1901 Persian Cat vs 2009 Persian Cat

A pictorial comparison between a Persian cat of 1901 in Britain and a Persian show cat of about 2009 in the United States. The difference shows us how far the development of the Persian cat has come over more than 100 years. Is it good development?

I'd like to refer you to two pages on PoC that discuss the Persian cat and its development:

1. Persian cats
2. Persian cat breeding

And I'd also like to refer to DOMESTIC AND FANCY CATS - A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON THEIR VARIETIES, BREEDING, MANAGEMENT AND DISEASE (1901) by John Jennings who was an experienced show cat judge of the time.

Mr Jennings says this of the Persian show cat of his era:

"the ears should be somewhat small..the head should be small for the size of the cat..the body should be long and rounding. The Persian should scale 8lb to 10lb."

The CFA standard for the Persian at 2012 says:

"HEAD: round and massive, with great breadth of skull...EARS: small..When viewed in profile, the prominence of the eyes is apparent and the forehead, nose, and chin appear to be in vertical alignment...BODY: of cobby type, low on the legs, broad and deep through the chest, equally massive across the shoulders and rump.."

I don't have to add a comment save to say that the long, elegant 1901 Persian cat has become a somewhat dumpy, flat faced rounded cat of more extreme proportions.

Associated: Traditional Persian Cat.