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There is no proven theory as to the origin of the Persian cat. It is maintained that at the end of the 16^th Century it was discovered in Ankara, Turkey. For a long time they were known as Angorian cats. Other theories consider  Persia as the country of origin and therefore for many years they have been called  Persians. Researchers think that they descended from wild long hair cats, e.g. the Manul which developed its long hair as a natural protection against winter cold weather in the mountains around Ankara. Which brings us back to Turkey! 

It is maintained through research that the long hair  resulted from a mutation and then passed along through natural selection and  through breeding programmes designed to ensure that the long hair gene was inherited. As is the case for so many things, the truth will lie somewhere  in the middle. In the last century the Persian cat was exhibited at shows in England for the first time. Their popularity soon spread throughout the world. Besides the Siamese, the Persian is the most well-known breed in the world. The first Persians were black and white. The colours blue, cream and red were soon to follow.

The Persian standard calls for a round head as an apple, small rounded ears set well apart and full cheeks. The eyes are large and round and with  a few exceptions the standard calls for the eyes to be of an Orange or Copper colour. The nose should be short and strong Stop. The upper edge of the nose should complete at least the lower eye border, optimal is, the upper edge of the nose lies in the position of middle of the eyes.
A compact body sits on short, strong legs with round paws. The coat is long and silky. The tail is short and bushy. A break or kink in the tail or a point at the end of the tail is considered a fault. In cat shows, judges would disqualify a cat with faults like these, which would mean no awards. It would also not be advisable to breed  a cat with such faults.
The table of color applies not only to solid cats, but also to smoke, shaded, tabby and bicolor cats. 

The color code:
CFA ,
FIFE,
WCF,
GCCF,
TICA
The Registration-Code der Cat Federation of South Africa (CFSA) and
Southern African Cat Council (SACC)

The Color-Genetic-Code is available here.

A more detailed summary about the various colors, designs and eye colors can be found here.

Behind each picture on the left are details of  the respective Cattery which kindly allowed me to use their pictures. Move the mouse over the picture  to see the name of the cat, colour, sex, availability and the age of the cat pictured. Persians need a longer period to develop to full growth and for their eye colour to come in, be it copper or emerald-green.

One finds these colors naturally also with the EXOTIC SHORTHAIR and the EXOTIC LONGHAIR. The Exotic Shorthair is a "Persian cat with short coat". The coat is closely, plush with a soft structure. The hair is somewhat longer as long with other short hair cats, but not so, that the coat down-hangs. The coat is away from the body, and is not lying close as with a short hair cat.
The Exotic Longhair results from the mating of Persian and Exotic Shorthair. This designation is only used by the CFA.


SORRY if the English is not perfect ... Thank you to all that you entrusted me your pictures!!! - Cattery Silverdance