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What is a standard? It is very difficult to answer this question, the same, what a
breed is.
As already for the question after the term "breed", it is
surprising that several organizations do not have a definition for
such a basic term.
LOOF has the following definition:
"Le standard est la description précise et complète de ce que
doit être le chat parfait pour une race donnée. Sans avoir de chat
sous les yeux, un bon standard doit permettre à celui qui le lit
d’imaginer de manière très précise à quoi doit ressembler telle ou
telle race."
See the webpage in the menu 'Races - Standards'
http://www.loof.asso.fr/standards/guide.php
In English:
The standard is the precise and complete description of the ideal cat
for a given breed. A good standard should allow the reader to
imagine very precisely what a breed should look like without seeing
the cat.
CFA has the following definition:
"A standard is an abstract aesthetic ideal. The realization
of a good standard would result in a work of art or, at the very
least, an object possessing artistic unity. Artistic unity requires
that individual parts be in harmony with one another; that they
possess balance and proportion; that together they enhance each other
and strengthen the whole. A good work of art has its own inner logic.
There is a feeling of inevitability and rightness about each detail.
With a standard we aim at some satisfying visual shape that possesses
a certain style. Style, too, implies an inner harmony and consistency
between the parts."
You will not find this definition any longer.
But you can find the following, very short definition:
"STANDARD- The ideal characteristics for each breed."
http://www.cfa.org/articles/glossary.html.
Does the standard really describe the breed?
If you take the definition, given by LOOF, by their words, a
standard should describe a breed in that way, that one can imagine
quite well, what are the characteristics of a breed and how the
breed looks like without having the breed physically present.
 | What are the ideal characteristics of each breed? |
| Which parts of the body are affected? |
| Which ideal is the basis for such a description? |
Some examples, how several breeds are described:
HEAD:
Shape: strong bone
Forehead: slightly rounded
Cheeks: full, somewhat rounded
Nose: of medium length without stop, but with a slight indentation
Chin: firm |
Do you know, from which breed this head is?
Can you imagine the head, without having the cat in front you?
| If the cheeks are full, can they also be square or angled? |
| If the bones are strong, can the cheeks still be rounded? Or do
they appear to be somewhat square? |
| A nose of medium length can be straight, but it can have also a
Roman profile, and nevertheless the nose may have an indentation at
its base. |
| How is the shape of the head? |
Some questions, which this standard does not answer.
Birman, whose head is described by the standard above.
Picture from
Wikimedia-Commons
HEAD:
Shape: Slightly rounded wedge without flat planes, medium length.
Profile shows a gentle contour with a slight rise from the bridge of
the nose to the forehead.
Cheeks: No full cheeks.
Nose: Entire length of nose even in width when viewed from the front.
Muzzle: Neither short nor pointed |
| The chin is not described here, it might be firm or receding
(?). |
| What does that mean 'without flat planes'? |
| Is the nose of medium length, or is it long, regardless the head
is medium in length? |
| At the muzzle two words are combined with 'neither-nor', which
does not make any sense according to the logic of grammar and
which are not to be combined at all. |
| If the muzzle is not short, is it then long or medium in length?
|
| If the muzzle is not pointed, is it then square or rounded? |
Also this standard does not give an answer to several questions.
Egyptian Mau, whose head is described by the standard above.
Picture from
Wikimedia-Commons
HEAD:
Shape: Modified wedge without flat planes, moderately longer than
wide, smooth transitions.
Size: Medium in proportion to body
Muzzle: Rounded with gentle transitions, no pronounced whisker break
Chin: Firm, in line with nose and upper lip
Profile: nose moderate in length and straight, slight rise from bottom
of eyes to forehead, gentle curve to top of head, flowing into neck,
without a break |
The last two standards sound quite similar.
| What is a modified wedge? A wedge may have pointed or rounded
corners? Is that the meaning? The sides of a wedge may be straight
or arched. Is that the meaning? |
| And where does the wedge begin on the head? There are existing
different opinions about this subject. |
| The chin shall be in line with the nose and the upper lip? That
is quite strange and allows different interpretations.
Chin and nose can be still in line, when the line is not vertical.
There are several parts of the nose, the base, the bridge, the tip,
etc. Does this standard speak here from the tip of the nose? |
| It seems to be important, that there are smooth transitions. But
where are these transitions? |
Also this standard describes the head, that one can hardly imagine,
how the head looks like without having the cat present.
American Curl, whose head is described by this standard.
Photo made by myself.
HEAD:
a modified, slightly rounded wedge without flat planes; the brow,
cheek, and profile lines all showing a gentle contour. A slight rise
from the bridge of the nose to the forehead, which should be of good
size, with width between the ears and flowing into the arched neck
without a break.
Muzzle: not sharply pointed or square. The chin should be neither
receding nor protruding. Allowance should be made for jowls in adult
males. |
| There shall not be flat planes, also here. What does that mean?
|
| The lines of the profile show a gentle contour. From which lines
of the profile does this standard speak? What is a gentle contour?
When putting this into relation, that there shall not be flat
planes, does it mean then that the contour is slightly rounded? |
| The forehead should be of good size. What does that mean? Shall
the forehead have a certain height? |
| The muzzle: how long shall or may it be? |
| When you read further in the standard, you will not find
anything about the neck, which is mentioned here. |
Several questions remain without answer.
HEAD:
Shape: modified wedge of medium/large size with rounded contours, in
good proportion to the body. The head is broader at the top of the
skull and narrows slightly to a full-rounded muzzle. The cheekbones
are neither high set nor prominent. There should be a slight doming
between the ears and an almost flat area on the forehead. Males will
have well developed jowls and females will have a more moderate look.
Chin: the chin is well rounded but not protruding, and is in line with
the nose.
Muzzle: the muzzle is moderately short in length, full and rounded.
There is a slight muzzle curvature, but the transition between the
side of the head and the muzzle is gentle and inconspicuous.
Profile: the top of the head is almost flat, with a slight nose
curvature of a gentle slope from the forehead to the nose and a slight
concave curvature before the tip when viewed in profile.
|
| And once more again the modified wedge. |
| If the cheek bones are not high and not prominent, are they then
placed 'normally'? |
| Is there existing a breed, where the males do not develop jowls? |
| The same questions as above: which part of the nose shall form a
straight line with the chin? Is this line then vertical? |
| The muzzle is moderately short, that means not too long, full
and rounded, that means not square or angled. It shows a
slight pinch.
When reading this, the muzzle is not striking, when looking to the
head. But, nevertheless, the muzzle receives 10 points from 45
points for the head in total. You have to deduct 10 points for the
eyes and eyes, and also 3 points for the neck, that gives 32 points.
If you put now the 10 points for the muzzle in relation to these 32
points, the muzzle seems to be important, even it is not striking.
|
You may read many standards in various organizations, which are
like these.
One cannot imagine the breeds, which are described in these standards,
without having the breed present and when the breed does not have
any striking feature in the coat or in colour.
A picture tells you more than 1000 words
There are existing standards, where a schematic drawing is
provided, like the following, which makes it easier to understand
the shorthand symbols used in cat Latin.
Is there a uniform layout of the standards?
When you look at the various organizations and read the standards,
you may notice that the structure and layout of the standards varies
from one breed to the other one.
| Sometimes the neck is described at the head, and sometimes not.
|
BODY (25)
9 .. Torso & Neck
6 .. Size & Boning
5 .. Legs & Feet
5 .. Tail Length |
| |
HEAD (45)
15 ... Shape
3 ... Profile
5 ... Ears
5 ... Eyes
4 ... Chin
10 ... Muzzle
3 ... Neck |
| Sometimes the same things are described with different wording,
one might become confused, if the same thing is meant.
|
Eyes:
The outer corner angled slightly towards the base of the
ear. |
| |
Eyes:
The outside corner is set very slightly higher than the
inner corner, ... |
| |
Eyes:
... slightly slanted toward base of ear ... |
| Sometimes the position of the eyes, how they are set, is
described at 'placement', and sometimes at the shape, where it does
not belong.
|
Eyes:
Shape:
large and oval
outer edge of the eye aperture to be level with the base of the
ears |
| Also the size of a breed is described very differently, in some
breeds it is missing.
|
When the body is medium in size, is the entire cat also of medium
size? Or may the cat also be smaller, if you put the body into
relation to the other parts?
GENERAL:
the overall impression ... would be a cat of medium size with
substantial bone structure |
| When searching in the rules of various organizations, if there
is a common layout, how the standard is structured, you will find
quite seldom something.
That means, for such an important document, the bible of the
breeders and judges, it is mostly not described, how the structure
of a standard shall be. |
In TICA there exists a common layout in the rules, how the
structure of a standard shall be, also including an advice, how such
a standard shall be written.
Found in the menu 'Members - PUBLICATIONS - Standards':
http://tica.org/members/publications/standards.php
Do you know now, WHAT a standard is and HOW such a standard is
structured?
© katzenzeitung 2/2007
Update 11/2010 |
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