The Chantilly-Tiffany or Chantilly/Tiffany, also known as the Chantilly or the Foreign Longhair, was a breed of domestic cat which originated in the late-1960s in North America.
[7][8][9] The Chantilly-Tiffany breed had its official beginning as a "Foreign Longhair"; in 1967, Jennie Robinson (Neotype Cattery) of New York purchased a pair of semi-foreign longhaired chocolate cats with golden eyes of unknown background as part of an estate sale in White Plains, New York.
Sigyn Lund (Sig Tim Hil Cattery) a Florida Burmese breeder, purchased some of Robinson's kittens and took on the "Foreign Longhair" breeding program.
As a result, all breed representatives registered under the Lund (Sig Tim Hil Cattery) name became unregistered and lost their pedigree status.
Around the same time Robinson and Lund were developing the "Tiffany" in the United States, a Canadian acreage owner was surprised by a cat who appeared at his home in 1973.
She was a long-haired, semi-foreign, chocolate, gold-eyed feline of unknown ancestry who gave birth to a litter of kittens.
Once again these kittens were carbon copies of their mother, an experience shared by Robinson with the cats in her breeding program.
Offspring of these were rescued by Canadian breeders to re-establish the "Tiffany" breed in North America with a cooperative effort with Robinson and Lund.
[11] One major advocate of the Chantilly was Tracy Oraas (Opurrtune Cattery) from Canada,[3][12] who began her involvement with the breed in 1988 when she responded to a classified ad advertising "chocolate kittens."
It took some major detective work, including calls to every veterinarian in Florida, but they managed to contact the original Chantilly breeders, Robinson and Lund.
[15] Since none of the original Chantillys could be found, they established the breed using registered European Angora, Havana Brown, Abyssinian/Somali and Nebelung cats.
Nugget was the grandson of Mica, a solid chocolate female Chantilly from Opurrtune Cattery of Tracy Oraas.
[21][25][26] Nugget produced at least 10 kittens with the two females before his retirement and passing in 2013 due to fatal lung damage received during the 2012 fire.
[29][30] Later that year after the fire, Frosty was shipped to a Nebelung breeder in Norway (Cacao Criadero Cattery).
[31][32][33] In 2015, the Norwegian breeder gave up on the Chantilly breeding program after the death of Frosty,[5] and fixed her female, Acey.
Eventually, the Chantilly had been recognised and was eligible for championship or registration as Experimental or New Breed and colour (NBC) status with AACE, ACFA,[36] CCA-AFC,[37] CFF, TCA, TICA, and UFO.
[36] The CCA only allowed out-crossings with Angora, Oriental, Havana Brown, Somali, and Nebelung cats.
The overall impression of an ideal Chantilly was a semi-foreign cat of striking appearance resulting from the combination of its rich colour and full, silky semi-longhair coat, plumed tail, contrasting neck ruff, and ear furnishings.