|
|
Standard and health?
A provocative question?
Let us read the standards regarding the aspects of their
proportions and implications for health.
Standard Persian in TICA,
Persian Breed Group Standard, 05/01/2004:
HEAD:
Shape: Round, broad, smooth domed, with great breadth.
Should be medium to large in size and in proportion to body. Jaws
broad and powerful with perfect tooth occlusion. Cheeks should be
full and prominent. Overall sweet expression.Chin:
Strong, full, well-developed, fitting into the face.
Nose: Almost as broad as long with open nostrils. Muzzle
should be short, broad and full.
Profile: Short, snub-nose, definite break directly between
eyes. Forehead, nose and chin in straight line. |
The top of the head shall be rounded like a dome.
In fact, the modern Persians have an extremely developed forehead
and top of the head, and thus the face has been shifted into the lower
half of the head.
What does "domed" mean?
In Webster's dictionary the following explanation can be found:
Main Entry:
2dome
Function: verb
Inflected Form(s): domed; dom·ing
transitive verb
1 : to cover with a dome
2 : to form into a dome
intransitive verb : to swell upward or outward like a dome |
Main Entry:
1dome
Function: noun
Etymology: French, Italian, & Latin; French dôme dome, cathedral,
from Italian duomo cathedral, from Medieval Latin domus church,
from Latin, house; akin to Greek domos house, Sanskrit dam
1 archaic : a stately building : MANSION
2 : a large hemispherical roof or ceiling
3 : a natural formation or structure that resembles the dome or
cupola of a building |
When taking "dome" by its word, the top of the head shall look like
a dome, it shall be domed. This is a very disputable description.
The head shall be with great breadth, medium to large
in size.
Also this description shows in reality that the head has become too
broad and too large in proportion to the body.
It is problematic to give such measurements like "great breadth" and
to give such sizes like "to large", as the head of the Persians has
already reached the other end of the scale today, the scale "large".
Let us make the following comparison:
The head of the modern Persian has become larger, but the pelvis
has not become broader in the same proportions. How does a bowl fit
into a container whose aperture is too small?
It is not surprising that the number of caesarean sections has
increased.
Have you ever watched the little babies closely when born that the
head of the newborns is somewhat deformed and that it takes 1-2 days
that the head looks round again.
The head should be round.
In reality the shape of the head can be inscribed into a
horizontally lying rectangle. If the head would be really round, its
shape could be inscribed into a square.
The nose shall be almost as broad as long, it shall be a
snub-nose with a definite break between the eyes.
Such a phrase can also be read in this way: The nose shall not be
longer than its width. This description is questionable and risky, as
the reality of those ultra-short noses of the modern Persian and their
consequences demonstrate very clearly - crushed or degenerated
lachrymal ducts and weeping and crying eyes.
Certainly, some will argue now, that degenerated lachrymal ducts are
not necessarily due to a short short. Just think logically in terms of
anatomy and physics, the lachrymal duct and all its parts (and those
are more than one parts in this organ!) need space and a certain
length to be able to fulfill its function properly, i.e. to deduct the
lachrymal fluid. And exactly this space and length needed are not
existing any more.
 |
 |
| This is today's so called modern type. |
And this would be - according to today's
reality - an old fashioned type. |
| The length of the nose can be seen between the
white and orange middle line. |
|
The definite break shall be between the eyes.
In the left picture one can see already that the break is almost at
the upper edge of the eyes.
In the picture to the right the stop is between the eyes, according to
the standard. And - never the less - this cat would loose against the
cat to the left.
There must be made a difference between a break (a non-rounded
indentation), as seen in the picture to the left, and a stop (a
rounded indentation), as seen in the picture to the right.
You also can see in the picture to the left that the upper edge of the
nose leather is turned upward, as it is usually in a snub-nose, and
that the edge of the nose leather is above the lower edge of the eyes.
 | Therefore the question, where a fully functioning lachrymal duct
shall find its space here, is legitimate, when the stop is almost at
the upper edge of the eyes and the upper edge of the nose leather is
already far above the lower edge of the eyes. |
| Also the question is legitimate, why cats, which deviate from
their standard in such a way, get a better judgement in shows of
today's reality. |
Standard
Persian in FIFe, issued 01.01.2007:
Head
Shape: round and massive, well balanced, very broad skull
Forehead: rounded
Cheeks: full
Nose: short, broad, with a definite stop, but not a snub
nose. The nose bridge and the nose leather must be wide. Nostrils
well open, allowing free and easy passage of air. Stop to be
between the eyes, neither above the upper eyelid nor below the
lower eyelid
Chin: strong
Jaws: broad and powerful
Expression: nice open |
The skull shall be very broad.
Here is written the little, but very important word "very".
The same questions have to be raised, such descriptions support the
unhealthy development that modern Persians got too broad heads, as the
reality already proves.
The nose shall be short and broad.
There is no further description, like in the standard above, how
the proportion between the length and the broadness of the nose shall
be. This is left up to interpretations.
In reality the nose has become extremely short, as pictured above. It
would be better to use the wording 'medium short'.
The nose must have a stop, which is between the eyes.
The word "between" is also not explained, like in the
standard above, "between" is only restricted that the stop shall not
be above the upper eyelid (to be logic, probably the upper edge of the
eyes is meant here).
Between the upper and lower edge of the eyes is left plenty of room
for interpretation that the stop can be shifted as high up as
possible, and that is already the case in reality.
There is a distinct difference between a break and a stop. A break is
a non-rounded indentation, a stop is a rounded indentation.
Both standards do not make any statement, where the upper edge of
the nose leather shall be placed. In reality the upper edge of the
nose leather is already above the lower edge of the eyes.
It would be better to request that the upper edge of the nose leather
must be below the lower edge of the eyes. This would ensure a certain
length of the nose.
Standard
Persian in CFA, Updated: 4/30/2006
| HEAD: round and massive,
with great breadth of skull. Round face with round underlying bone
structure. Well set on a short, thick neck. Skull structure to be
smooth and round to the touch and not unduly exaggerated from
where the forehead begins at the top of the break to the back of
the head, as well as across the breadth between the ears.
NOSE: short, snub, and broad, with "break" centered between the
eyes.
CHEEKS: full. Muzzle not overly pronounced, smoothing nicely
into the cheeks.
JAWS: broad and powerful.
CHIN: full, well-developed, and firmly rounded, reflecting a
proper bite. |
The skull must have great breadth.
Also this description has shown in reality that the head is too
broad compared to the shoulders.
It is also problematic here to give such measurements like "great
breadth", as the head of the Persians has already reached the other
end of the scale today, the scale "too broad".
The structure of the skull (meant is here the upper part of the
head) shall not be unduly exaggerated.
The face shall be round.
Reality is different than this standards writes correctly. The
upper part of the head makes already one third part of the entire head,
and the face - which shall be round according to this standard - has
become oval and has been shifted to the lower part of the head.
The nose shall be short, broad and shall be a snub-nose.
In this standard - like in the standards cited before - there is
also no statement, in which portion the length of the nose shall be to
the breadth of the nose. This is left up to interpretations.
But the Persian shall have a snub-nose, which has already supported
the development that the upper edge of the nose leather is arched
upward, as it is in a snub nose.
The break shall be centered between the eyes.
When reading in Webster's, what the meaning of "centered"
is, one finds the following explanation:
Main Entry:
2center
Function: verb
Inflected Form(s): cen·tered; cen·ter·ing
transitive verb
1 : to place or fix at or around a center or central area or
position <center the picture on the wall>
3 : to adjust (as lenses) so that the axes coincide
intransitive verb : to have a specified center : FOCUS
usage The intransitive verb center is most commonly used
with the prepositions in, on, at, and around. At appears to be
favored in mathematical contexts; the others are found in a broad
range of contexts. Center around, a standard idiom, has often been
objected to as illogical. The logic on which the objections are
based is irrelevant, since center around is an idiom and idioms
have their own logic. Center on is currently more common in edited
prose, and revolve around and similar verbs are available if you
want to avoid center around. |
| |
The break must be centered between the eyes, that means it must be
placed around the central point, where the horizontal axis drawn
through the middle of the eyes and the vertical axis drawn between the
eyes meet each other.
Unfortunately the reality tells a different story.
Where the two axis (the white lines in the picture) meet each
other, there is the point where the break shall be centered. In
reality the break is placed above, where the red axis is drawn.
Conclusions
| There are some distinct wordings in the standards. The reality
deviates quite a lot from the ideal picture.
Why? Who is involved in and causes these deviations? |
| There is a difference, how the base of the nose shall be, if it
shall be a break or a stop. Both words implicate and express an
abrupt transition between the base of the nose and the forehead. |
| In all standards the head shall be round. That means, its shape
can be inscribed into a square.
In reality the head is oval and forms a horizontally lying ellipsis. |
| In all standards the skull shall be very broad. This is a
questionable and risky description, which supports and leads to
heads which are too broad. |
| The break, the stop shall be between the eyes. In several
standards there is no explanation, what is meant with 'between the
eyes'. |
| The proportion between the length and the breadth of the nose is
very vaguely described. There are no statements, how short or how
long the nose shall be. There is left plenty of room for
interpretations. And that has led to all those well know problems
of weeping and crying eyes and severely degenerated lachrymal ducts. |
| It is also not described in any of the standards, where the
upper edge of the nose leather shall be. And this is very
questionable. |
| It is not described in any of the standards, where the face
shall be located. As the reality shows clearly enough, the
proportion between the upper part of the head (the forehead) and the
face is inharmonic, unbalanced and disproportional, because the face
has been shifted to the lower half of the head.
Mostly the face is not round, but oval, which is the logical
consequence of a non-round head. |
Perhaps it is provocative, but hopefully it makes many people thinking:
The standards leave too much room for interpretations and seem not to
be written under the aspects of healthy and harmonic proportions.
© katzenzeitung 2/2007 |
|
|
