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Home Page
Buying A Kitten
Caring For Your Kitten
Introducing A New Cat
Soiling & Spraying
Cat Litter & Training
Eating & Drinking
Cat Bonding
Cat Aggression
Timid Cats
Keeping Your Cat Safe 1
Keeping Your Cat Safe 2
In or Out?
Play Time
Multi-Cat Households
Elderly Cats
Cat Ailments & Symptoms
Persian Cats
British Shorthair Cats
Cat Care Tips, Advice & Products for the life of your Cat
Pedigree Persian cats are a ‘lap cat’ breed. Well known for their docile and loving temperaments, they are also a truly beautiful breed of cat. With their luxurious magnificent coat, they take a great degree of time to care for. Daily grooming is a must, as are regular baths.
Persian cats originated from Persia (now known as Iran). They were not recognized by the cat fancy until the late 19th century. They were first bred by the English, but breeding programmes as a whole ceased during the world wars. Following the Second World War breeding recommenced with a vengeance and led to the beautiful Persian cats we know and love today, with their long hair, flat faces and huge colourful eyes.
There are two main types of face on a Persian cat, a ‘typy face’ in which the nose is quite squashed almost to the same level as the eyes, and the ‘doll face’, in which the cat has a more natural looking face with the nose lower down and much less ‘squashed’ features. Based on my experience, Persian cats with doll type faces appear to be healthier, as they have less trouble breathing, eating and keeping their eyes clean. Persian cats, and indeed all cats with typy faces tend to get a lot of problems with runny eyes, which can lead to them needing to be cleaned every day. Failure to do so leads to an awful brown sludge forming tear tracks down your cats face. Bear this in mind when choosing a Persian cat with a typy face, as obviously this is another daily task which will need to be performed on the cat.
Also, of paramount importance is ensuring you have the time and patience to spare each and every day to groom your Persian cat. Persian cats cannot keep their own coats in good condition with their tongue alone, like a short haired cat can. They need regular, deep grooming of their coat, and particularly easily knotted areas such as their tummy and under-arm areas, as well as around the cats neck. It is important to get your Persian cat used to being groomed from an early age, and to always treat them gently when doing so, as a Persian cat scared of a brush could basically live a life of torment with the daily brushing routine if they don’t enjoy, or at least tolerate it! Not only this, but it will make your life much easier grooming a cat which wants to be groomed and is not climbing the curtains each and every time you get the brush out!
Should your Persian cat develop matts in its coat, you must be extremely careful to gently tease and pick these out. Matts on a Persian cat can develop very close to the skin and be very sore and painful for the cat. If the matting is severe, you may need to have the cat sedated and shaved by a vet. This highlights the great importance of regular grooming of your Persian cat. Even leaving the fur un-groomed for a week can lead to heavy matting forming. Imagine if you didn’t brush your own long hair for a week, what would happen to it?
Because of the type of hair a Persian cat has, you may find that it is also prone to soiling around the bottom. It may be necessary to very carefully snip some hair from around the area sometimes to eradicate the problem. Obviously be careful not to cut any parts you shouldn’t! If the soiling is frequent it may be a sign that the cat has diarrhea, so be sure to keep an eye on this and take it to see the vet if necessary.
Persian cats make an ideal indoor cat, as they are most at home when in the company of humans. But it is important that if your cat is the kind which gets lonely easily and you are out at work all day, you should consider getting a second cat to keep him or her company. Probably the best type of cat to keep an existing Persian cat company is either another Persian cat or an exotic shorthair. As mentioned below; they have very similar relaxed personalities. A mature Persian cat may not appreciate a young lively noisy Siamese cat moving in for example! Remember, 2 x Persian cats = 2 x the grooming and hair all over your house, which is why you may want to consider an exotic shorthair!
Persian cats as a breed in general are prone to polycystic kidney disease (PKD). As a result, always ensure that any Persian kitten you buy has been fully checked, or had its parents certified as being PKD free. This is a hereditary problem which Persian cat breeders and vets are trying to phase out by only breeding from PKD free cats. Any Persian cat breeder worth their salt will make sure this is adhered to and they will willingly show you the certification to prove it.
If you are attracted to the Persian cat breed because of its personality, but are not too sure you have the time to care for its coat, a viable alternative for you may be the exotic shorthair. This breed is a shorthaired version of the Persian cat, a result of matings between American shorthairs and Persian cats in the late 1950’s. The exotic shorthair has been a recognized breed since 1966 and is now widely known as the ‘lazy persons Persian’ due to its laid back temperament inherited from the Persian breed and the shorter, lower maintenance coat from the American shorthair. This beautiful breed makes an ideal compromise for those wanting a beautiful soft touch lap cat!
Persian cats come in a variety of colours such as Black, White, Blue, Cream, Red, Tortoiseshell, Blue/Cream, Chocolate and Lilac. Colours can be solid, patched or even what’s known as colour pointed in which the cat is a light colour throughout, with darker colouring just on the face, ears, legs and tail. The most common instance of this colouring in a cat which people would most likely recognize is the colour pointed Siamese. Both exotic shorthaired cats and Persian cats are available with this colouring.
Persian cats originated from Persia (now known as Iran). They were not recognized by the cat fancy until the late 19th century. They were first bred by the English, but breeding programmes as a whole ceased during the world wars. Following the Second World War breeding recommenced with a vengeance and led to the beautiful Persian cats we know and love today, with their long hair, flat faces and huge colourful eyes.
There are two main types of face on a Persian cat, a ‘typy face’ in which the nose is quite squashed almost to the same level as the eyes, and the ‘doll face’, in which the cat has a more natural looking face with the nose lower down and much less ‘squashed’ features. Based on my experience, Persian cats with doll type faces appear to be healthier, as they have less trouble breathing, eating and keeping their eyes clean. Persian cats, and indeed all cats with typy faces tend to get a lot of problems with runny eyes, which can lead to them needing to be cleaned every day. Failure to do so leads to an awful brown sludge forming tear tracks down your cats face. Bear this in mind when choosing a Persian cat with a typy face, as obviously this is another daily task which will need to be performed on the cat.
Also, of paramount importance is ensuring you have the time and patience to spare each and every day to groom your Persian cat. Persian cats cannot keep their own coats in good condition with their tongue alone, like a short haired cat can. They need regular, deep grooming of their coat, and particularly easily knotted areas such as their tummy and under-arm areas, as well as around the cats neck. It is important to get your Persian cat used to being groomed from an early age, and to always treat them gently when doing so, as a Persian cat scared of a brush could basically live a life of torment with the daily brushing routine if they don’t enjoy, or at least tolerate it! Not only this, but it will make your life much easier grooming a cat which wants to be groomed and is not climbing the curtains each and every time you get the brush out!
Should your Persian cat develop matts in its coat, you must be extremely careful to gently tease and pick these out. Matts on a Persian cat can develop very close to the skin and be very sore and painful for the cat. If the matting is severe, you may need to have the cat sedated and shaved by a vet. This highlights the great importance of regular grooming of your Persian cat. Even leaving the fur un-groomed for a week can lead to heavy matting forming. Imagine if you didn’t brush your own long hair for a week, what would happen to it?
Because of the type of hair a Persian cat has, you may find that it is also prone to soiling around the bottom. It may be necessary to very carefully snip some hair from around the area sometimes to eradicate the problem. Obviously be careful not to cut any parts you shouldn’t! If the soiling is frequent it may be a sign that the cat has diarrhea, so be sure to keep an eye on this and take it to see the vet if necessary.
Persian cats make an ideal indoor cat, as they are most at home when in the company of humans. But it is important that if your cat is the kind which gets lonely easily and you are out at work all day, you should consider getting a second cat to keep him or her company. Probably the best type of cat to keep an existing Persian cat company is either another Persian cat or an exotic shorthair. As mentioned below; they have very similar relaxed personalities. A mature Persian cat may not appreciate a young lively noisy Siamese cat moving in for example! Remember, 2 x Persian cats = 2 x the grooming and hair all over your house, which is why you may want to consider an exotic shorthair!
Persian cats as a breed in general are prone to polycystic kidney disease (PKD). As a result, always ensure that any Persian kitten you buy has been fully checked, or had its parents certified as being PKD free. This is a hereditary problem which Persian cat breeders and vets are trying to phase out by only breeding from PKD free cats. Any Persian cat breeder worth their salt will make sure this is adhered to and they will willingly show you the certification to prove it.
If you are attracted to the Persian cat breed because of its personality, but are not too sure you have the time to care for its coat, a viable alternative for you may be the exotic shorthair. This breed is a shorthaired version of the Persian cat, a result of matings between American shorthairs and Persian cats in the late 1950’s. The exotic shorthair has been a recognized breed since 1966 and is now widely known as the ‘lazy persons Persian’ due to its laid back temperament inherited from the Persian breed and the shorter, lower maintenance coat from the American shorthair. This beautiful breed makes an ideal compromise for those wanting a beautiful soft touch lap cat!
Persian cats come in a variety of colours such as Black, White, Blue, Cream, Red, Tortoiseshell, Blue/Cream, Chocolate and Lilac. Colours can be solid, patched or even what’s known as colour pointed in which the cat is a light colour throughout, with darker colouring just on the face, ears, legs and tail. The most common instance of this colouring in a cat which people would most likely recognize is the colour pointed Siamese. Both exotic shorthaired cats and Persian cats are available with this colouring.
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