HEAD:

Shape: Modified wedge, medium in size with a long, sloping forehead and high angular cheekbones that meet a strong, full muzzle and chin. A change in direction at the sides of the muzzle gives the appearance of rounded whisker pads.

Eyes: Medium, slightly flattened oval and set on bias to just below the outside edge of the ear. Gold or yellow eye color preferred, hazel to light green allowed.

Ears: Tall, large ears should be placed fairly close together on top of the head with a wide base cornering the head and the ear set at a slight outward angle. The ear itself should be fairly wide all the way up with rounded ear tips. Ear tufts preferred, but lack of tufts is not a penalty.

Chin: Strong, full, both in profile and frotal view with depth resulting from good bone structure.

Muzzle: Proportionate to the cheekbones and length of nose, with full whisker pads.

Nose: Medium-wide slightly broader between the eyes. Nose leather is convex and full.

Neck: The muscular neck is of medium length and thickness.

BODY:

Torso: Long lean and muscular, firm to the touch; the large rectangular body is strong and athletic, with a balanced chest and good depth of body without any roundness to the ribcage.

Legs: The legs are moderately long, well muscled with medium boning. The hind legs are slightly longer than the front, as the cat is built for running and leaping.

Feet: The feet are round and small in comparision to the overall size of the cat.

Tail: 3/4 or full length tail acceptable; the 3/4 tail has fewer vertebrae and is preferred. Both tail lengths should be of medium thickness and fully articulated.

Musculature: The musculature of the Chausie is long and lean rather than bulky.

Boning: The Chausie has medium leg boning with long, lithe legs, while the torso is substantial with good depth.

COAT/COLOR/PATTERN

Length: Short to medium, with enough length to accomodate at least two bands of ticking. Not open.

Texture: A dense softer undercoat with a harder resilient texture to outercoat.

COLORS:

Brown Ticked Tabby:

Black: Solid Black.

Silver Tipped:

Brown Ticked Tabby:

A mouse-gray color next to the skin with sandy-gray to reddish-gold base coat. The coat will have two or more bands of color in the ticking. Reverse ticking and/or flecking may also be present. There should be tabby markings on the face and barring on the legs and tail. Barring on the front legs appears primarily on the upper front and inside of the leg, with the inside being more bold than the outside. The barring on the front legs may be more bold than on the hock of the back legs. The tail should be black tipped. Barring may or may not be present on the neck. Faint tabby markings on the body may be present but not preferred. The backs of the ears will have "thumbprint" markings of a lighter color. A white or off-white color should outline the eyes and cover the muzzle. Nose leather pink to brick red. The underside will range in color from off-white to sandy-gold. Stomach may appear flecked, speckled or spotted.

Silver tipped: This pattern is a new gene that appears to be a form or modification of ticked tabby in that it is grey or lighter at the skin followed by black and is marked by ligher bands of color or ticking on shaft ending in black tips. Faint tabby markings on the torso may be present but not preferred. Ear furnishings will appear silver and will be banded. Nose leather is black. The Silver Tip gene is a dominant gene found in the Chausie breed as a result of the Jungle Cat ancestor used to develop this breed.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION:

The Chausie is a statuesque cat, tall upright, medium to large framed with legs more moderate in boning giving the cat a tall, slender-legged look. It's musculature is that of an agile hunter with great jumping ablilty. They have large upright, tufted ears. Males will be proportionately larger than females. The over-all appearance should bring to mind the Middle Eastern/Asian Jungle Cat as the breed retains a strong resemblance to its ancestor. This cat is good natured, loyal and intelligent and should be amenable to handling, showing no signs of challenge.

ALLOWANCES: Variation in tail length starting from just below the hock (3/4) to full-length. Slight ghost body markings on kittens. Black paw pads with rosy or pink overtones allowed.

PENALIZE: Vivid green eyes. A cat that is too refined or too heavily boned. A cat void of tabby markings on the legs or tail.

WITHHOLD ALL AWARDS (WW): True classic pattern. Any colors other than the three allowable colors. White lockets.

DISQUALIFY (DQ): Tail too short, resulting from a mutated gene (MX/PB/BB). Tail kinked or lacking flexibility.