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Standard and health?
Has something changed?Actually not.
Or yes ...?
When looking on the standard of the Persian, the standard remained
the same. Actually, there has not been changed anything in the
content and in the wording.
And what about the cats?
These have not changed, too.
 | The cats remained to have the same light weight, as they
had, compared to the Persian from 15 years ago, and have become
noticeably smaller. |
| The face is still in the lower half of the head and not in
the center. |
| The stop is still not between the eyes, it is quite near the
upper edge of the eyes. |
| The nose leather is still arched upwards.
Can you see the distinct 'gutter' to the left and right of the
nose? |
| Actually, the Persian does not have any firm chin any
longer, because the muzzle has been moved upwards. Can you see
the little triangle in the pictures, which opens between the
upper lip and lower lip, because the jaws (lower and upper jaw)
are arched too much and are too narrow, they should be broad
and slightly arched. |
| The proportion of the size of the head is still not
harmonic, when compared to the body, because the head appears
unduly broad. |
| The tip of the nose should be the highest point actually and
should stand out from the face, when viewing the head in profile.
In reality the forehead, the nose and chin are requested to form
a straight line, as it is written already in many standards. The
logical (physical) consequence is: the face is arched inwards
(like a soup plate). |
| The head is still not round, even that is written in all
standards, it forms a horizontally lying cylinder. What might be
meant with "round" by the standards? |
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Photo, made by my own .
The Exotic (shorthaired Persian) is older than 10 years. |
Detail of a picture from
Wikipedia Deutsch - Perserkatze (German - The Persian
cat)
The Persian is 3,5 years old. |
Has there anything changed in the cats after so many years?
Yes, something has changed clearly!
There are born distinctly less Persian cats.
You may see this in the birth statistics of GCCF.
Remark: I have put these figures, published by GCCF, into an Excel
diagram to show the development in a graphic.
You can transfer this statistics 1:1 to the other countries. The UK
is no exception here.
As you can see clearly, the number of born Persian kittens was
reduced to below the half.
You can also see a clear reduction of born Siamese cats.
If the conclusion might be drawn, that the number of cats has been
reduced in general, where specific features had been bred to an
extreme?!
You can see the reduction of the number in Persians and Siamese even
more, when you look to the exhibitions.
When the Persians had been the largest group amongst all exhibited
cats, larger then semi-longhaired cats plus shorthaired cats and
plus Orientals/Siamese together, they are the smallest group - after
the Siamese - in today's exhibitions.
10 years ago there were exhibited about 150 Persians/Exotics in an
exhibition with an average number of 250 exhibited cats.
Today there are exhibited about 35 Persians/Exotics in larger
exhibitions with an average of about 220 exhibited cats.
Only the exhibitions with more than 25 Persians/Exotics were
counted, that means: the statistics was corrected deliberately
to further up numbers. About 40% of the exhibitions in these
countries had less than 25 Persians/Exotics in their shows.
Conclusions to be drawn
| Everything remained the same.
The standard and cats did not change. |
| You may hear still today: "But I want to have a cat with
nose."
Usual people do not like such extreme cats. They might be worried,
not unjustified, that they have to go to the veterinary more than
once per year for the vaccinations. |
| Did this distinct reduction of the number of Persians impress
somebody or make thinking about that? |
| Did this distinct reduction of the number of Persians have any
impact in breeding? |
| Yes! Today one can hear more often: "But, we put great
importance on healthy cats, and we have our Persians PKD-tested."
Question: Does the PKD have something to do with the bone structure
of the head, which was changed to the extreme? |
If the following literature does make someone thinking?
Hartwell, Sarah.
Novelty Breeds and Ultra-Cats - A Breed Too Far? Messybeast
"Analysis of Breeds Registered by the GCCF". Governing Council
of the Cat Fancy. 2009.
http://www.gccfcats.org/brdsrg.html.
Retrieved 2009-10-16.
Morphometric Investigations of Breed-Specific Features in Feline
Skulls and Considerations on their Functional Implications
Schlueter, C.; Budras, K. D.;
Ludewig, E.; Mayrhofer, E.; Koenig, H. E.; Walter, A.; Oechtering,
G. U. (2009).
"Brachycephalic feline noses: CT and anatomical study of the
relationship between head conformation and the nasolacrimal drainage
Copping, Jasper (2009-03-14).
"Inbred pedigree cats suffering from life-threatening diseases and
deformities". London: Telegraph.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/petshealth/4990966/Inbred-pedigree-cats-suffering-from-life-threatening-diseases-and-deformities.html.
Retrieved 2009-11-08.
All that is very negative. Persians
are not like that.
Or is it not admitted?
At least a very personal note:
I love Persians and Exotics, even reality is not always nice and
even this breed unfortunately has quite many problems. May be, it
would be better to think about the ideal of beauty, which is imposed here on this breed.
© katzenzeitung 11/2010
P.S.: Yes, nothing has been changed. |
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