CHAPTERS

Chapter One: The Royal History and Breed Information

The Persian cat boasts to be the glamorous cat in the world. It has a beautiful, long flowing coat that envelops its sweet and calm face. Other than that, it has a serene personality which makes it popular among the cats. However, this cat is high maintenance. You need to have weekly to daily grooming of the fur, toes, and even the skin. Other than this, this breed could get grumpy if not trained well.

The Persian cat has a sweet, gentle face that lightens up when it sees its favourite people. It can communicate well using its expressive eyes and beautiful voice. It loves to be on its human’s lap where it could rest for long periods of time. Other than this, the cat loves to cuddle. However, it is also curious and playful; it will be around new things and investigate until it gets tired.

A different thing about this cat, it does not really like to climb or jump. Instead, it will just post silently on a sofa or chair while playing with its favourite toy. You need to provide a calm, predictable, and serene environment for your cat. However, Persian cats can adapt well to different environments as long their needs are sufficed.

Most people think that Persian cats only come in one color – white. However, this breed comes in numerous and wonderful patterns and colors! There is a lot uncharted territory about this breed, and we must investigate this now.

In this chapter, we will have an overview about our beloved breed. We will give you its in depth background as well as its characteristics which are needed for your initial decision to get a Persian cat. We hope that, by the end of the book, you will buy your own Persian cat and apply your knowledge! Enjoy learning!

The Legends of the Persian Cat

Some legends say that the Persian cat emerges from a mystical cargo, along with priceless jewels and spices during the Eastern Trade. Along with the baskets of myrrh and frankincense, there were long haired cats that were traded to the European aristocracy.  They were known to be here on earth for as early as 1684 B.C., and its origin? Still unknown.

Another legend is that the cat is from a country of flying carpets and magical cars. Then among the fire, stars, and smoke – there emerged the first Persian Cat.

The Beginning

The Persian cat is known to be at least 150 years old. The oldest known Persian cat was identified in mid-1800s.

In this year, the traveling diplomats brought in longhair kittens that were originally from the Middle Eastern countries to their relatives in Europe and England. Initially, they were called based form their country of origin. Persians were from Persia, Angoras from Ankara, and Russians from Russia.

These cats were an instant celebrity in Italy, France, and England. They were in demand and very popular unlike the native cats in the aforementioned countries.

Their long and luxurious hair might be part of their success another positive would be from their gentle nature and their ability to have a great relationship with their humans.

Back in Time

Before the mid – 19^th century, the origin of the Persian and other known cats were really not that clear. There were clear evidences that the Persian cat has been domesticated by people around 4000 years in Egypt! There were figures of sleek, short haired cat that were depicted in religious and art artifacts on the walls and some other that were entombed as mummies.

Other historical records showed that the Romans introduced the domesticated breed throughout Europe, which later on travelled to the New World then to Australia.

Some historians believe that this breed is the proud baby of the Pallas Cat and the European Wild Cat. These two breed has denser longer coat that protected them from harsh climates, these breed has introduced the long haired breed for cats. However, some believe that the breed is a genetic mutation due to slow evolution. In whatever version you believe, the long and flowy hair has been a trademark for the Persian Cat.

A Household Cat to a Show Cat

The exact history of the Persian cat will still be unknown in the nearest future, however, most people believe that long haired cat were brought to Europe from the countries in the Eastern part of the world. Americans and Europeans bred these long haired cats and carefully selected the desirable traits.

Cat clubs were formed to record the lineage of these breed. In July 1871, the first ever cat show was held in England, at the Crystal Palace at the heart of London.

Harrison Weir, the father of the Cat Fancy and the one who produced the first and the coming cat shows at the Crystal Palace. He also wrote books which contained drawings of different breeds as well as standard breed characteristics.

Angora was the part of the modern Persian cat. They recognize this bred to have finer, silkier, and longer hair while the original Persian cat were known to have a larger head, heavy bones, pointed ears, and larger, round eyes.

The colors of these long haired cats were red, tabies, blue-cream, bi-colors, calicos, tortoiseshells, silvers, and smoke.

Crossing the Oceans

Mrs. Edwin Brainard imported the first high bred long haired cat to the United State. She brought a black long haired cat, while Mrs. Clinton Locked imported a white cat who she named Wendell. This cat was from Persia.

The first widely attended and successful cat show in the United States was held in Madison Square Garden in New York City which happened in May 1895. There were 176 cats that were brought in by 125 owners.

Helping the Homeless Cats

Breeders focused on taking care of their valuable cats; however, they still did not forget the less fortunate cats. Breeders dedicated their lives to taking care of cat, whether it is sheltered or not.

What the Facts?

There are a lot of wonderful things about our beloved Persian Cats. However, there are distinct characteristics that make the Persian Cats stand out.

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