The 'Persa' descends from the Turkish Angora. The first specimens were imported into Italy from Persia around 1700; a century later, the breed was taken to France and England, where it was perfected with the addition of blood from Angoras, obtaining a silkier fur and multiplying the coat colors.

Persa Kitten

The Head of the Persa is broad, rounded and solid with protruding cheeks. The ears are small and well-spaced with long hair tufts. Jaw is generally thick and nose short.
Body is compact, it should be 40 to 50 cm. long, with another 25 to 30 cm. of tail. It will be around 30 cm. high. Robust bone structure. Short, muscular limbs.

The tail is magnificently furry, ending in a tuft which it keeps down.

Colour:
Persians are classified into three groups: solid colour, various colours, and various colours and patterns.
- Solid colours:
Black, with orange or copper eyes.
White, with blue eyes (the only Persians with blue eyes; they are deaf), orange eyes, and mismatched eyes.
Blue, with orange or copper eyes.
Cream, with orange or copper eyes.
Red, very rare; it is hard to get hold of. It should have no stripes, and copper eyes.
- Several colours:
Two-colour, black and white, blue and white, red and white, white and cream. its paws, legs, underside of the body and muzzle are white; upside down V-shaped patch over its eyes, which are copper.
Two-colour Van: patches only on its head, legs and tail. Copper eyes.
Tortoiseshell, black, red and cream patches on its coat. Orange or copper eyes. Females only, the very rare males of this colour are sterile. Two-colour males are used for mating.
Tortoiseshell with white: as above with white. Females only, males sterile.
Calico: as the tortoiseshell is black with red and white patches, the calico is white with black and red patches. Copper eyes. Females only.
Diluted Calico: white with blue and cream patches. Females only.
Blue cream: neither should be predominant. Females only.
- Patched.
The pattern can be of three types: Classic Tabby, Mackerel Tabby, and Patched Tabby.
Brown Tabby: sandy coat with black stripes.
Silver Tabby: light silver coat with black stripes.
Red Tabby: bright red coat with darker stripes.
Cameo Tabby: cream coat and red stripes.
Blue Tabby: ivory coat with bluish-grey stripes.
Brown Patched Tabby: coppery brown coat with black markings and cream patches.
Silver Patched Tabby: silver coat with black markings and red or cream patches.
Chinchilla: Snow-white caot tipped in black on the back, hips, head, ears and tail. Green eyes.
Shaded silver: a dark Chinchilla. Green or orange eyes..
Smoke black: black coat silver-shaded on the sides and hips, with white undercoat and black mask and paws. Orange or copper eyes.
Smoke blue: the same, with a bluish-grey coat. Copper eyes.
Red Cameo: the same, with a red coat. Copper eyes.
Smoked tortoiseshell: black with white undercoat with red and cream patches. Copper eyes. Females only.

Coat
Thick, abundant, silky, with collar, also abundant on the paws.

It needs to be brushed (with a strong bristled brush - metal brushes could break the fur) and combed every day from six weeks of age. Every fortnight, administer a malt or paraffin preparation orally to prevent the formation of trichobezoars (hairballs).

Temperament
Intelligent, docile, amiable, peaceful. Not a hunter.

The Persian cat is one of the oldest breeds of cat. In Britain, it is called the "Longhair" or "Persian Longhair". A Persian cat without an established and registered pedigree is classed as a domestic longhair cat.

The Persian - originates from the Iranian plateau.

Origin of breed

The Persian cat originates from the Iranian plateau, a large area between the Hindukush mountains and Mesopotamia traditionally known as "Persia" in the West, correspounding to the central territories of the Persian Empire. However, interbreeding of Angoras with native British domestic longhairs in the 19th Century makes the true origin of the breed unclear. The Persian's European debut is credited to Pietro Della Valle, an Italian traveller.

Characteristics

A show-quality Persian has an extremely long thick coat, short legs, a wide head with the ears set far apart, large eyes, and an extremely foreshortened muzzle. The breed was originally established with a short (but not non-existent) muzzle, but over time this feature has become extremely exaggerated, particularly in North America, and Persians with the more extreme brachycephalic head type are susceptible to a number of health problems (specifically affecting their sinuses and breathing) caused by it.

The 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica (Encyclopædia) suggests that the Persian is derived from the Pallas Cat. A photograph accompanying the entry in the Encyclopædia shows a Blue Persian Cat, the conformation of which we would now call a "Doll Faced Persian" or "Traditional Persian". Early photographs and drawings from magazines show the Persian as a Traditional Persian Cat. The Persian was first registered with the Cat Fanciers Association (CFA) in 1871 when the association first kept records.

Photographic records indicate that Persians, up until the 1960s, show a difference in appearance to cats of the early 1980s onwards (i.e. from the Traditional "doll face" to the "extreme", "ultra", "flat-faced" or "snubby" face of today). However, the Persian Breed Council's standard for the Persian had remained basically unchanged over this period. The Persian Breed Standard is by its nature somewhat open ended and focused on a rounded head.

It is generally accepted (and by the Breed Council) that through selective breeding, in an attempt to develop the ideal Persian appearance, the Ultra Face came about. This has been called ultra-typing. The Persian Breed Council's standard was changed during the late 1980s to limit the development of the extreme appearance. In 2007 the Persian Breed Standard was altered to reflect the flat face and it now states that the forehead, nose, and chin should be in vertical alignment.

Conscientious breeders take into account and minimize health issues by careful choice of breeding stock with more moderate head type, as the stated goal of most breeders is first and always healthy cats.

Persian cats can have any color or markings including pointed, tortoiseshell, blue, and tabby. Tipped varieties are known as Chinchilla. Point varieties are called Himalayan in the United States and Colourpoint Persian in Europe.

In the USA, there was an attempt to establish the Silver Persian as a separate breed called the Sterling, but it was not accepted and Silver and Golden longhaired cats, recognized by CFA more specially as Chinchilla Silvers, Shaded Silvers, Chinchilla Goldens or Shaded Goldens are judged in the Persian category of cat shows. In South Africa, the attempt to separate the breed was more successful: the SA Cat Council (SACC) registers cats with 5 generations of pure bred Chinchilla as a Chinchilla Longhair. The Chinchilla Longhair has a slightly longer nose than the Persian, resulting in healthy breathing and no tearing of the eyes. Its hair is translucent with only the tips carrying black pigment: a feature that gets lost when out-crossed to other colored Persians. Out-crossing also may result in losing nose and lip liner, which is a fault in the Chinchilla Longhair breed standard. One of the distinctions of this breed is the blue-green or green eyecolor only with kittens having blue or bluish purple eyecolor.[citation needed]

Because their fur is too long and dense for them to maintain themselves, Persian cats need regular grooming. To keep their fur in its best condition, they must be bathed regularly, dried carefully afterwards, and brushed thoroughly every day. Their eyes need to be checked for problems on a regular basis because some animals have trouble keeping them clean. Likewise, Persians are particularly susceptible to a genetic disease which causes kidney failure, PKD, Polycystic kidney disease, among other diseases. However, cats can now be DNA screened for the gene that causes PKD, so these affected cats are gradually being removed from the Persian gene pool by responsible breeders.

Chokkie.... under the bed again.

hi all hope yr all well, chok here.

hello terri cat!!?? who is your owner? i will get myself up soon!!

who votes whiskers pouches are best???

i love them but have sore gums at the mo (us old persians are prone to gum probs in later life) i struggle with the chunks so kate chops em into tiny bits... i had extensive tooth extractions last month and may need another one!! a big thanks to mr pegg at pype hayes vets for his hard work!! he is the kindest vet! :)