Snowshoe — what to ask a breeder

Snowshoe — what to ask a breeder · Breed Radar

What is a Snowshoe?

Medium-sized pointed cat with distinctive white feet, blue eyes, and inverted V marking on face.

Snowshoe history and origins

Developed in the 1960s by crossing Siamese with American Shorthairs. Named for distinctive white feet. Difficult to breed as markings are hard to predict. Gaining popularity.

Snowshoe temperament and personality

Generally described as affectionate, social, intelligent, sweet-tempered, active and vocal.

That is the breed in general, not a promise about one animal. Ask the breeder what their own line is like, and meet the parents before you decide.

Breed reference from The Cat API.

Pros & cons for the Snowshoe

What you get with the Snowshoe

Low grooming needs, fitting for a busy owner — the coat is “Short to medium-short with no noticeable undercoat.”
Commonly described as: “Affectionate, Social, Intelligent, Sweet-tempered”

What you are taking on

Nobody has written this side yet. It is a judgement rather than data, so it waits for a person — not for a missing source.

Drawn from sources, not opinion: FIFe breed standard; The Cat API. An empty column means we hold nothing for that side, not that there is nothing to say.

Snowshoe characteristics

The Snowshoe standard is published by the FIFe (Fédération Internationale Féline), the international federation of pedigree-cat clubs, and it is what show judges apply. This section sums up what it says about coat and colour. It does not assess any one animal: use it to know what to ask the breeder.

Coat and colour

Coat

Short to medium-short with no noticeable undercoat.

Texture is smooth, glossy and close lying.

Colour

Points

colour of points, ears, mask, legs and tail to be well defined and in harmony with the body colour.
Chin may be white, the colour of the points or a combination of white and the point colour.
White shoe pattern: front legs: toes only to mid-leg area.
Back legs: toes only to mid-thigh area.
All degrees of white are acceptable but all four feet must be white.

Preferred

The pattern is the white inverted “V” on the face with white shoe pattern

Permissible

Body colour: a paler tone of the colour of the points, any amount of white on the body

Shortened from FIFe standard SNO — each label is the standard’s own wording with the verdict lifted into the tag beside it. Read the full clause at source. FIFe prints no modification date for this standard. Text read on 31 Aug 2026.

Where to check this at FIFe

The colour varieties FIFe recognises for this breed are listed, with their EMS codes, in the table at the end of its standard. FIFe describes each colour group in the General Part of its standards.

Ask the breeder

Is this kitten's colour on the pedigree, and one the standard admits?
Does the parents' pedigree state their coat type and colour?

The colours and patterns the standard admits, and what it prefers, discourages or disqualifies in each. An accepted colour says nothing about health. Quotations from the FIFe are in English, as the standard publishes them; the headings are ours.

Temperament

AffectionateSocialIntelligent

Health & screening guide for the Snowshoe

Nothing hereditary is documented for the Snowshoe breed, but there is still specific documentation to request from any breeder before paying a deposit. A responsible breeder will have these readily available; deflection is a red flag.

No UC Davis VGL DNA test is tagged to Snowshoe beyond blood type and coat colour, and no peer-reviewed study or breed-registry health programme documents a hereditary condition specific to, or at elevated frequency in, this breed. Pet-health sites commonly repeat a low-level polycystic kidney disease and heart-disease claim via distant Persian and Siamese ancestry, but no authoritative source confirms this for Snowshoe specifically, so it is not stated here as a documented risk. An empty result matches the breed's general reputation as unusually hardy, rather than reflecting a gap in the search.

What to ask for anyway

Cardiologist echocardiogram on both parents (HCM screening)
PKD1 DNA test or renal ultrasound

Sections

About
Pros & cons
Characteristics
Health guide

About the Snowshoe

About