PA Persian Cat Breeders

Photo copyright Dani Rozeboom

Here's a list of PA Persian Cat Breeders. The picture above is of a Traditional Persian (see details below). The breeders listed breed Ultra Persians (I expect), although I have not checked that out. Ultra Persians have more extreme looks including flat faces.

I don't have first hand knowledge of these breeders and you should always visit a cattery. Some have websites. They give some clues as to the efficiency of the business. They are only clues as a visit is a must. One final thing, catteries eventually stop trading and I have not tested these websites or rung around so some may not be open for business although that is unlikely:

1. Sybil Cattery, Pocono Mountains and run by Sylvia Bruckman. They specialize in bicolor. Visit the cattery for details http://www.sybilcats.com.

2. Byhishands, located New Freedom and managed by Susan Daniels. Website: http://www.byhishands.com

3. Karkens, located Fairless Hills, near Philadelphia and managed by Karen and Ken Efaw. No website. Telephone: 215-945-2775

4. Leeblooms, located Kunkletown and managed by Bonny Hadley. No website. Telephone: 484-547-5469

5. Preciosa, located Ephrata and managed by Emily J Fowler . Website: http://www.preciosa-cats.com

6. Mcjax, located Reading area and they ship within USA. Managed by Joseph Mcintyre. No website. Telephone: 610-777-2787

7. Davandras, located Levittown and managed by Sandra Rinkevich. No website and the phone number is Telephone: 215-945-1579

8. Persian Dream Kittens, located York and managed by Elena Snyder. They ship in USA. Website: http://www.persiankittens-pa.com

9. Shadenshadow, located Philadelphia area and managed by Jennifer Smetanick. Website: http://www.shadenshadow.com

PA Persian Cat Breeders - photograph of Faolan a splendid Traditional Persian living with Dani Rozeboom at Cattery Yeri Shaes.

PA Persian Cat Breeders to Home page

Long-haired cat breeds

Photo by Dani of a traditional Persian

In addition to Long Haired Cat Breeds you've got medium-long haired cats and I'll include those in this discussion. The picture above is of Faolan, a truly fantastic Orange Traditional Persian cat who lives with Dani Rozeboom who runs the Cattery Yeri Shaes and who is a fine photographer as well as a website builder (superb websites). A talented woman surrounded by fabulous cats.

One cat comes straight to mind as a cat that has been bred with a round face, extremely stubby nose and sometimes incredibly long fur, the Ultra Persian. This is a cat that the experts say has to remain indoor otherwise his or her fur gets too messy. As for grooming, get a good set of grooming brushes and combs 'cus your goin to need 'em. Obviously, it is essential to groom a long-haired cat religiously. But this begs the question, is it natural for a cat to have such long hair?

If you look at all the small wild cats; two classics are the Scottish Wildcat and the American Bobcat and you see functional hair. Its length is medium, just enough to keep the cat warm and camouflaged by the tabby gene so she blends into the background for survival. That is totally normal.

Owl-faced longhaired Scottish Fold kitten is a beauty. Photo: Irina Lyzhnikova (Ukraine)

The answer then it that it is not natural for a cat wild or domestic to have hair so long that the possessor of it, the cat, cannot maintain it on her own. Under these circumstances the hair becomes a burden for the cat but, yes, great to look at for the human. I don't get it myself.

So, at the top end of long-haired cat breeds we have the Ultra Persian. By 'ultra' I mean Persian cats breed to extreme both in the roundness of their faces and the length of their fur. The Doll Face (Traditional) Persian has long hair too but it is less long and more natural in length (or is that true?)

The next breeds that come to mind quickly is that gorgeous trio, the Maine Coon (one of the most popular), the Siberian and the Norwegian Forest Cat. Although the Maine Coon is the most popular of these (in part probably because this breed is American and America is the largest domestic cat market in the world by far and in part because this breed is lovely, except for perhaps health issues) the other two are also popular cats.

Their fur is more medium long and functional. All three needed long hair due to their origins. Maine in the USA has a cold climate in winter, Norway is very cold a lot of the time and, well, we know what Siberia is like.

Above: Faolan a Traditional Persian Cat of distinction and very handsome he is too. He's got male cat written all over him. Photograph is copyright Dani Rozeboom. You can see more of him here.

The above are the most popular long-haired cat breeds. What of the rest? In alphabetical order here they are (this list might not be totally inclusive but it is comprehensive):

American Bobtail. This cat has medium long hair and "semi-dense" short hair. So, there is a range of coat length for the American Bobtail.

American Curl. Once again this cat has a range of hair lengths from semi (medium) long to short. The fur is silky as there is no undercoat. You can see this clearly in the pictures of Helmi.

Balinese. A long-haired Modern Siamese cat. Modern Siamese have long elegant body conformation and small, long and bony heads.

Birman. Long-haired stocky cat. The hair is not a dense as the Persians.

Cymric. A long-haired tailless cat.

Himalyan. Another relation of the Persian, a shaded, pointed variety

Javanese. Semi-long hair but silky and lying close to the body so less noticeable.

Kurilian Bobtail. This cat breed can short-haired (KBS) and long-haired (KBL).

LaPerm. Can be short or long hair. Long curly coat due to a genetic mutation affecting the fur.

Maine Coon - famous semi-longhaired cat breed. The hair is not dense, quite thin, in fact, and uneven and sometimes shaggy looking. The whiskers can be impressively long and wild. The ears are lynx tipped, a famous characteristic of this cat breed.

Napoleon. A cross between a Munchkin dwarf cat and a Persian, Himmie or Exotic Shorthair - so is long haired when crossed with the first two.

Nebelung. One of the grey cat breeds and a long-haired cat.

Pixie-bob. Semi-long haired cat with short tail due to a genetic mutation.

Ragdoll and RagaMuffin. Both long haired and closely related.

Selkirk Rex. One of the Rex curly haired cats that is either long or short haired.

Scottish Fold - longhaired variant. See above.

Skookum. Long haired, short legged dwarf cat a cross between the Munchkin and the LaPerm.

Somali. Long haired Abyssinian

Turkish Angora and Turkish Van. Both long haired, probably long for the Angora and Medium Long for the Van. Silky soft coats.

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What causes Long Hair?

Apparently four independent mutations in the Fibroblast Growth Factor 5 (FGF5) Gene determine the long haired phenotype in domestic cats. There is one gene and four alleles. Each of the alleles make the gene function incorrectly causing the hair to grow longer.

The FGF5 gene signals the end of hair growth when the build up of protein reaches a certain level in the hair follicle. The gene acts defectively and the protein isn't produced allowing hair growth to continue. The hair growth is eventually stopped by another mechanism.

This gene seems to operate in an autosomal recessive manner.

The FGF5 gene regulates hair growth in other species. Wikipedia call it a 'human gene' (this seems to be incorrect or misleading) so I presume it regulates hair growth in humans.

(source for this section: Journal of Heredity --- http://jhered.oxfordjournals.org/)

Long Haired Cat Breeds to Traditional Persian Yeri

Burmilla

Burmilla cat photograph copyright skoop reproduced under a creative commons license.

The Burmilla is a cat breed that I had not heard of until I built the pictures of cats website. It is a rare cat but then again so are a lot of the purebred cats.

I have covered the origins. What about the appearance of this cat? We know the founding cats are Burmese and Chinchilla. The Chinchilla is in fact a Persian cat with a particular coat type.

It is interesting to consider which genes the Burmilla inherited from each founding cat that are presented in the Burmilla's appearance.

The Chinchilla gave this cat its silver shaded coat by way of the dominant silver (I) gene. This cat also inherited the Agouti (A) gene from the Chinchilla. The Agouti gene produces the tabby pattern seen so commonly on a wide range of purebred and mixed breed cats and also wild cats. It provides good camouflage for wild cats. The Agouti gene gives the Burmilla its tipped coat but the tabby markings fade apparently.

The recessive longhair gene is carried by first generation Burmillas. This gene may make its presence manifest later on. This gene is not welcome and breeders try to breed it out of their lines. The cat in picture above presumably reflects the presence of this gene.

The Burmese contributes the dominant short hair gene and the recessive Burmese gene. Breeders strive for a situation in which both copies of the gene for short hair are present (homozygous) as this a short haired cat. Homozygous means having identical alleles for a single trait.


Burmilla cat. Photo copyright jtlondon reproduced under creative commons license

Here is a summary of the breed standard:

This cat is medium sized. She should have a good contrast between the silver base color and the shading/tipping. She is of "foreign type". Foreign type means a cat with modified wedge or wedge shaped head, large ears, oval or almond shaped eyes, long body with legs in proportion to body length, slim, fine boned, long and tapering tail. Elegant. Greater depth of flank than in Oriental type.

The Abyssinian and Russian Blue are examples of foreign type. Foreign type cats have wedge shaped heads, large ears, long bodies. They are elegant in appearance and fine boned.

The head is a short blunt wedge. The eyes are large and "expressive". Green or amber (in Reds, Creams and Torties) are accepted. The coat is short, silky and smooth. It is also dense with an undercoat. The tabby markings are faint on the forehead. These markings may also be on the legs and tail (shaded Burmilla).

Source: The Burmilla Cat Club

Burmilla to Home page

Cat Breed Characteristics

Cat Breed Characteristics - all cats including Spooky above can jump extremely well (almost all, I mean, my girl cat is too fat). That is a characteristic that transcends cat breeds. Almost all characteristics do. Photograph is copyright Gail S and is reproduced under creative commons license.

Cat Breed Characteristics is a something that interests me. This is a post about the topic at a general level. If you'd like to see all the breeds and read about their origins, history, character and appearance I'd advise clicking here and going to the top of the navigation bar. Or use the navigation bar on this website. There are links to all the breeds.

People outside the cat fancy (cat lovers and cat breeders etc.) might think that the different cat breeds are separated by appearance and character.

The truth is that cat breeders are mainly concerned with the appearance of the cat breed that they are breeding and that the cat is socialized (able to behave well in human company). Cat breeders cannot control or create cats with specific personalities that fit a profile as there is no personality profile. Breed standards almost exclusively deal with appearance.

Their objective is to get the look just right, absolutely inline with the breed standard. As the breed standard can be interpreted fairly widely by a judge the breeders even go beyond the standard and breed cats that have the appearance required but to an extreme degree. In fact there is a desire to ensure that the cat breeds are well defined, one from the other. This can be difficult in a crowded market. The market place in cat breeds is quite full. There isn't much room left for new breeds if any new breeds at all.


Cat Silhouetted against the sky. This picture has nothing to do with this post. I just liked it. The photographer HiggySTFC (photo copyright HiggySTFC) says you can just see the cat's eyes. He/she is facing the camera.

The point is this. The cat breeds are generally well defined in terms of appearance but in personality they are essentially all the same, with some slight general differences. After all there is little difference between wild cats and domestic cats. Domestic cats become wild cats to a large extent when they venture outside (if you let them out).

Take some general differences to one aspect of personality - inquisitiveness. At one end of the spectrum you might have a cat like the Persian, who has almost been bred it seems for indoor living. A cat will find little about which to be inquisitive indoors after a while. It seems to me the cat is forced to be docile and sleepy. At the other end of the spectrum there is the Savannah, a popular cat, a wildcat/domestic hybrid. A big, active, and inquisitive cat; an intelligent cat (it is said that the Persian is the least intelligent domestic cat but I don't really believe that).

It is probably viable to talk in terms of Cat Breed Characteristics with respect to activity levels. The characteristic of activity and inquisitiveness would seem to be one in which there are some differences between some breeds but the wide middle band are all the same. Perhaps though we help to create inactive cats or active cats. The greater differences is between individuals.

If all cats are socialized properly then all the cat breeds will be pleasant friendly cats. You often see a description of a cat breed where the author has stated that the breed is loyal and friendly, for example. Can one cat breed be more loyal and friendly than another and is friendliness a characteristic of a cat breed or the domestic cat generally? Loyalty and friendliness is describing a well socialized cat not a cat breed.

There are other slight differences. Some cats are quieter than others. The Siamese is vocal and the Maine Coon and Siberian have quiet voices, for example. Both are big cats. Both may (with the Norwegian Forest Cat) all come ultimately from the same origins. They are similar longhaired cats.

It is these sorts of differences that come to mind. The overriding view though is that all domestic cats have very similar personalities. Cat Breed Characteristics (in terms of personality) is a bit of a misnomer. This, in fact, must be the case.

Cat Breed Characteristics to Savannah Cat

Non-Shedding Cat Breeds

Non-shedding cat breeds are a myth. It is obviously natural to shed hair. Humans do it as well. One of the biggest downsides of living with a cat is the hair, it's everywhere. You get used to hoovering it up though. Cats can be a bit messy. Some (but few) cat breeds shed less than others.

Cat hair. Image: Cornell University.

The first group of cats that come to mind are the hairless cats :). Simple really isn't it. Even hairless cats have some (but very little and downy) hair. Logic dictates though that if a cat has less hair there is less to shed. There are no non-shedding cat breeds just as there are no totally hypoallergenic cats despite claims to the contrary (although Allerca cats - Life Style Pets Inc. claim their cats, the Ashera GD, Allerca GD and Chakan GD are hypoallergenic).

The hairless cat breeds are the Sphynx, Don Sphynx and Peterbald (semi-hairless). These are all rare cats and realistically indoor cats.

The Rex cats shed less than normal due to the nature of their coat. Cats normally have three layers to their coats, a top layer the guard hairs, the middle layer are called awn hairs and the undercoat which is down hair. Some cats have less layers. The Turkish Angora has no undercoat, for example.

The Devon Rex does not have guard hairs so the coat feels soft (guard hairs are what you'd expect, harder to protect the fur). The coat is curly and sparse and low shedding. Not only does this make this breed one of the best in terms of shedding she is also better for people allergic to cats. Another cat with the Rex gene mutation causing the curly coat is the Cornish Rex. There are two other well-known Rex cats, the Selkirk and the LaPerm but these are not low shedding cats, although the Cornish Rex apparently is low shedding as she is missing both the guard and awn hairs (see below). Another Rex cat incidentally is the German Rex.

The Devon Rex can become hairless (rarely) due to a disorder called Hypotichosis at 6 months old. If that was to be the case you would have found a cat that is nearly one of the mythical Non Shedding Cat Breeds. In my opinion the cats with no undercoat (single coated cats) shed less. They are also much easier to comb and flea comb. Moggies can be single or double coated. The difference is quite noticeable. An example of a purebred cat with a single coat is the Oriental Shorthair. There are others.

One last point, a good healthy diet will result in normal shedding and regular grooming will help remove the dead fur. This will minimize shedding or put it another way you are controlling the shedding to a degree. Cats like being groomed provided it is done gently and it is a great way to bond. My cat asks for it and she gets it. There is one well known tool that gets at the loose hair in the undercoat that I have found is routinely recommended at that is the FURminator deShedding Tool with 1-3/4-Inch Edge for Cats. Used regularly it should help minimize shedding.

Non Shedding Cat Breeds to Cornish Rex