Modern day Persian cats are perhaps one of the world's oldest and most recognizable cat breeds. Known for their flat faces, big eyes, and long, lavish coats,

One of the theories that is generally accepted regarding the origin of 4 modern day breeds can all be traced back to some grey and black and white, wild long hair cats, living in the mountains of Persia (Iran) that were later bred to white coated Longhair cats whose lineage can be traced back to Angora (Ankara, Turkey). These long-haired wild cats naturally developed their long hair as a form of natural protection helping to protect them from the cold winter weather.

Around the end of the 16th century people started to take notice of these cats. Depending on where you lived and who was breeding them, cats were selected to reproduce certain traits that the individuals preferred more. Breeding these cats set the foundation stock for several breeds four of which have become well established. These 4 modern day breeds are 

1. The Angora, (long coat, sleeker with a traditional wedge shape nose like a Siamese)

2. The Persian (long coat, cobby body, flat face),

3. The Himalayan, (long coat, cobby body, flat face like a Persian, with coloured points like a Siamese)

4. The Exotic (very plush short hair, cobby body, flat face like a Persian)

In the 19th century the Persian cat started to be exhibited at shows in England. Their popularity soon spread throughout the world but in America their popularity spread like wildfire.

The longhair gene is a recessive mutation meaning that there needs to be 2 copies of the gene in order to have longhair kittens but there are some silvers that do carry a rare recessive short-hair gene and sometimes when two longhairs are bred together, they will occasionally produce short-haired offspring.

Persians can come in a wide range of colours and colour patterns. The colour points (pattern), began after crossing Persians and Siamese cats together. Once the colourpoint gene was established the resulting offspring were bred back to Persian cats and the breed was later named Himalayan. After years of selective breeding , the Himalayan is now so genetically like the Persians and because it’s looks, personality and body type are so similar, that Himalayan and Persian are names that some people use casually and interchangeably when describing their cat. Some clubs still considered Himalayan as a sub-breed of Persian Cats, other cat associations now refer to the Himalayan x Persian cross as simply a C.P.C. Persian, (C.P.C. indicating that the Persian is a, or may be a, colourpoint carrier). Other clubs consider a cat with both the Persian x Himalayan genes, even though they may not express colourpoints, to be distinctly a Himalayan breed.

No wonder why some people find this confusing but unless you and have some knowledge regarding genetics and you are purchasing a cat with the intentions of breeding, then the minor differences between the two breeds mostly come down to colour pattern.

A original ‘Traditional' Persians, were bred to be cobby with a long coat, traditionally, they had faces that look closer to the face of an Angora but not quite as angular. Nowadays, these Persians are often referred to “Doll Face”.

Over the years a few breeders and cat clubs began focusing more on achieving a certain extreme look and intentionally choose to breed for extremely flat faces and today are a few breeders are still working to achieve kittens that meet that standard. Unfortunate sometimes, people neglect to see the long term side effects of this deformity and even today there are still quite a few breeders who for vanity reasons, fail to recognize the harm and discomfort that it may be unintentionally causing, for the cats. (We will discuss this in more detail further down the page because we feel that some breeders continue to breed for extreme flat faces but unfortunately when they sell these kittens, they often fail to disclose to the purchaser all of the potential problems they could face in addition to the time it will take to care for them and the level of commitment that will be needed from the them just  to keep the cat groomed properly. This is a must, and it is required for years to come. Of course grooming is a requirement for all pets but more so for a cat with such extreme features.

Braphycephlic Cat Breeds

Pronounced (brăk′ĭ-sə-făl′ĭk) …(Brachycephaly is the shape of a skull shorter than typical for its species; resulting in a shorter than normal face)

It appears that in recent years, many people are seemingly becoming more attracted to and are choosing braphycephlic cat and dog breeds to keep as their companion pet. Many of these breeds have become very popular. All breeds have their unique set of concerns but braphycephlic cats and dogs also have a trait that is concerning. Although these traits are all a natural part of the breeds genetic make up and it is likely that not every braphycephlic animal will eventually develop or have issues, I strongly feel that it is important for people to know and seriously consider their decision before choosing to purchase or care for any braphycephlic breed.

Persians, Himalayans and Exotics, are some of the most popular braphycephlic cat breeds that are deliberately and selectively raised to have shorter than normal skull and facial (jaw and nose) bones. Many people find this extremely cute and are willing to accept this as the official breed’s standard even though braphycephlic cat breeds usually require more attention. Often raising breeds with these features can unintentionally result in kittens/cats being born with eye issues, such as Entropion (the turning in of the edges of the eyelid allowing the eyelashes to rub against the eye surface) and excessive tearing, breathing issues such as snoring, coughing and sneezing, and/or asymmetrical jaws; crooked teeth, malocclusions, wry mouth, overshot and undershot jaws and teeth, etc. These features are genetic abnormalities are part of the nature of the breed and as a result it is quite common for Persians, Himalayans to sometimes have issues. This is one of the reasons we prefer raising cats with less extreme faces. These issues seem to be a little less prevalent in cats with less extreme faces, but because historically, these breeds are pre-disposed through genetics, sometimes even cats with less extreme faces (doll faces) are still subject to eye, nose, tooth and jaw problems.

Normally if your pet has been examined by a veterinarian prior to you purchasing it and issues are not documented on the health certificate, it is probably because these issues may not have been present or noticeable at the time the pet had its last check up. These issues can appear then disappear and reappear again. While kittens are growing, their bone structure including their skull, nose mouth and teeth change a lot. Therefore, during different growth spurts, sometimes issues may seem to become noticeable and then after a few weeks, they may seem perfectly normal. This is because as Persians and Himalayans mature, facial issues often correct themselves and other than regular grooming, seldom need outside intervention.

If any issues seem to be causing your pet health problems, the pet owner who chose this breed, has an obligation to the pet to make sure the pet is not in any discomfort. The owner, along with their veterinarian need to discuss and consider all of the options and put a plan together that is in the best interest of the owner and the pet.

Also, it is important to note that early neutering, while certainly has some advantages, can also affect the overall bone growth including the shape of the head. If cats (notably male cats) are neutered early, because neutering affects the hormones, it can drastically slow or even stop the growth of the head and bone structure. Unneutered male Persians and Himalayans are slow to mature, and their heads will likely continue to change for up to two years or more.

In recent years a lot of conscientiousness breeders and the people purchasing these kittens have begun to accept that cuteness can still be achieved without making radical sacrifices to health and comfort of the pet. Now a lot of people are preferring not to have to deal with extreme faces and breeders are deliberately choosing to breed for the traits closer to those of the Traditional Persian” and Himalayan. But unfortunately as with most things, sometimes we go too far the other way and now breeders are breeding ‘Doll Face’ Persian/Himalayan cats that look a lot like domestic longhair cats.

Our Breeding Goals

When breeding, we prefer to maintain the general Standard of the Persian/Himalayan ; keeping the overall cobby and roundish body type but we  prefer working with cats that have a softer looking face, one that is not too extreme but is still a bit flatter and rounder than a cat with too long of a ‘doll face’.

We don’t believe in raising cats in cages. Other than for safety purposes or when the need to temporarily confine them for a medical reason, or for transportation or at cat shows, etc. we do not cage our cats. Our cats are raised free in our home, as part of our family. They are exposed to other pets, family members and to our friends where they receive a lot of care and socialization. Shortly after our kittens start exploring and eating on their own, they are confined to one area in our home and while mom has free access to them and the rest of our home, the kittens remain confined while whenever we are not playing with them, until they are used to using a litter box. This usually only takes for a week or two,

Diet

Our cats and kittens are fed dry, premium cat / kitten food which along with fresh clean water (no milk) are always available They are also fed treats sparingly and they are offered home cooked meat every evening. They don’t really need the treats or the home cooked meat, but we do like to spoil our pets. We have a multi-level home so, we quickly learned from them that treats kept in a plastic ‘Temptations’ can, is our best friend! It can be used as training tool too, when checking on everyone or rounding them up at grooming time, just shake their temptations can and they seem to appear out of nowhere. (any small plastic container that can be reused repetitiously, that contains their favorite treats, that you can shake to make noise, will work for training them) 

Vaccines

Depending on where a person lives, some vaccines are required by law. This is not an issue for us because we believe in preventative medicine and although we do not over vaccinate, we make sure that our veterinarian administers vaccinations to all our cats and kittens. Not all veterinarians have the same vaccination protocol. Sometimes, when to prescribe which vaccinations to administer or what age to give them vaccines, may vary somewhat. We have found that other than a few naturopath veterinarians or those that prefer to adhere to strictly a Holistic approach, most veterinarians recommend a similar vaccination protocol.

All our kittens can only go to a new home

• After they have been properly weaned. Which is usually when they are 10 plus weeks old.

• After we are sure they are faithfully using their litter box.

• After they have been examined by our veterinarian and received their initial vaccines.

• After they have had several preventative dewormings.

• After they have been treated with Revolution or Advantage Multi (topical flea / mite prevention).

All our Kittens leave our home with

• Their signed vaccination certificates.

• A 1-year written Health Guarantee (Which is posted on our site for everyone to read.)

• A bag of food they are currently used to eating.

The Prices of our kittens do vary

• According to availability…cats usually raise kittens during the spring and summer and therefore there are more to choose from and prices may be a bit lower. During the winter months through until late spring, you’ll notice that kitten prices are substantially higher. Often because our summers are so short, people choose to wait to bring a new pet home until they are home more. Unfortunately, during the winter, the demand is higher but there's not very many kittens available during these months.

• Breed confirmation and quality…Often, the closer the kitten is to meeting the show standard the more in demand it is and therefore it may cost more.

• Colour… People often decide to purchase a pet because of colour. While this may not the best reason to decide on any pet, people have a preference. Therefore, colours that are unique usually sell quicker. Some colours tend to sell slower . Although they are all equally deserving of finding great homes, sometimes certain colours sell a bit slower.

Over the years the cost of vet care, grooming, food, toys, advertising, etc. have all gone way up in price every year. However, the price of quality animals purchased from a reputable breeder has remained relatively consistent.

We are never in rush to sell one of our pets and our prices are reasonable and are not negotiable…Our thoughts regarding negotiating the price of any living thing is very simple …If you can not afford the pet now then perhaps you may want to consider waiting until your circumstances change before buying one.  (usually, followup vet care is not negotiable either) If you don’t think the pet is worth the price, then why would we or anyone ever consider selling it to you.?

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• Raising pets as a hobby requires a lot of dedication and expenses. If you are lucky enough to break even, you are doing great!
• While most breeds are considered established, nonetheless there is still a lot that we breeders are learning about each breed.
• Some breeds are higher maintenance and others have genetic strengths and weaknesses that needs to be considered before committing to and accepting the responsibility of caring for one.
• It is ultimately up to the purchaser to decide which breed is right for them. 
• To help you make a wise choice before deciding on which pet is best for you, start by doing a lot of research first. Talk to professional groomers, veterinarians and people who specialize in the breeds.  (Do some leg work, don't simply read and accept the information posted on the internet as fact.)