Singapura Cat Names, Names For Singapura Kittens, Page 10

The Singapura is the smallest pedigreed cat breed. Adult males weigh 6 to 8 pounds; females 4 to 6. The coat is a single colour — sepia agouti, dark brown ticking on a warm old-ivory ground, with cheetah-line markings running from the inner eye corner down the cheek. Eye colour is restricted to hazel, green, or yellow. In 1991 the Singapore government recognised the breed as a living national treasure and used it as a Tourism Board mascot.

The origin story has a twist. The official version: Hal and Tommy Meadow returned from Singapore in 1975 with cats they said had been picked up from local street populations. CFA registered the breed in 1981 and granted Championship in 1988. The local name — Kucinta, the Love Cat — appeared on the breed paperwork.

In 1987, American breeder Jerry Mayes went to Singapore on a cat-finding trip and found importation papers showing the Meadows' three foundation cats had been brought *into* Singapore from the United States in 1974, registered as Abyssinians. The Meadows had been breeders of Abyssinians, Burmese, and Siamese in the US. Hal Meadow later told CFA the cats were grandchildren of four cats he had sent back from a previous Singapore trip in 1971 — something his wife Tommy had not mentioned. CFA investigated and found no wrongdoing, keeping natural-breed status. A 2007 DNA study later showed very few genetic differences between Singapura and Burmese.

The breed is genuine; the paperwork is more complicated than the marketing suggests. For naming, lean into the Malay-language and Singapore side honestly: Kucinta, Cinta (love), Merlion, Sayang (darling), Bintang (star). Or the foundation cats: Pusse, Tess, Faye Raye (the first UK Singapura, 1988), Chiko. Or the size — Pip, Pixie, Bean, Mochi, Peanut — names that fit a four-pound adult.