Alternative cat show commentary of a Persian cat by a veterinarian

Alternative cat show commentary of a Persian cat by a veterinarian. Screenshot.

This video appeals to me because veterinarians have the status in society to have their voice heard and listened to. And there is a need to educate the public about the irresponsible breeding of Persian cats which has been going on for donkey's years with the acceptance of the cat associations. People should not be creating animals that are inherently unhealthy. Simple. Full stop. And yet it happens all the time because appearance trumps health in the cat fancy. It is worse for dog breeds. There are some horrendous stories. 

For instance, the Boxer has 74 inherited health problems thanks to unregulated selective breeding over a very long time which has reduced this breed to a living catalogue of major health issues.

Here is Ben's video on Persians.

I suppose I should not harp on about the Persian too much but it is the paradigm example of cat breeding gone wrong. Someone in the cat fancy decided in the 1950s that flattening the face of this once beautiful cat (c.f. the doll-face Persian) would make it more attractive. How did they figure that one out?

Clearly the peke-faced, punch-face in India, Persian is less attractive than the original Persian. The point is that it is more interesting looking. It is more extreme in appearance and people like something different whatever the 'product' is.

But in flattening the face they distorted the internal anatomy in the head which leads to health issues and breathing problems.

35% of Persians also suffer from PKD; polycystic kidney disease. This describes cysts on the kidneys. Not good, right? People should protest and stop buying the flat-faced Persian until the cat associations make it mandatory to breed healthy Persians by disqualifying all flat-faced ones from cat show competitions.