Australian Mist
The first breed developed in Australia, out of Burmese, Abyssinian and local shorthairs. Bred deliberately to live indoors, which few breeds can claim by design.
Photo by Regis2007, CC BY-SA 3.0
Overview
The Australian Mist is one of very few breeds developed with a specific lifestyle in mind. It was created in Australia from the 1970s by crossing Burmese, Abyssinian and domestic shorthairs, and the explicit goal was a cat that would be content to live indoors.
That matters where it was made. Australian native wildlife takes heavy losses from roaming cats, and a breed selected to be happy inside is a deliberate response to that.
Temperament
Tolerant, affectionate and unusually placid. Australian Mists are known for being good with small children, largely because they were selected not to scratch.
They are social, they enjoy laps, and they are less inclined to bolt out of an open door than most cats, which is exactly what the breeding programme was aiming at.
Care and grooming
A weekly brush is enough for the short coat, which is spotted or marbled over a ticked ground.
The Burmese in the ancestry means the Burmese conditions are worth a question, though the wide foundation has kept the breed generally sound. There is no widely documented breed specific disorder.
Living and exercise
This is the breed to choose if the cat is genuinely going to live indoors. It was made for it, and it does not spend its life at the window.
They still need play and climbing, and they will use a catio happily. Good with children, good with dogs, and one of the easier cats to introduce into an existing household.
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