of the group are relatively fixed, so that no new genetic material comes in. Without genetic isolation of the group, the differentiation that creates a new breed cannot take place.
2. Artificial selection. Breeders must prevent random mating from coming about, and limit mating to those individuals who exhibit desired characteristics. One logical consequence of this isolation is the next characteristic: inbreeding.
3. Inbreeding. Ordinarily those who are controlling the artificial breeding will find it necessary at some stage to employ a degree of linebreeding (mating within one bloodline, or strain) or inbreeding (mating closely related individuals), to facilitate the weeding-out of undesired characteristics and the fixation of desired traits. Inbreeding and linebreeding are controversial aspects of artificial selection, but have been practiced for centuries.

The Appaloosa horse, which was developed by the Nez Percé Indians in the Northwest United States, provides an example. The Spanish colonists had established horse breeding in what is now New Mexico by about 1600, and the Spaniards of that era were known to have horses with spotted coats. By 1806 (when they are mentioned in journals kept by the Lewis and Clark expedition) the Nez Percé were observed to have developed strong, hardy, spotted horses.

It is not known if the Nez Percé practiced inbreeding, but they were reputed to geld stallions judged unsuitable for breeding, and to trade away mares likewise unsuitable for breeding, which accomplishes the goals of isolation and artificial selection.

In Europe, the first use of this process was recorded in mid 18th century England, by Robert Bakewell and Thomas Coke

Closed vs. open studbook

A studbook is the official registry of approved individuals of a given breed kept by a breed association. It is said to be "closed" if individuals can be added only if their parents were both registered. It is said to be "open" if individuals can be added without their parents being registered, such as by inspection.

Studbooks have been kept for centuries; the concept of the breed associations and clubs is more recent. Most of the "purebred horses" have open studbooks. For example, a "purebred" Arabian mare can be "examined" by the Trakehner authorities; if she is found acceptable, her offspring can be registered as Trakehner. By contrast, the studbooks of purebred dogs only remain open if the breed is under development or if there is deemed to be an insufficient genepool.

Crossbreeding and backbreeding

In some registries, breeders may apply for permission to crossbreed other breeds into the line to emphasize certain traits, to keep the breed from extinction or to alleviate problems caused in the breed by inbreeding from a limited set of animals. A related preservation method is backbreeding, used by some equine and canine registries, in which crossbred individuals are mated back to purebreds to eliminate undesirable traits acquired through the crossbreeding.

Some horse societies accept crossbreds who meet certain criteria onto the breed registry.

Purebred Cats, Dogs and the Debate over 'Breed Purity'

Most purebred cats and dogs of breeds recognized by all-breed club registries are controlled by "closed studbooks". In a number of modern breeds recognized by the kennel clubs, there are high incidences of specific genetic diseases or disorders and sometimes increased susceptibility to other diseases, reduced litter sizes, reduced lifespan, inability to conceive naturally, etc. This came about because:

1. Many breeds have been established with too few foundation dogs or ones that were already too closely related, or both
2. There was artificial isolation: the registries (stud books) are closed for most breeds; therefore one cannot introduce diversity from outside the existing population.
3. Most selective breeding practices have the effect of reducing the diversity further. In addition, in the show world, breeding specimens are often selected on the basis of aesthetic criteria only, without regard for soundness.
4. Even if the foundation dogs were sufficiently diverse genetically, almost no one knows how their genetic contributions are distributed among the present day population, consequently, breeding is done without regard to conserving these contributions, which may be of value to the general health and survival of the breed.

Similar problems affect purebred cats, however to a lesser extent since selective breeding in cats has not been practiced for nearly the length of time that it has been in dogs. The purebred cat is a relatively new creature; some breeds of cats have existed less than fifty years.

Purebreds

The very idea of 'breed purity' often strikes an unpleasant chord with modern animal fanciers because it is reminiscent of nineteenth-century eugenics notions of the "superior strain" which were supposedly exemplified by human aristocracies and thoroughbred horses. The application of theories of eugenics has had far-reaching consequences for human beings, and the observable phenomenon of hybrid vigor stands in sharp contrast.

The idea of the superior strain was that by "breeding the best to the best," employing sustained inbreeding and selection for "superior" qualities, one would develop a bloodline superior in every way to the unrefined, base stock which was the best that nature could produce. Naturally the purified line must then be preserved from dilution and debasement by base-born stock. This theory was never completely borne out. It can be said that when the ideal of the purified lineage or aesthetic type is seen as an end in itself, the breed suffers over time. The same issues are raised in the world of purebred cats.

His claim that selective breeding had been successful in producing change over time was one of the key arguments proposed by Charles Darwin to support his theory of natural selection in his acclaimed yet controversial work Origin of Species. Here, the “selective” does not mean breeding selected in a humanly controlled fashion.

UK Cat Breeders & Catteries

Cat Web Sites

Cat Sitting, Cat Sitters, About Cats, Cats Kittens, Cat Breeds, Cat Breeders, Cat Links, Cat Sites, Catteries, Feline, Cat Owners, Cat Sitting, Cat Forums, Ailurophilia, Cat Fanciers, Felidae World, Feline Rescue, Feline World
 

England Bedfordshire Cat Sitters  Berkshire Cat Sitters  Bristol Cat Sitters  Buckinghamshire Cat Sitters  Cambridgeshire Cat Sitters  Cheshire Cat Sitters  Durham Cat Sitters  Cornwall Cat Sitters  Cumbria Cat Sitters  Derbyshire Cat Sitters  Devon Cat Sitters  Dorset Cat Sitters  East Sussex Cat Sitters  East Yorkshire Cat Sitters  Essex Cat Sitters  Gloucestershire Cat Sitters  Hampshire Cat Sitters  Herefordshire Cat Sitters  Hertfordshire Cat Sitters  Isle of Wight Cat Sitters  Kent Cat Sitters  Lancashire Cat Sitters  Leicestershire Cat Sitters  Lincolnshire Cat Sitters  London Cat Sitters  Manchester Cat Sitters  Merseyside Cat Sitters  Norfolk Cat Sitters  North Yorkshire Cat Sitters  Northamptonshire Cat Sitters  Northumberland Cat Sitters  Nottinghamshire Cat Sitters  Oxfordshire Cat Sitters  Shropshire Cat Sitters  Somerset Cat Sitters  South Yorkshire Cat Sitters  Staffordshire Cat Sitters  Suffolk Cat Sitters  Surrey Cat Sitters  Tyne and Wear Cat Sitters  Warwickshire Cat Sitters  West Midlands Cat Sitters  West Sussex Cat Sitters  West Yorkshire Cat Sitters  Wiltshire Cat Sitters  Worcestershire Cat Sitters  Scotland Aberdeen Cat Sitters  Aberdeenshire Cat Sitters  Angus Cat Sitters  Argyll Cat Sitters  Clackmannanshire Cat Sitters  Dumfries Cat Sitters  Dundee Cat Sitters  East Ayrshire Cat Sitters  East Dunbartonshire Cat Sitters  East Lothian Cat Sitters  East Renfrewshire Cat Sitters  Edinburgh Cat Sitters  Falkirk Cat Sitters  Fife Cat Sitters  Glasgow Cat Sitters  Highland Cat Sitters  Inverclyde Cat Sitters  Mid Lothian Cat Sitters  Moray Cat Sitters  North Ayrshire Cat Sitters  North Lanarkshire Cat Sitters  Orkney Islands Cat Sitters  Perth Cat Sitters  Renfrewshire Cat Sitters  Scottish Borders Cat Sitters  Shetland Islands Cat Sitters  South Ayrshire Cat Sitters  South Lanarkshire Cat Sitters  Stirling Cat Sitters  West Dunbartonshire Cat Sitters  West Lothian Cat Sitters  Western Isles Cat Sitters  Wales Anglesey Cat Sitters  Blaenau Gwent Cat Sitters  Bridgend Cat Sitters  Caerphilly Cat Sitters  Cardiff Cat Sitters  Carmarthenshire Cat Sitters  Ceredigion Cat Sitters  Conwy Cat Sitters  Denbighshire Cat Sitters  Flintshire Cat Sitters  Gwynedd Cat Sitters  Merthyr Tydfil Cat Sitters  Monmouthshire Cat Sitters  Neath Port Talbot Cat Sitters  Newport Cat Sitters  Pembrokeshire Cat Sitters  Powys Cat Sitters  Rhondda Cynon Taff Cat Sitters  Swansea Cat Sitters  Torfaen Cat Sitters  Vale of Glamorgan Cat Sitters  Wrexham Cat Sitters  Ireland Carlow Cat Sitters  Cavan Cat Sitters  Clare Cat Sitters  Cork Cat Sitters  Donegal Cat Sitters  Dublin Cat Sitters  Galway Cat Sitters  Kerry Cat Sitters  Kildare Cat Sitters  Kilkenny Cat Sitters  Laois Cat Sitters  Leitrim Cat Sitters  Limerick Cat Sitters  Longford Cat Sitters  Louth Cat Sitters  Mayo Cat Sitters  Meath Cat Sitters  Monaghan Cat Sitters  Offaly Cat Sitters  Roscommon Cat Sitters  Sligo Cat Sitters  Tipperary Cat Sitters  Waterford Cat Sitters  Westmeath Cat Sitters  Wexford Cat Sitters  Wicklow Cat Sitters  Northern Ireland Antrim Cat Sitters  Armagh Cat Sitters  Down Cat Sitters  Fermanagh Cat Sitters  Londonderry Cat Sitters  Tyrone Cat Sitters 

PC Repairs UK
Online directory of PC Repairers, Computer Services and Web Designers based in the UK



Cyber Space UK Network Affiliates

The Silk Road, Pet Sitting UK, PC Repairs UK, Three Peaks Photos, Two Misters, Gay Celebrations, Gay Villa Rentals, Scattycats, UK Pet Owners, Dawnwatchers, Starfleetcomms, Paint4U, UK Pet Sitters, UK Pet Owners