Dragon Li

The Dragon Li — the Chinese Li Hua — is a mackerel-tabby landrace from China, a natural breed rather than a designed one.

History

It descends from the ordinary cats of China, documented as a distinct type only recently and recognised by the Cat Aficionado Association in the twenty-first century. Its golden-brown ticked tabby coat is the wild-type pattern, which is to say it was not selected for so much as never selected away from.

Temperament

The breed is known for being intelligent, independent and gently affectionate — attached to its household without being clingy, and a capable hunter by inclination.

Care

The short dense coat needs little more than occasional brushing. It is an active cat that wants space and something to stalk, and it tends to be undemanding about everything else.

Health

A landrace shaped by natural selection rather than by a standard, it has no widely documented breed-specific defect. These are patterns for the breed rather than a forecast for one cat; the measured facts and trait ratings are in the panels.