I started taking care of Puspins (short for Pusang Pinoy) since mid 80’s. I’ve been feeding them table food because cat food was not yet popular here by that time. Most of my puspins lived for 12 years or more. Never did I encounter major health problem with them. Most of them died because of old age and some just left. In the early 90’s, a friend of mine gave me a Siamese cat. I was amazed by this cat’s ability to hunt. Since they have breed, I was under the impression that they belong to the upper standard of the domestic cat kingdom and doesn’t know how to hunt but I was wrong. They are as good as our puspins in hunting. They also reproduce like mushroom. Whenever I have kittens, I just gave them out to qualified owners but unfortunately, others are great pretenders. If it’s free and has value, they’ll do everything to have it to the point that Siamese runs freely in our barangay.

My dream cat is a persian cat an  I had my first Persian last 2004. Her name is Snowie. She’s a pure white traditional Persian. During that time, I don’t even know what the breed standard is for this cat. All I know is that they have long coat and I’m really attracted to it.  I’m familiar with the peke-faced persian but I really had a hard time finding one and when I found one in Sulit.com, I have to sell my car just to buy one but I did not do it…yet.

I fed Snowie with dry cat food. She lived only for 3 years because she suffered from FIV. Vets (as usual) do not know the root cause of this disease. I spent around P7,000 just to save her but our effort was futile. Snowie left us together with 3 kitties insider her tummy. I remember during the time when I was looking for a persian through Sulit.com, Adpost.com, Philippinepetfinder.com and OLX, I was often told that what they have are flat face persian kittens only to find out that they are traditional doll face. I was even informed that they have this semi-flat faced Persian. Semi-flat? All I know is Traditional and Flat faced. Can’t find that semi-flat persian term in the internet. It’s only in the local site that I encounter this term. So is this only in the Philippines? Although I’ve seen several pics posted in the local site, I want to see one live. Until the time I saw this ad in Adpost.com selling a Himalayan with a semi-flat face. I didn’t think twice. Drove to the breeder’s place and saw these Himalayan kittens in the cage. I fell in love with one of the kittens. She’s a blue point himmie with short snout and nose slightly located below the eyes. So, it makes sense that this be called semi flat. They do also have tear duct problem just like any other peke faced Persians. I asked for the parents. The dam is a traditional faced  himmie and the sire is flat face.  The face is flat but the nose is still located below the eyes. It almost doesn’t have snout.

Above is not the actual picture (courtesy of http://www.vetstreet.com/cats/persian) but face is similar to him, even flatter. I got the  himalayan kitten and named her “Greta”. She’s a blue lynx point himalayan.

She shed a lot after giving birth

Now  I already have a semi-flat persian (Himalayan is a pointed persian). She’s a bit harder to maintain because of her eyes. Tears overflow because of the blocked tear duct but just the same, she’s lovely. During that time it’s only here in the Philippines that you will encounter “semi-flat” persian (at least the term).

I started breeding Greta. I learned on my research that the best age to breed your queen is at the age of two so I waited until that time. When she turned two, I bought Pepper. he was 10 months old then. He’s handsome. His has a long flowing coat, great confidence when walking and a muscular built body.

They have produced several quality kittens. Most of them are lynx point.

How do I take care of my Persian cats? Is there any difference here with other countries? Climate is an advantage for most of the countries. During hot weather condition, our Persians are having several challenges like breathing problem and worst, heat stroke. This is true especially on Peke faced Persians. Most of the Filipino cat lovers know what to do during hot weather. The very basic step is to keep them cool. Wiping them with wet towel several times during the day will really help plus providing them with cold water to drink. Proper ventilation is also a plus. Because of their coat, most of the Persians here are harder to maintain. Their coat needs daily brushing. A single missed might mean a disaster because of matting.

Do our cats conform with the breed standard? Most of them not. Snowie, Pepper and Greta are way out of the standard as stated in the CFA (Cat Fanciers Association) standard, the largest feline organization in the world. Below is the Sire of one of my CFA registered kittens. He’s somehow within the standard.

 Picture courtesy of Norden Cattery

But does it really matter? Some may say yes. Some might not even care. To be perfectly honest, for me what matters most is the health of your cat. Conforming to the breed standard doesn’t mean that you have healthy cats. He may be a champion but it takes a while to know if he’s perfectly healthy. Ok, let’s look at it this way. Traditional persian is not recognized as the breed standard but is definitely much healthier than CFA recognized persian. It doesn’t have breathing problems, no tear duct blockage, can jump higher (this is very true) and many more. So why peke-faced is the breed standard? It’s mainly because of its physical feature. That’s the main reason. Health wise, it has no match with the traditional persian. Sad but true. Some are base on the physical appearance and not the physical capabilities of the cat.

So how do I know if what I’m going to buy is a pure breed traditional persian? It’s hard. FFPI papers, local cat organization here affiliated with CFA won’t even give you assurance that you have a pure breed traditional persian. You have to rely on the physical aspect of the kitten and its parents. Here’s what I’m going to look into if ever I’m going to buy another traditional persian:

-          Heavily boned legs

-          Broad and short body

-          Long flowing coats

Picture above courtesy of http://www.boutiquekittens.com.

Remember that we’re talking about breed quality and not health. It’s totally a different story. How am I going to determine if the kitten I want to buy is healthy? If the kitten is feeding raw, no questions asked. I’ll definitely get him. Other than this, I’ll think twice or seek help of the professional. I will discuss here tomorrow what are the common diseases of persian and ways of preventing this and what am I going to look for if I want a healthy kitten.