XL Bully cat is a dwarf Sphynx (Bambino) and has been around for a long time

The news headlines at the moment from the cat world are something like: " UK experts warn against buying ‘XL bully cats’" It is a reference to the hairless pet cats being bred to have some of the aggressive and odd appearance of the XL Bully dogs.

XL Bully cat. A 'Bambino' in cat fancy parlance. A dwarf Sphynx.

The point I want to make here is that the XL Bully cats are actually Bambinos! Yes, a name from Italy which describes the dwarf Sphynx cat.

The hairless Sphynx is very well known and quite popular but frowned upon by experts as it is unnatural and it is unfair to leave a cat without a coat.

Add the genetic mutation that causes the hairlessness to the mutation that causes dwarfism and you have a dwarf hairless cat namely the Bambino.

Another version of the Bambino is the Dwelf. This dwarf breed which is very rare has a third additional genetic mutation namely the one that causes the ears to fold backwards as seen in the American Curl.

More: Dwarf cats 2023 – full discussion.

What I an saying is that the XL Bully cats have been around for a long time but in a different guise: dwarf Sphynx cats.

Dwarfism carries 2 major health risks. Click here to read about them. Plus the cat has not coat and no whiskers. No coat means this is an indoor cat and no whiskers affects the cat's natural behaviour detrimentally.

The Germans would call the making of this strange cat: torture breeding. Hairless cats have folded skin as well which can harbour germs and dirt.

These cats need a lot of extra maintenance as their coat gets dirty and smelly. I would guess that most people who adopt one learn that they become troublesome. You have to be a real cat afficionado to be prepared to deliver excellent care for the shortened life of these breeds.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins. Also, sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified. And, I rely on scientific studies but they are not 100% reliable. Finally, (!) I often express an OPINION on the news. Please share yours in a comment.

List with links to 14 diseases inherited by the Peke-face Persian (infographic)

The list is pretty comprehensive. It may not be entirely complete but there are enough inherited diseases listed in this infographic to put the wind up anyone who is considering buying one of these cats. 

14 inherited diseases/conditions affecting the Peke-face Persian by Michael Broad

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I know that I am going on about this, perhaps for too long, but it is important that everybody is clear that the Peke-face Persian cat inherits these diseases because of decades of extreme breeding to create this abnormally flat face. The extreme breeding even feeds back into a disease called lordosis which is not to do with the face by the way! And it effects giving birth. Yes, the whole cat's being is affected and always negatively.

This extreme breeding affects the cat of course because they are likely to be much less happy than they would have been if they were blessed with normal anatomy. And it affects the caregiver because there's a lot more work to do in maintenance and it is likely that they will be obliged to take out a pet health insurance policy which in the modern era are quite expensive. 

And also at the moment there are a lot of people who are concerned about their financial affairs because there's been inflation and we are still, if we are honest, coming out of the Covid-19 pandemic. It's impact is still felt.

And the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine is still being felt in Europe because of the need to source oil and gas from places other than Russia. I won't go on anymore but I hope people click on the links in this Infographic which go to more infographics for easy reading explaining these diseases.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins. Also: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified. Also, I rely on scientific studies but they are not 100% reliable.

The most obvious inherited health issues of the Peke-face Persian: BAS.

Although the Peke-face Persian (flat-faced Persian) can suffer from all or one of 16 inherited diseases, the one highlighted in the infographic below is the most obvious. It is perhaps the classic consequence of breeding cats with unnaturally shaped heads and faces to try and meet an aesthetic which pleases the eye of some. Heavens knows why because the Peke-face is certainly uglier than the Doll-face.

There is no cure for this or the other Peke-face Persian inherited diseases because they are caused by a distorted face and head due to extreme breeding. You have to change the breeding practices over a long time if you are to 'cure' this shameful state of affairs where the cat fancy have abdicated their responsibilities to ensure that they breed healthy cats. In fact I think you'll see that the CFA demands in their breed standards that health should not be compromised BUT IT IS (in the most gross way)! And has been for decades in really serious ways causing distress and unhappiness in these cats. 

Brachycephalic Airway Syndrome (BAS) in Peke-face Persian cats by Michael Broad

If you click on this link: Infographics on Peke-face Persian health problems, you'll see some more health issues associated with this breed, if that interests you. Each one is a 60 second read. The goal is to explain sometimes complicated medical information in studies in an infographic. I want everyone to have access to this kind of information as it is good for cat welfare and to educate potential adopters of purebred cats.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins. Also: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified. Also, I rely on scientific studies but they are not 100% reliable.

Ethical breeding of white cats

It occurred to me that there needs to be a policy about the breeding of pure white cats because there is a severe disposition to deafness in cats with white fur caused by the dominant white gene (Leukism). 

Breeds with white fur are considered to have potential welfare problems. The underlying ethics of cat breeding is not to breed cats with welfare problems. That must be the default situation at all cat associations and in all forms of selective breeding.

Pure white cats are cats with no pigmentation within their hair strands. It is the dominant white gene (W) which prevents the pigmentation migrating into the hair strands or it prevents the production of pigmentation in melanocytes. I'm not quite sure which but the result is no pigmentation in the hair strands (Wrong? Please tell me in a comment).

This beautiful Maine Coon is deaf. They should not have been created

The dominant white gene also causes a higher incidence of cancer and a lack of pigmentation and tapetum lucidum in the eyes. The high incidence of deafness when deliberately created through an unethical breeding should be banned.

And this got me thinking about what the cat associations do about it. And some of them do something about it I am pleased to note.

For example, the general breeding policy of the Governing Council of the Cat Fancy in the UK state on their website that, "From 1 June 2016 all white cats, regardless of breed, will require a certificate confirming Bilateral Hearing lodged with the GCCF in order to be registered as active". 

My presumption is that the word "active" means the cat is able to compete at cat shows. So, there is a rule which prevents unethical breeding of white cats causing deafness

The International World EV states at 3.3 that, "For breeding white cats we recommend that white X coloured parents are mated. White parents as well as young white animals are to be tested for deafness by audiometric testing. Cats are to be permanently marked with a microchip before audiometric testing is completed. The microchip number will be noted in the audiometric test certificate regarding the animal."

I presume that this procedure is to identify white cats which are not deaf. Not all white cats are deaf but there is an unsatisfactorily high percentage.

It appears that the general rule is to never breed white cats with white cats otherwise you will get deaf kittens.

Regarding the Cat Fanciers' Association, the premier cat association in the USA, I cannot find anything about the ethical breeding of pure white cats on their website. That may be due to a poor search engine but for whatever reason I can't find it. The same applies to The International Cat Association, another premier American cat association.

The conclusion is that white cats need to be selectively bred with care to minimise the risk of deafness because if you aren't careful you end up breeding i.e. creating a disabled cat because they can't hear properly which affects their behaviour through impaired attention to environmental factors and social communication.

There is an argument that breeders should discontinue breeding cats carrying the dominant white gene. And there is an argument that there should be a prohibition of breeding and exhibiting cats carrying the dominant white gene. This is a reference to the GCCF policy above.

There needs to be behavioural, ophthalmologic, and audiometric examination (electrical reaction audiometry) of cats before use for breeding. This is very important.

Note: cats with white fur determined by genes of the albino-series (gene c) are not likely to suffer from deafness, except when combined with the dominant white gene

The autosomal dominant white gene suppresses all other colour genes causing white fur in 100% of cats, blue eyes in 70% of cats and deafness in 50% of cases.

The breeds where problems may occur are European Shorthair, British Shorthair, Norwegian Forest Cat, Maine Coons, Turkish Angora, Persian, Foreign White, Russian White and the Turkish Van.

About Choupette, a Birman cat loved by Karl Lagerfeld

People ask: 'What breed of cat is Choupette?' As far as I know Choupette is still alive and the recipient of a $1.5 million legacy from her adoring caregiver Karl Lagerfeld who passed away in 2019 aged 85. News media reports that the cat is now looked after by Lagerfeld's housekeeper Francoise Cacote, in Paris, France. I expect she uses the money to look after darling Choupette in the manner to which she is familiar with a lot left over to spend on herself but we don't know!

The name "Choupette" is a cute version of the French word for 'cabbage' namely 'chou', which is a term of endearment between French people. French people sometimes give their opposite number a nickname such as "my little cabbage". The name Choupette is derived from that cultural habit.

Choupette is a Birman purebred cat. They are a majestic longhaired particolor, pointed cat. They have striking blue eyes and white laces and gloves on their feet. That all sounds a little bit complicated so I'll try and explain it.

RELATED: Famous felines: the stories of history’s most notable cats.

The word "particolor" means more than one colour. So, this cat breed is a pointed cat like the Siamese cat which means that the extremities are darker than the middle portions but, in this instance, the dark extremities are not a single colour but a mix of colours. 

And in the case of Choupette, in my opinion, the pointing is dilute tortoiseshell which is orange and black with tabby markings. It's rather complicated. And to go a bit further, I would also state that Choupette's pointing is diluted. Therefore, this cat carries the dilution gene.

Choupette. Image: Instagram.

If you look at the photograph above carefully, you will see that the pointing looks like a diluted red or orange. But if you look to the left of her left eye, you will see some darker-coloured fur. This is in my opinion a dilute black and the two colours together indicate to me that this is a tortoiseshell mix of colours on the extremities. It is manifested in terms of a red pointing colour on the tail.

RELATED: Karl Lagerfeld is wrong about animal fur.

Choupette has 'gloving' on her feet (white fur). The gloving on her left foreleg is not perfect and breeders of Birman cats expend a lot of effort in trying to get that perfect white paw with a clear demarcation between the darker area of the paw and the remainder of the foot.

The white gloves and "laces" on the feet are created by the piebald gene a.k.a. white spotting gene together with a pattern gene for the placement of the white in that particular area.

If the white fur runs up the leg the breeders call this "runners". This means that the white fur has run up the leg metaphorically speaking. It's taken many years of breeding Birman to Birman with the desired white-spotting pattern to achieve the perfect gloving on the feet. They have achieved this through careful selective breeding (artificial selection) to weed out the undesirable patterns and to fix the desirable patterns in their breeding lines.

The eyes should be blue, sparkling against the darker pointing of the face. Birman cats are said to be healthy and intelligent. They are relaxed and easy-going with their human family members. They have a tolerant personality and a peaceful nature. Choupette does have this aura of calm and sweetness about which she probably has. This is why, I presume, Karl Lagerfeld adored her so much.

Choupette entered the life of Karl Lagerfeld in 2011 when he adopted her from a model who, I presume, was modelling his clothes. The model's name was Baptiste Giabicone. They went on holiday and left Choupette with the staff at Lagerfeld's home. That was the beginning of the relationship. In short, Choupette was given to Lagerfeld as a gift during Christmas 2011.

Toyger cat infographic

This is a compact infographic on the rather rare Toyger cat breed. This is a non-mainstream cat breed. Some of the books that I have on the breeds make no mention of it. 

Infographic by MikeB at PoC.

The Toyger cat breed was created by a woman in America, Judy Sugden, in the 1980s to try and put a miniature tiger into the homes of American citizens! She wanted to try and bring a bit of a the wild into their home and therefore she set about creating through selective breeding a domestic cat which looked, as near as possible, like a tiger and also walked like a tiger. This was a very tall order. Impossible actually to get a domestic cat to replicate that tiger swaggering walk.

She selected some foundation cats which she thought were useful in that purpose one of which came from Kashmir and the other was a Bengal cat with a pattern that she thought was suitable. A third domestic shorthaired cat called Scrapmetal was also used.

Judy Sugden is (or was) the daughter of Jean Mill, the woman who created the Bengal cat breed. Clearly within this family they have a fascination for domestic cats with a wild cat appearance.

The Toyger is not that dissimilar from the Bengal cat as it happens. But of course, the Toyger only has stripes while the Bengal cat has alternative tabby coat patterns.

Clearly, Judy Sugden had to focus on the mackerel pattern of tabby cats and make those as high contrast as possible and as dark as possible. And the background colour needed to be as near to the colour orange as it could be. It is very hard to create a miniature clone of the Bengal tiger which is what she set out to do, I guess with optimism.

However, this is still work in progress 43 years later. I personally doubt the objective. The breed never really caught on. It is not one of the most popular cat breeds. Although the breed was recognised by The International Cat Association at full championship status in February 2007. 

I don't think the CFA recognises it. I've just looked that up and the Cat Fanciers' Association do not recognise this breed which supports my point that it is unsuccessful as a newish cat breed created through selective breeding i.e. artificial selection.

The days of creating breeds like this are over. There was a flurry of new cat breeds during the middle of the 20th century. The cat breeds are no saturated! No more space for them I feel.

Is the Bengal cat from Bangladesh!?

To those in the cat fancy the question in the title seems odd. Even stupid but there is a little bit of truth in it. I'll explain.

Some cat fancy afficionados might say that, of course the Bengal cat is not from Bangladesh. The Bengal cat is a wild cat hybrid created by an American Jean Mill in America in the 1960s to 1980s by crossing domestic cats with the Asiatic leopard cat (aka leopard cat). She was living in Yuma, Arizona at the time. The Bengal cat is therefore from America. 

It was actually quite a complicated and extensive process with a number of foundation cats as shown in the picture below.

Foundation cats for Bengal cat breed. Image: MikeB

It was created during a time when there was a keen interest in creating through selective breeding novel cat breeds including wild cat hybrids which are domestic cats with some wild cat DNA within them.

RELATED: Bengal cat - comprehensive page.

The leopard cat is a small wild cat species about the size of a domestic cat and fiercely independent. Not actually that good a choice from which to create a wild cat hybrid to live with people as a pet. 

But the point is this, the leopard cat has a wide distribution in Asia including Bangladesh. 

We can say therefore that although the Bengal cat comes from America, within each individual Bengal cat is the DNA of the leopard cat to varying amounts depending on its filial (generation from the leopard cat).

And therefore, there is a connection to Bangladesh and the other Asian countries where this species is found.

RELATED: Bengal cats refused entry into Hawaii.

Infographic highlights 5 Persian cat health issues caused by misguided cat associations

The title and the infographic says it all. Breeders of contemporary, peke-faced (flat-faced) Persian cats with extreme facial features have destroyed the cat's health. They have taken away the perfect feline anatomy that was present in the original 'normal' Persian cat around 50 years ago and replaced it with distorted anatomy because of years of misguided but formally sanctioned (by the cat associations) selective breeding. It is horrible.

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 a good, positive 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 car. 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.

I don't know about anybody else, but it has always mystified me why the cat breeders who administer the CFA decided that the Persian cat should have such a flat face. For some reason they think that the appearance of this extreme Persian cat is more aesthetically pleasing than the original version. I can't see the logic in the decision making. 

The earlier versions are aesthetically more pleasing than the later ones. It seems to me that the cat associations have gone backwards. Not only are the early Persians better looking they are healthier because the extreme breeding alters the anatomy, as you know, of the face which can cause breathing problems and tear duct overflow. 

What is going on? What happened? How did the CFA arrive at this situation? And can they go back? They certainly don't want to go back when they should be more open to that possibility. In fact, I would highly recommend that they do, for the reasons stated above.

Associated: Traditional Persian Cat.

The First Siamese Cats in the Western World

Mrs Vyvyan of Dover, England, UK was the person who first brought the Siamese cat to the Western world from the Orient. The year: 1886. I am sure that snippet of information will be disputed by many! However, it comes from Mrs Vyvyan herself who sent the information to Harrison Weir, the founder of the cat fancy. This is referred to in Harrison Weir's book: Our Cats and all about them at pages 77-79.

If she is not the first, she is one of the first and it is, therefore, interesting to hear what Mrs Vyvyan has to say about the Siamese cat - the original version before cat breeders in the West got hold of the breed and mangled it 😉.

We don't have a photo of her Siamese cats (if you can help, please comment) but below is an early Siamese showing a normal body conformation and head shape.

An early Siamese cat showing a normal body conformation and head shape. Photo: Wikipedia Commons and in the public domain.

Her experiences with this famous breed relate to Siamese cats that came direct from Siam (now Thailand). She nursed and cared for the original Siamese cats believed to have come from the King's Palace and sent to her from Bangkok. At the time she was in China.

These are some of the comments she makes about the first Siamese cats in the western world. I think her comments will interest aficionados of the Siamese cat breed.

"They are very affectionate and personally attached to their human friends, not liking to be left alone, and following us from room to room more after the manner of dogs than cats." 

We know that the Siamese cat is famous for their loyalty, close relationships with people and being talkative - see character. She confirms this.

She says that the male Siamese is very strong and that they fight with strange dogs. The male Siamese can "conquer all other tom-cats in their neighbourhood". 

Apparently, while Mrs Vyvyan was living in China one of her cats had had a fight with a wild cat and lost. He was killed but managed to walk home before dying.

Being the time before the existence of pet food manufacturers Mrs Vyvyan fed her cats fresh fish with boiled rice, bread, warm milk, chicken and game.

She supported the idea that they were better off going out and catching their own food, "feather and fur".

Mrs Vyvyan said:

"We find these cats require a great deal of care, unless they live in the country, and become hardy through being constantly out of doors". 

A thought which is out-of-step with today's trend towards indoor cats. She said that kittens are more likely to survive if born in late spring so they could benefit from the warmer weather.

The predominant illness in her kittens appears to have been worms. They were so bad the kittens tried to vomited them up. She gave them raw chicken with heads and with feathers on as a relief from the discomfort.

She describes the gradual development of the pointing. The first Siamese cats were seal pointed. This is the classic pointing. Breeders have developed a lot of different colours for the pointing including lynx (tabby) pointing. Mr Vyvyan believed that the "true breed, by consensus of opinion" was the seal point which she describes as, "of the dun, fawn, or ash ground, with black points." She mentions other colours which implies that even then there were other colours. I think chocolate pointing has been referred to as an original color. Although Mrs Vyvyan didn't refer to this.

"When first born the colour is nearly pure white, the only trace of 'points' being a fine line of dark gray at the edge of the ears; gradual alteration takes place, the body becoming creamy, the ears, face, tail, and feet darkening, until, about a year old, they attain perfection, when the points should be the deepest brown, nearly black, and the body ash or fawn colour, the eyes opal or blue, looking red in the dark. After maturity they are apt to darken considerably, though not all specimens."

Mrs Vyvyan says that the Siamese is a delicate cat (she is referring to a delicacy of health). She recommends that only a "real cat lover" should get involved in caring for a Siamese cat. They still are delicate, ironically, due to selective breeding. They have the most inherited genetic illnesses of all the cat breeds.

She refers to the intelligence of the Siamese cat. This is a known quality and in fact the Siamese related cats such as the Oriental Shorthair are also rated in the top bracket for cat breed intelligence, if you believe such things.

Harrison Weir's drawing of a Siamese cat's head pointing 1889.

To finish off this page I'll show you what Harrison Weir considers to be the "properly marked Siamese cat". The picture above is also interesting for the shape of the head. This is a perfect example of a traditional Siamese cat. That is the way the Siamese cat looked in Siam before 1886! The modern Siamese or even the Thai cat are not representative of the original Siamese cat.

Associated page: Siamese cat history.

Note - copyright. I have decided that, despite what some have said, the copyright in Harrison Weir's book has expired due the passage of time and it is now in the public domain. If I am wrong, please tell me and I will take prompt action. 

Founder effect in the creation of a cat breed

In terms of community and domestic cats, the so-called "founder effect" is apparent in, for example, two cat breeds that come to my mind quite quickly namely the Manx and the Turkish Van. There are others. Both these breeds were moggies at one time living in the communities from where they orginate.

Manx cat was created via the founder effect on the Isle of Man many years ago.
Photo copyright Helmi Flick.

In relation to domestic cat evolution, the founder effect works when a population of domestic and community cats are in a certain area and confined to that area. Some early members of this group of cats become the foundation cats for all the cats in the area. It's a bit like the creation of a breeding line when cat breeders selectively breed for a certain appearance. They choose a foundation cat and use that individual throughout their entire breeding programme and indeed other breeding programs. There is a loss of genetic variation.

The meaning of “lines” in cat breeding

Manx

This sort of thing can can occur naturally in a confined space. For example, the Manx cat was confined to the Isle of Man which is about 30 miles long. A genetic mutation for a missing or short tail occurred in one cat on that island. It was passed through inheritance to other cats. The original mutated domestic cat with a short tail became a foundation cat to all others until there was a large population of short-tailed or no-tailed cats confined to a 30 mile long and 10 mile wide island.

Turkish Van

Turkish Van. Photo: Helmi Flick

The Turkish Van was created in an isolated population in the north-eastern mountains of Turkey  - the Lake Van region. Their appearance was perpetuated by their "founder" characteristic of orange-and-dominant white. Particularly, there is an inverted 'V' on the forehead between the ears, and the tail is coloured while the rest of the body is all-white. The appearance of the early foundation cats had a powerful influence over resulting generations of cats in that area.

The Real Turkish Angora

Polydactylism

The founder effect is why short tails were perpetuated in the isolated populations on the Isle of Man, as mentioned, and in Japan and the Kuril Islands (Kurilian Bobtail). And the founder effect also accounts for the high percentage of domestic and community cats in Boston with extra toes known as polydactylism. The original cats with extra toes procreated to create more and the genetic mutation did not dissipate among the general population but was confined to the Boston area. This allowed for a quite high percentage of cats with extra toes to be present in that area.

Why are Maine Coons polydactyl?

Bengal cat

All Bengal cats orginate in very few first generation leopard cat x domestic cat hybrids created in the 1970s as I recall.

Breed personality

You can find certain personality characteristics within cats of a certain breed because one male individual founder cat has passed on their inherited character to many cats within that breed because an individual founder cat was used by a number of breeders. Perhaps, this is why the Ragdoll cat is known to be laid-back. I don't know how many foundation cats in total exist for the Ragdoll cat breed but I suspect it is a very few and there may be one individual cat which started off that breeding line for all the cats of that breed which means their personality has been handed down for generations.

Picture of a longhaired Selkirk Rex bicolour

This is a nice picture of the Selkirk Rex longhair. The coat is a bicolour, specifically a ginger-and-white bicolour. The news media refer to this cat as a cat in sheep's clothing. They have the approximate appearance of the better-known British Shorthair but with a curly coat. They are quite rare which surprises me because they are also popular. 

You will find shorthaired and longhaired variants. The curls are more pronounced in the longhaired version. The body is semi-cobby meaning slightly stocky. The head is pleasantly round. When you breed them you are allowed to outcross to British Shorthair cats because that method of selective breeding will not change the body shape of the Selkirk Rex.

Picture of a longhaired Selkirk Rex bicolour. Photo: Reddit.

The breed more or less started in Wyoming shelter in the late 1980s when a Montana Persian breeder was given a cat with curly hair from which she founded the breed. At that time, of course, the breed had not been named. I'm told that as the kittens get older the ends of the curly whiskers become brittle and break off leaving very short curly whiskers. And about four months of age the kittens might lose most of their hair. It grows back curly and it remains that way for the remainder of their lives. The coat is soft and plush with quite coarse guard hairs.

They are a sweet and loyal cat, a healthy breed making gentle, pleasant companions. You'll see them in all categories, all divisions and in all colours. You can read more about this cat by clicking on the link below if you wish.

Selkirk Rex Cat

Long domestic cat fur mainly exists because people like it

Long fur on domestic cats is non-functional. They don't need it. The longhaired cats and cat breeds would be better off with short fur if functionality was the sole reason for their anatomy. Long fur needs human intervention to keep it in good condition, to prevent it becoming matted. Matted fur leads to infections and infestations of the skin. Domestic cats often can't maintain their own coat if the fur is too long. The decorative Persian comes to mind. There have been some horror stories of matted Persians over the years. Note: this is a cross-post because it is an interesting topic.

Shorthaired cats in a colony in a warm place. Photo: Pixabay.

The Maine Coon has a medium-longhaired coat because they were barn cats living outside. The coats served a purpose. When a wild cat species has a long coat it is for a reason: they live in cold places. I am thinking of Pallas's cat and the snow leopard for instance. That's natural selection.

The very long fur on Persians is due to artificial selection (selective breeding). Human intervention is the main reason why domestic cats have long coats. It is about human preferences. Many people like domestic cats with long coats. This sustains them when under different circumstances they'd fade away and stop existing especially in warm countries such as in South America where a study supported this concept.

ASSOCIATED: Feral cats will have less fur, longer legs and tails and larger ears due to climate change

They say you rarely see longhaired feral cats. It is true. You might see them from time to time if they are new to the feral cat scene and strays. But long term feral cats are nearly always shorthaired for functional reasons: they can maintain their coat themselves.

Brachycephalic Persian cat with bulging eyes can have corneal problems

In this article I want to point out the bulging eyes of the Exotic Shorthair and the Persian, two associated breeds because the former is a shorthaired version of the latter. In this picture we can see the "punch-face" appearance of the Persian. It almost looks as if this cat has suffered a catastrophic injury to the face as it's been flattened. And this, to my mind, leaves the eyeballs bulging outwards beyond the protection of the bones of the face. This leaves the cornea exposed because there is a reduced ability to close the eyelids.

 Brachycephalic Persian cat with bulging eyes and flat face. Photo: Irina Gerasimova.

And of course, the cornea is exposed anyway as it sticks out so far. This contributes to 'exposure keratitis' and it is said probably contributes to corneal sequestrum development (the development of an opaque, dark brown to black plaque on the cornea). Persian cats are predisposed to this.

Exposure keratitis also occurs in people and it is described as a medical condition affecting the cornea of eyes which can lead to corneal ulceration and permanent loss of vision due to corneal opacity. Normally the cornea is kept moist by blinking and during sleep it is covered by the eyelids. When the cornea is exposed to the air, it can cause increased evaporation of tear from the corneal surface leading to dryness of the corneal surface. This can lead to corneal epithelial damage based on my research on Wikipedia.

I'm not saying that this particular, individual in the photograph is going to have problems with their cornea. I wouldn't say that. I'm just commenting generally about this desire to create flat-faced brachycephalic Persian and Exotic Shorthair cats with these bulging eyes. 

I think the bulging eye problem is particularly noticeable with the Exotic Shorthair cats. I've seen a lot of this and I think it is an unfortunate side effect of this extreme selective breeding. I don't think the breeders want this but it goes with the territory of the flat-face as does other health problems which you read about by clicking on this link.

I think you will find that the majority of the public would like to see the breed standards of the Persian and Exotic Shorthair 'detuned' by which I mean made less extreme so that the breeders follow guidance which doesn't drive them to creating unhealthy cats which arguably look less attractive than the traditional Persian. I think you will find that the vast majority of the public prefer the appearance of the traditional Persian over the contemporary variant. So, there's no need to breed cats like this in the first place.

Perhaps the problem is that the cat fancy is too inward-looking. Perhaps they should conduct a poll with the public and ask them what they think. They may have been encouraged to breed cats like this because the Persian has been very popular for many years but they have gradually drifted into this extreme look without, I believe, touching base with the public on the issue as to whether this was a wise thing to do. It has taken the cat fancy around 60 years to create this strange appearance.

Are all cats wrinkly like hairless cats but we just can’t see it?

No, normal cats do not have wrinkly skin like the hairless cat breeds. Do breeders of hairless cats deliberately make their skin wrinkly? Hairless cats such as the Sphynx have incredibly wrinkly skin. Take a look at the cat below, bred in Moscow, Russia. It is like the skin of a 99-year-old man (worse!). Cats with coats do not have skin like this. What is going on? If you part the fur on a normal cat, you see whitish, smooth skin.

Are breeders creating skin wrinkles on hairless cats deliberately. Photo and breeding by Cattery Murmetroll, Moscow, Russia. This might be a Don Sphynx, Russia's version of the Spkynx.

I have asked a couple of Russian hairless cat breeders using FB messenger why their cats' skin was so wrinkled but no response. Maybe they are embarrassed. Perhaps they feel that they have been found out?

SEE SOME PAGES ON 'HAIRLESS CATS'

No one has discussed this properly but it needs to be explained. Perhaps the gene that makes these cats hairless also affects the elasticity of the skin. Or perhaps the skin has to be washed so much that it is damaged and becomes wrinkled. 

You probably know that the hairless cats become dirty because the oils from the sebaceous glands which are meant to go into the coat to make it glossy is deposited on the skin, as it has nowhere else to go, and it attracts the dirt. Yep, it is one of those troublesome little details that a hairless cat owner has to contend with.

My favourite reason why Sphynx and Elf cats have wrinkled skin is because the breeders selectively breed them like that. The breeders like the wrinkles as it gives the cat 'texture' and makes them look more interesting. Fair enough.

I have just checked the reddit.com website where they discussed this issue but no answer. They don't know. And that was 2 years ago.

Comments welcome please. We need to get to the bottom of this :) .

Are Abyssinian cats vocal and talkative?

Yes, they are talkative but there are two ways to answer the question: the conventional and the unconventional way. The conventional answer pretty clearly states that Abyssinian cats are talkative. Gloria Stephens, a cat show judge and a person with considerable knowledge of the cat breeds, describes the Abyssinian cat as an individual that "loves to talk with people in a euphonic voice". Fair enough.

Abyssinian cat. Photo: Helmi Flick.

A pretty distinct and clear answer. The unconventional answer comes from me but of course I defer to Gloria Stephens. However, I don't think that you can say with certainty that Abyssinian cats are talkative. Firstly, it depends on the individual cat because even within a cat breed there will obviously be variations between individuals as to personality and personality has a bearing on whether the cat is talkative or not.

Secondly, the amount of vocalisations that a cat makes depends upon the environment in which they live. If you have a tremendously loving human caretaker in a close relationship with an Abyssinian cat, the cat is liable to be quite talkative to that person. It's simply an extension of their relationship.

Thirdly, cat breeders normally focus on the appearance of the cat they are breeding and their behaviour comes second. You never hear of cat breeders selectively breeding for a cat that is talkative. It is not on their radar to declare to themselves that a particular cat is very talkative and therefore to put that cat in the breeding line to ensure that offspring and their offspring are going to be more vocal. To the best of my knowledge, they don't do that. They don't focus on a tendency to vocalise because they are fully focused on the appearance which takes precedence over everything else.

The Siamese cat is known to be vocal with a particularly characteristic voice as it happens. But even with the Siamese there is variation. The point that I'm labouring on explaining is that Gloria Stephens makes a definitive statement about Abyssinian cats being vocal but I wouldn't go that far. I would answer in a more cautious way because I don't think you can brand an entire cat breed with the description that all the cats in the breed are talkative and vocal.

Picture of a Toyger cat is actually a photo-edited photograph

This interesting photograph could, to the uninitiated, be of a Toyger purebred cat but it is not. It is far too much like a tiger to be a Toyger. You may have heard about this rare cat breed called a Toyger. If you haven't you might like to click here to read about it. Essentially, it is a breed of cat which is meant to look like a miniature tiger in your home. The idea is to bring the tiger into your home. However, it's proved very difficult to replicate the anatomy of a tiger in a domestic cats through selective breeding as you can imagine.

Toyger purebred cat? No, photo-editing of tiger cub + domestic cat. Photo in public domain.

You can only go so far with selective breeding but, that said, some cat breeders go too far and breed cats to extreme. Perhaps the Toyger breeders could have done a better job. Perhaps they gave up because the breed cannot, in honesty, be described as a success.

There was a discussion on the Internet about whether this photograph is of a Toyger. It is a very nice piece of photo-editing which has merged the face of a domestic cat with the face and body of what appears to me to be a young tiger or tiger cub. Photo-editing can do wonders in the right hands.

The photograph was first used to illustrate a cat food, Newman's Own Organic. I think it is part of Paul Newman's business of making salad dressings and cookies et cetera. With the picture went the slogan "They Once Ate Organic". This must be a reference to the fact that tigers eat natural foods and this company is hinting that most pet food is unnatural and they are correct. It is a shame then that the picture is unnatural!

However, the picture may have been added to Newman's Own Organic logo by somebody else other than the company. We don't know the history.

Toyger cat breeders would give their right arm to produce a cat like this. The picture first emerged on a social media network used by artists to showcase their work called Behance. It was posted to Silev's page.

This little story is interesting in terms of cat breeding. The Toyger was started in the 1980s, a time when there were a lot more new breeds. It was a time, too, when there was a big interest in creating cats that hinted at being wild cats. I'm referring to the wildcat hybrids mainly. But there are some domestic cats without any wild cat blood in them which were selectively bred to look like wild cats too. The intention was to encourage cat owners to think about wild cat conservation. To transport those beautiful wild cats in far-flung countries into their urban houses.

This may be a week justification rather than an idealised high moral ground attempt at conservation. The mid-1950s was a time when the most cat breeds were developed in the cat fancy.

Toyger cat. Photo: copyright Helmi Flick

Above is a photograph of a genuine Toyger. You can see the far more angelic and delicate appearance of this breed. There's one thing you can't replicate of the Tiger in a domestic cat and that is the way the tiger walks. It is an arrogant gait, imbued with confidence and cockiness. The domestic cat gait is far more fragile and delicate.

Picture of the round head and cheeks of a white Exotic Shorthair bred to extreme

This is an extreme version of the Exotic Shorthair. The way this breeder has bred this cat to extremities is by making the animal more rounded. This is seen in the cat's cheeks which are incredibly large and, yes, round in appearance. I've not seen an Exotic Shorthair with such rounded large cheeks. The appearance reminds me of a Russian bred British Shorthair. I'm going to conclude therefore that this cat is the creation of a Russian breeder.

Rounded head and cheeks of an extreme bred Exotic SH. Picture in public domain.

You can go to the breed standard to find out why this person decided to create such enormous cheeks. All the breed standards for this cat will be similar but I'll choose the Cat Fanciers' Association breed standard for the Exotic. It says that the cheeks should be "full". The head should be "round and massive". The face should be round with "round underlying bone structure". The word "round" is littered like confetti within the paragraph on the breed standard for the Exotic's head.

It is obvious, therefore, where this extreme version of the Exotic Shorthair comes from. We know that this breed is a short-haired version of the Persian. That's why you see this very flat face as well. This is the contemporary version of the Persian. To remind ourselves, the Persian cat was at one time, at the turn of the 20th century, a very standard looking domestic cat with long hair. The face back in those days of the Persian was fairly standard.

The general appearance of the Exotic should be of a "heavily boned, well-balanced cat with a sweet expression and soft round lines."

A contributing factor to this sweetness are the large round eyes. These are meant to mimic the eyes of a baby. And there's nothing more sweet to the eye than a baby (to some people). The coat should be plush and dense and the ears should also be round. I've never seen the word "round" used so much in a breed standard. As I said it's as if the word 'round' has has been thrown all over the page like confetti!

Pictures of Blue British Shorthair cats with extreme features

The three pictures of blue British Shorthair cats on this page show cats that have been bred to an extreme appearance. They probably come from Russia where they are very good at this. But I'm going to refer to The International Cat Association (TICA) breed standard for the British Shorthair to point out how breeders end up magnifying a particular feature of a cat because the breed standard specifies it. How far they go down that road is up to the breeder because the cat associations don't prevent them breeding to extreme although they should because sometimes it creates inherently unhealthy cats which goes against the cat associations' policies.

Extreme bred British Shorthair to emphasis the cheeks and to make the cat look very cobby and rounded per the breed standard. Picture in public domain.

So, the head shape of the British Shorthair under the TICA beach standard demands that a show cat should have "full round chubby cheeks. Broad, wide cheekbones with smooth transition to muzzle". It is self-explanatory. The outstanding feature of the cats that you see on this page is that they have enormous, chubby cheeks. It's as if they are giant hamsters. They been bred like this. It's called selective breeding. 

The breeders start off with foundation cats which have slightly chubby cheeks and they breed offspring back to their parents to gradually magnify this aspect of their anatomy (inbreeding). They select those offspring whose cheeks are particularly chubby! They select the cat hence the phrase "selective breeding". It is not letting nature take its course. It is an intervention by a person which is why you end up with an abnormal looking cat. A cat that nature would not create if left to its own devices.

Another British SH bred to extreme. Picture in the public domain.

I'm not being particularly critical. I don't really care. I just want to write something about these cats and it has to be about their cheeks! Because they stare you in the face as if something is wrong. But the breeders like it. No doubt these cats have done well. They probably sell very well. However, the classic British Shorthair does not look like these cats. They look fairly normal with slightlyflat faces and slightly shortened muzzles. These cats are extreme in other areas of their appearance as well, such as being extremely cobby (stocky and rounded) for the same reason.

British Shorthair. Picture in public domain.

P.S. There is a current craze for 'chonky' cats - big, robust male cats. These cats follow that trend.

Extreme British SH. Photo in public domain.

Big Maine Coon Cat

The big Maine Coon cat (MC) is very impressive and the biggest purely domestic cat in the world (I am excluding the wildcat hybrids) but not all Maine Coons are huge. The MC is also the largest native American purebred cat. I suppose that is obvious. 

Sometimes people think that Maine Coons weight 30-40 lbs (13.5 to 18 kgs). This is not true. One breeder says that the average female MC weighs between 8-12 pounds and males weigh up to 18 pounds. These are cats in good condition. 

Obviously fat MCs are going to weigh 25 lbs sometimes. The shaggy fur covering a long lean body probably adds to the impression of size. Also when you compare them with some of the svelte, slender and slight modern oriental style cats they look enormous. I am thinking of the Oriental Shorthair for example.

That said the Maine Coon below has a head which is similar in size to the head of the person carrying him - there are some huge Maine Coons:

It can take 4-5 years for an MC to reach maximum size. The factors that dictate size are genetics (selective breeding probably played a part here too), diet and exercise! Intact males (not neutered) are more likely to achieve higher weights in meeting the cat's full potential due to the contribution of the cat's hormones to his development. By contrast a male cat that is breeding may have reduced coat density making him look smaller.

Other than selective breeding since the late 1800s to the present (the duration of the cat fancy) what makes the Maine Coon so big? Well this cat is not as big as people think as mentioned. Secondly, if the Maine Coon originates in ships cats imported from Europe about 400 years ago, these cats were probably large in the first place and then they developed/evolved naturally as farm cats. The farm cat/mouser lifestyle probably lead to the natural selection of larger cats.

25 lb Maine Coon - Jordy - He was a national champ in 2004

Jordy the 5 year old Maine Coon above, full name: Nascat Jordache of Coonoquan was featured in the Atlanta Magazine in 2007. Does be look a little bit overweight? Apparently he has a very laid back character and looks regal. He does look docile and well mannered in this picture.

Photo above: The judge said the cat "unfolds" indicating that Maine Coons are long and flexible more than simply big. Many breeders testify to their MCs being 5 feet from nose to tail (about 1.5 meters).

Photo above: His name is Shooter. I think he is the biggest Maine Coon I've seen - photo is copyright wendyophoto - this is a very impressive photograph. Wendy says, "This HDR was made from a single RAW photo taken at ISO 1600". See this image in large format. See also a lot of Maine Coon cats and great information.

There is a certain fascination with big animals including cats. In the UK there is the perennial sighting of the escaped big cat roaming around some parkland or farmland in the dusk. We never see evidence other than a poor quality picture. There are supposed to be dozens of wild beasts in England and someone I recall is setting up remote cameras to try and get that elusive evidence. Some think they might be large feral domestic cats. People do tend to exaggerate what they have seen.

In the same vein there is a fascination about the Maine Coon cat's size. We know that this breed can throw up some big cats but they are not all that big normally. And in any event if we are to compare cat breeds we should look at the average weight of male and female cats of each cat breed. The averages are much less than the one off large male.

All that said the Maine Coon is the largest cat breed if you're talking about CFA registered purebred cats. TICA register more cats and some are wild cat/domestic cat hybrids such as the Savannah and an F1 or F2 Savannah is bigger than a Maine Coon normally. The world's tallest "pet cat" was Magic an F1 Savannah of great presence.

You'll get some oddities caused by an illness and you'll get some very fat cats, one is illustrated on this page. These are larger than normal but not for the right reasons. It is, I feel, rather pointless to isolate large domestic cats that are large because they are overweight or ill. Worse it is a kind of freak show.

One classic way of breeding larger domestic cats is through hybridization with wildcats as they are sometimes but not always larger than domestic cats. In fact I made a comparison between the large domestic cats and wild cats on the page linked to above. The Savannah is the classic large domestic cat/wildcat hybrid at F1-2 level. The thing is, it is impractical to have domestic cats that are large beyond a certain threshold as keeping them requires special arrangements. In addition breeders need to breed the wildcat hybrids back to domestic cats for character. You can't really live with a wild cat in the house. This automatically reduces the size of the cat.

Abnormally large domestic cats of any breed including the Maine Coon is unlikely to happen because selective breeding over the years has dramatically narrowed the gene pool. Purebred cats often have a high Coefficient of Inbreeding as breeders search for the perfect appearance. This limits the occurrence of oddities in regards to size.

Apparently a Maine Coon has been 49 inches in length, that is about 4 feet. The world's longest domestic cat (now deceased sadly and he died young) was Stewie a Maine Coon at 48 and one half of an inch. Maine Coon cats are actually long rather than purely big. So a big Maine Coon cat will be very long and this is amply demonstrated in the pictures.

At a CFA cat show. Tabby and white. Photo by semarr

One last thing, photographic evidence requires some sort of scale to compare size with. A very big Maine Coon cat would look small against a very large person. And similarly you cannot tell a big Maine Coon cat from a photograph unless there is something in the picture to compare size with. There are also a number of hoax photographs on the internet. These are photographs manipulated using Photo shop type software.

Each picture on this page have been selected as showing a big Maine Coon cat with something to scale by (except for Jordy! but his weight is recorded as correct). It is for that reason I am showing people where possible as well as cats in the photograph.

All the photos are published here under creative commons licenses granted by the photographers and each is credited below as requested under the terms of the license.

Big Fingol - almost 28 lbs - Photo by Jackdaw (Flickr)

Update 30 March 2010:

Here is another big Maine Coon cat being shown off for his or her size:



Go to the Largest Domestic cat breed analysis

Photos - note: the credits have been superceded by the inclusion of fresh pictures in the public domain:

• 3rd down on right this cat according to the person in the photo weighed about 25 lbs, the top end for a Maine Coon cat. copyright BeryIM
• 4th down shows how long the Maine Coon can be copyright BeryIM
• 5th down well yes a big Maine Coon Cat and fat one too - copyright Foxtonque
  
• 6th down another large cat but the scaling is misleading because the cat is nearer the camera. photo copyright semarr. Taken at a CFA cat show

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