| Traditional Persian | |
|---|---|
| A white female doll-face Persian in front of a male doll-face Persian | |
| Alternative names | Longhair Persian Longhair |
| Origin | Iranian plateau ("Persia") |
| Breed standard | |
| FIFe | standard |
| CFA | standard |
| TICA | standard |
| AACE | standard |
| ACFA/CAA | standard |
| ACF | standard |
| CCA | standard |
| Domestic cat (Felis catus) | |
The Traditional Persian cat also known as Doll Face Persian is considered as a true breed of Persian cat. This breed did not change its physical appearance but some breeders in America and other parts of the world started to interpret the standard differently. The short nose and clear break became shorter and higher. This resulted eventually in the Ultra-face Persian, now forbidden because of the breed's health problems.
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As their name suggests, Persians originate from Persia (Iran). The cats were introduced in Europe by the Phoenicians and Romans in the 1500s as highly valued items of trade. The Europeans were impressed by the Persian's long silky coat and purposefully bred the cats to perpetuate the trait. Other long-haired cats such as Angora came from Turkey and added to the breed. References to such cats dating back to 1684 B.C. were found.
Two mutations of note influenced the Traditional Persian cats: the color inhibitor polygene (1882) that gave rise to the so-called "Chinchilla" cats and the brachycephalic mutation (circa 1942) that gave rise to the so-called "peke-faced" or "snub-nosed" Persian cats.
The colour inhibitor polygene mutated in a Persian cross in 1882 in the UK. The offspring of this mutation is commonly known as “Chinchillas”. They were classified as a Persian variety for breeding purposes.
The brachycephaly mutation in the Persian breed occurred during World War 2 in the USA. This led to a concerted effort to breed Persians with rounder heads and smaller ears than their ancient ancestors after World War 2. The resultant brachycepahalic heads lead to the much desired snub noses favoured by many modern Persian breeders and which dictates the modern standard for Persians in cat fancies throughout the world.
The modern standard for Persian cats evolved to favor the brachycephaly mutation. This led to the decline in the breeding of Traditional Persians as well as their numbers on cat shows.
The sub-set of Chinchilla varieties experienced problems during the brachycephalic modernization phase with regards to the original chinchilla coloring features. These include loss or incomplete lip liners and nose liners; patched-colored paw pads and eye color faults. Once lost, it is hard, if not impossible, to recover.
By the mid 1950's, concerned breeders of Chinchilla in the USA advocated pure color breeding. The leading mentor in this regard was Jeanne Ramsdale of the Dearheart cattery. Mrs Ramsdale was famous for her water-shedding book “Persian Cats and other Longhairs” (1976), in which she highlighted the differences between Persians and Chinchilla Longhairs. During the last part of her life, she campaigned for the colour-bred longhairs to get their own breed standard. After her death, her campaign was carried on by Jeannie Johnson (Ivey League cattery, Fort Lauderdale, California, USA and Stella Slabber (Cherie cattery, Cape Town, SA).
Three notable attempts have been made to separate the Traditional Chinchilla Longhairs as breed in their own right: (1) Sterling in The International Cat Association (TICA), (2) Chinchilla Longhair in the South African Cat Council (SACC) and (3) Traditional Longhair Silver and Golden in the World Cat Federation (WCF).
Jeannie Johnson succeeded, with motivation from the Cornell University, to get the breed separation accepted by TICA under the breed name “Sterling” and breed code "STE" in the early 1990's. Over twenty years of work went into this breed recognition attempt, including international support.
The breed was accepted by International Cat Exhibitors (ICE) for championship status in 1998, having completed all requirements under new breed status. Ivyleague Turbo, a male chinchilla bred by Mrs. Johnson, received Best International New Breed (Provisional) in 1998 and 1997. Ivyleague Princess Nina, described as "a Christmas angel", heralded championship for the Sterling. Information about the breed was published internationally and was well-received. The breed maintained its own registry under the International Sterling Society.
Sadly, not many breeders of Persian Chinchillas elected to switch over from the existing Persian standard to the new Sterling standard. Mrs Johnson died before she could get wider buy-in for the breed. Due to lack of support, TICA subsequently scrapped the Sterling breed standard.
Stella Slabber and a group of South African breeders of Chinchilla Longhairs succeeded to separate the breed under the name “Chinchilla Longhair” with breed code “CHL” in the SA Cat Council (SACC) in 1996. [1] In this regard Dr Johan Lamprecht, international cat judge of note, played a leading support role.
A global standard for the Traditional Longhair Silver and Golden, shaded and tipped varieties was accepted by the WCF (August 2010). [2] In this regard, Dr Johan Lamprecht again played a leading support role. The breed proposal was compiled by Alida Delport of the Cherie-Finesse cattery, Cape Town, who succeeded Stella Slabber as breeder with the original Dearheart lines that Stella Slabber imported from Jeanne Ramsdale from the USA.