Lion Cut Picture

This is a lion cut picture of the classic kind except that it was taken in a veterinary clinic. I think it was sensible of the veterinarians of Cuyahoga Falls Veterinary Clinic to decide to photograph their patients with their guardian's permission. It gives a different perspective on cat photography whilst also being educational. This photo has been used with permission for teaching/educational purposes at this website.

As you probably know the lion cut as applied to the long haired domestic cat is a hair cut that leaves the cat looking like a lion in that a false mane is created plus a brush of hair on the end of the tail. Also, in this lion cut picture, you'll see the fur on the legs below the hock.

Why request a lion cut? Would the cat consent if asked? The cat is the patient. Note: I don't know if the lion cut was done at a vets or at this clinic. It might not have. Vets do sometimes recommend a lion cut, however. So it must be for health reasons mainly.

Lion cut cat. Photo copyright Cuyahoga Falls Veterinary Clinic

This cat looks like a chinchilla type traditional Persian but I am probably wrong. The cat has pointing, a sort of tabby pointing (lynx pointing). She is a very pretty cat and it is a good lion cut. Her pupils are wide open probably because the interior was quite dimly lit in that area. It could be argued that the fur of the contemporary Persian cat is too long.

On the basis that a lion cut is for health reasons it must be because cat fur can be too long and pick up dirt etc.. This might apply to the contemporary Persian cat. Although you would be reluctant to shave the fur of a purebred cat as a breeder would have expended a considerable amount of energy in creating it! Long fur can become matted unless groomed almost daily. Someone might not like that aspect of keeping a cat and opt for the lion cut instead. In which case the cut was done for the cat caretaker's benefit.

Or the fur had become matted and the only solution was a lion cut. This must be the most common reason. We have to look to the cat's caretaker again and ask questions. Don't adopt a long haired cat unless you are prepared to groom her regularly.

Another and more obvious reason is fleas. Long fur is a good medium for the notorious cat flea and long fur is an obstacle to the 32 teeth to the inch flea comb. It might be a struggle to get a comb like that through extra long fur unless it is done perhaps twice per day - a lion cut sounds easier doesn't it? But is fair on the cat?

A downside to the lion cut is that it needs to be maintained. Also could a cat become sunburned if he or she went outside into the blazing mid-American sun for a while? A more important downside perhaps is that sometimes a vet will do it and anesthetize the cat. Anesthetizing a cat carries health risks and even, potentially, death in rare cases. That is worth factoring in. This last risk means that a cat lion cut should not be done for the cat caretaker's amusement.

Also we should consider the cat's emotions. It is not unreasonable to ask if the cat feels uncomfortable with a lion cut. A cat might well feel wrong and upset. The emotion might be shown in anxiety, nervousness or aggression depending on the cat.  Get grooming....

Picture of Sad Siamese and Sleepy Persian

This little collage of two purebred cats These cats represent the extremes.

Sad Siamese - Sleepy Persian

It is odd looking at them and to think that they are domestic cats. You can see that this a due to selective breeding. In the wild you do not see this sort of variation.

The top cat is a modern Siamese and the bottom an ultra typed Persian (contemporary Persian).

Cat Breeds for Apartments

The best cat breeds for apartments are the American Shorthair, British Shorthair, Ragdoll and Persian.  I'll explain why I have made that assessment. Of these four I would chose the British Shorthair.

These are two fantastic British Shorthair cats. Helmi does a great job photographing cats because she also captures the character. You can see the solid, calm, reliable character of this cat breed that makes it suitable for apartment life. However, there should be a greater obligation on the cat's human companion to entertain their cat when living in an apartment, even if that cat is the rather sedate, well mannered Brit SH!

The American Shorthair is a fine all round cat breed and also suitable for children and seniors. The requirements for each group is similar and that is a well rounded, gentle, balanced cat that takes things in his stride and who is in sync. with his human companion.

People (experts) say that the Persian should stay indoors, in which case an apartment seems suitable. This is partly because of the cat's very long fur. It is also a cat that likes routine, quiet and a sense of security. Cats breeds from the same background are: Exotic Shorthair and Himalayan. You can see the passivity of the Exotic compared to the more active Bengal in this video:

As for the Ragdoll, this cat breed has the reputation of being the world's most laid back cat. This is not true because there will be individual cats that step outside the breed trends.

If the breed characteristics narrow down the choice for cat breeds for apartments, the person wishing to adopt should select on individual cat personality with the assistance of the breeder. A quality breeder is important both for advice and cat quality.

Top Cat Breeds For Seniors

It is difficult to provide a formula for selecting the top cat breeds for seniors because seniors have different personalities and lifestyles like anyone else. Some older people are very active and desire to be active as it promotes health. Some elderly people carry an illness, which despite best intentions, slows them down. The elderly active person will be the best cat caretaker as they are at home more and have the time to spend with their cat companion. Their lifestyle supports routine and security, something that cats love.

American Shorthair - highly suitable for seniors.
His name: "Tiger"

 

However, in general the retired person will be less active and seek a quieter lifestyle with minimum demands. That encourages me to think of cat breeds that are similar in character such as the Persian, British Shorthair, Ragdoll. Of these three the Brit is probably best as the others, particularly the very long haired Persian requires regular grooming to maintain the coat. The Brit SH has a fabulous coat to stroke - very therapeutic for an older person.


As to the Persian I would chose a traditional Persian as it is likely that there will be less expenditure in respect of veterinary bills. Two other cats are part of the Persian stable of breeds: the Exotic Shorthair (shorthaired Persian) and the Himalayan (pointed Persian). They are equally as good as the Persian.

The Russian Blue also comes to mind as a cat that likes indoor living. Cats that are suitable to full-time indoor life should be suitable for seniors as well. A lesser known cat that seems to shine is the Pixie-bob. They are solid performers, good with children and quiet. I would recommend this breed as one of the top cat breeds for seniors.

In fact I think a quiet cat is probably an attractive factor in a cat breed for an elderly person. The British Shorthair, already mentioned falls firmly into this category.

I don't think a senior requires a cat that is overly demanding, either. A degree of quiet independence is attractive. In that vein, the Maine Coon comes to mind too although some maintenance is ideally required. And we cannot forget the solid American Shorthair. This cat requires little grooming by their human companion (another important factor) and is quiet. They are gentle with seniors and good with children. The American Shorthair is a popular cat breed too, in the top 10 of all breeds.

The American Shorthair is my individual pick for senior members of society. This is not meant to be a comprehensive list by the way. Also what I am saying here does not exclude the beautiful random bred cat or other individual cats of other breeds.

White Cat Picture

Photo copyright gney (Flickr)

This is a charming white cat picture that caught my eye while I was visiting Flickr. I like the muted, softness of this image. The photographer is gney (Flickr name). It is published here with her permission as it is copyright protected. Please ask her if you'd like to use it. The photograph is published exactly "as is". This cat looks very much like a purebred traditional Persian. You can see the long fur. Being outside, bits get picked up in it. Many people who keep Persians say they should be kept indoors. The contemporary flat faced Persian has longer fur than this sometimes.  The photographer lives in Doha, Qatar. It is a place where it is likely that you will see purebred cats and certainly a beautiful cat like this one. I am reminded of another white traditional Persian of equally attractive appearance, Yeri. He is gorgeous. He has passed on sadly. He lived with Dani.

Pallas's Cat Picture

Manul or Pallas's cat - photo copyright all rights reserved: Rosemarie Lamb Photography

This is a Pallas's cat picture with impact by Rosemarie Lamb Photography published here with her permission. It is copyright protected. If you would like to use it please ask her. You can see the original on Flickr if you want to. Pallas's cat is a small wildcat that steps out of line in terms of appearance. The other, and perhaps more proper, name for this cat is "manul". This is a cute looking cat that reminds me of the domestic Persian in a very roundabout way. The very long fur and small ears with a rounded head are similar, which brings me nicely to a 19th century idea that the domestic cat was mated with the manul to produce the long haired Persian. That now looks far fetched and is wrong. All domestic cats originate in the Near Eastern wildcat which is short haired and relatively lanky so how did we arrive at the stocky, rounded Persian? Well, the original long haired cats may have come from Persia but the modern Persian cat has no genetic connection with cats from that part of the world. Things have moved on and the Persian domestic cat is wholly created in the West. The manul is the same size as an average domestic cat at about 6-10 lbs (manul description). It lives in the area north of India up through Mongolia to Russia. A chilly climate, hence the long coat. It feeds on small mammals such as pickas (a mouse hare) and gerbils.

Traditional Siamese Cat Picture

This is a traditional Siamese cat picture but not one taken by Helmi Flick. As a professional photographer in the United States she would not, in the normal course of events, come across a traditional Siamese cat because the major cat associations only recognize the slender, highly bred, "oriental" body shaped Siamese that breeders consider to be the original appearance or at least a cat of more elegant appearance than the original. I disagree with all of their concepts in regards to the Siamese cat.

The original Siamese is the traditional Siamese. That is clear by looking at old photographs of Siamese cats that were recently imported from Siam (now Thailand).  You can check out my version of Siamese cat history if you like. The above cat has seal pointing, which is the natural pointing of the Siamese. The traditional Siamese is bred with standard pointing colors: blue, seal, lilac and chocolate. I think they have introduced tabby pointing too (called lynx pointing). All Siamese cats before the 1950s were traditional Siamese cats.

There was no such cat as the modern Siamese. Cat associations don't call the contemporary Siamese the "modern" Siamese. They just call it the Siamese. The super slender modern Siamese is on a par with the ultra flat-faced Persian as the two cats that have been conclusively over-bred and refined beyond common sense limits. These are my views alone expressed here. Read more...

Selkirk Rex Picture

A sweet Selkirk Rex picture by Helmi Flick and this is a sweet, gentle cat that looks a bit like a sheep because of his/her curly, crinkly coat. They also say that the coat is not as demanding in respect of maintenance as it looks. This beautiful cat in the Helmi picture looks like a calico although it is a camouflaged under all those curls. All colors and patterns are allowable under the breed standard for this cat breed. Helmi says that you can see the British Shorthair in the face of the Selkirk Rex. This is because the breeding program includes the Brit SH as well as the Persian and American Shorthair. This is a stocky looking cat (semi-cobby). The first signs of a curly coat in kittens are the curly whiskers, which break off. At about 4 months of age kittens lose a lot of their fur but it grows back curly and this time it stays.  The curly hair is due to a dominant gene. Read and see more....

Traditional Persian Cat Picture

Beautiful Cristalline. I have not seen a more beautiful domestic cat. I can think of a ginger cat that is almost as beautiful! The traditional Persian is a refinement of the way the original Persian cats looked before they became purebred but the "refinement" and development of the breed through selective breeding has not gone as far as for the flat-faced contemporary Persian. The desire to create an extremely rounded cat with a flat face results in other elements of the cat's anatomy becoming slightly unnatural such as the smaller ears of the contemporary Persian.  The small picture on the right shows a Persian cat at around the early 1900s. The similarity with Christalline is noticeable. Today you will see Turkish Angoras in Turkey (not the more highly bred American cats) that look like traditional Persians indicating that the purebred Persian cat of today might originate in Angoras of Turkey.

This picture (left) is copyright Harvey Harrison. The doll face look of this Turkish Angora in Turkey is reminiscent of the traditional Persian. The body conformation is similar too.

Persian Cat Picture

An arresting photograph of a purebred, contemporary Persian cat by Helmi Flick. This picture has a strange, slightly unreal quality about it. I have called this Persian "contemporary". What I mean is that the appearance of the modern Persian cat is a far cry from the original long haired cats that were (and are) present in Persia (Iran), which is meant to be the area where these cats come from. Or did this cat breed originate from the Turkish Angora, which was referred to as the "Angora"? The traditional Persian (see picture right of Yeri) is quite a different looking cat and because of that I have listed the traditional Persian under a different heading. The aristocratic Persian has a very distinguished and long history. It is one of the first breeds of the cat fancy being exhibited at a cat show in England (probably at the Crystal Palace) in 1871. Was that the first cat show in England? I think it was. The modern Persian has very long, flowing hair and an extreme roundness of body and head - except for the famous flat face that I personally so dislike. It is a matter of personal taste and breeders decided that the face should be flat; all elements of the face inline vertically! The traditional or doll face Persian has a square shortened face but it is much more natural. Whatever you think about either the traditional or modern version of this cat, it is an extremely popular cat and because of its delicately, docile temperament it is suited to a modern indoor life.

Burmilla Picture

Photo Marc Jordan (Flickr)

The creation of the Burmilla was a happy accident when a couple of purebred cats got up to a bit of hanky panky in London, UK! A chinchilla Persian and a Burmese got up to some unauthorized breeding. Why not? That occurred in 1981 and the rest is history as they say. The Burmilla is a cat of the Asian Group of cats.  The Burmilla is also called the Asian Shaded and includes both shaded and tipped cats. The tabby markings are only on the face and tail. You can see that, faintly, in the photograph. This is a medium sized cat. Click here to read and see more.

Himalayan Cat Picture

Himalayan cat, flame pointed - Photograph copyright Helmi Flick

The Himalayan is a pointed Persian ("Colourpoint Persians"). You will see contemporary (flat-faced) and traditional (doll faced) Himalayan cats. The name is interesting as this cat has no connection to the Himalayas. Apparently some species of rabbits and goats in the Himalayas are pointed. I have not checked that. Whatever you say about the Persian you can say the same thing about this cat breed - e.g. rounded and cobby. The cat in the picture is by professional photographer, Helmi Flick,  and is an American cat probably photographed at a cat show -  a show cat. You can see the extremely long fur, which more or less dictates that the Himalayan is a stay at home cat as the fur might become unmanageable if it gets dirty outside. They are gentle, unadventurous cats. There are 22 different colors for pointing so I won't list them all here but flame pointing is popular. The original colors are: seal, blue, chocolate and lilac point (CFA). These were consistently added to. Other colors were added such as: lynx points in 1982 (popular at 2012) and cream points in 1979. You need a nice secure and calm home. See much more.

Exotic Shorthair Picture

You probably know that the Exotic Shorthair is a shorthaired ultra-typed Persian. I mean a Persian cat that has been selectively bred to an extreme shape. In this instance it is the head that has been bred to extreme. For this breed, the head is meant to be round. It is ironic, therefore, that the face is meant to be flat! I think the breed standard people have got this wrong. The same health issues that affect the Persian will invariably affect this cat. Sorry if I am being tough but it is time to breed for health and not to breed pursuant to someone's fickle idea of what an interesting purebred cat is meant to look like. See more on health and more pictures of flat faced Persians. Then see a beautiful white Persian cat the way they are meant to be. See another Exotic Shorthair picture..

Traditional Cat Breeds

There is a gradual and perhaps growing movement towards a return to a more sensible approach to cat breeding and registration of breeds

A number of recognized cat breeds are, it could be argued, created artificially or have evolved through modern (and I think misdirected) breeding practices. The underlying reason for this is always commerce. I know this sounds cynical but it must be the reason. Commerce is not a bad thing obviously. But in relation to living creatures it can be and usually is.

There are two outstanding examples that come to mind, the Modern Siamese and the Persian cat.

 

Classic and Modern Siamese

The original Siamese is the one I used to know, a standard looking cat with color points, you know, the classic looking Siamese cat. This cat was until recently no longer recognized by the major cat registers as the breed had evolved into the Modern Siamese a rather fragile unhealthy looking cat with a tiny head. Strange and interesting looking - yes, but normal looking - no, not for me anyway. This is more apparent if you see these cats in the flesh.

This change has been brought about in my opinion by the desire to breed cats that have a "stand out" appearance. Something different. It is the same motivator that drives a car manufacturer to bring in a new car that is "different" and exciting in order to boost sales.

The difference with cats is that she is a living creature. And anyway there are potential health issues when you breed like that. So you get a strange looking and potentially unhealthy cat.

That said there are many who like the Modern Siamese and claim that the appearance is nearer to the true appearance. The history of most of the cat breeds is murky and no on can be certain as to what an original Siamese looked like except that to me the Classic Siamese looks like a normal cat (which is good evidence that she is the original Siamese) and the old books such as the 1911 Encylopedia show this breed of cat as the classic look.

Also it is worth mentioning that all domestic cats originate from the wild cat and there are no wild cats that remotely look like the Modern Siamese.

TICA (the second largest registry) have I believe recently recognized the classic Siamese but had to rename the breed the Thai because the Modern Siamese breeders insisted on it.

PersiansI go on at length about the over breeding of the Persian on my website so I won't go on about it it in detail here.

There are though now 2 types of Persian cat. The recognized one, the Ultra, peeked squashed faced cat with tear overflow and nose problems and the good old normal Persian which is called the Doll Face, which is unrecognized (at least at the full status level) by the major registries (I don't know is some registries recognize this cat).

The Doll Face breeders want of course recognition but it is hard work getting it. The purpose of this posting is to support them in a very small way because as is apparent I am fan of the natural and normal and health.

Pressure needs to be put on the CFA, TICA and GCCF (the major registries) to fully recognise the traditional Persian and treat the breed in the same way as the Ultra. In fact if I was in charge I would change the breed standard of the Ultra, year on year to gradually bring this breed back to normal.

There is no good reason why there cannot be two types of Persian cat - the current Ultra and the Traditional or Doll Face if there is a reluctance (and there is) to rectify a wrong (the overbreeding of this cat)

Siamese:Top photo of Modern Siamese copyright Helmi Flick, second photo reproduced under creative commons copyright KaCey97007

Persians:
The top photo is a Traditional Doll Face "Orlando" copyright Dani Rozeboom. The bottom photo is an Ultra Persian reproduced under Creative Commons copyright mephistofelicatFrom Traditional Cat Breeds to Cat Chit Chat

What happened to the Persian Cat's face?

Sometime over the period from the turn of the century and most particularly before and during the 1980s until today the face of the Persian cat changed from being a traditional look ("doll face" appearance) to the ultra or peeked face that we think of today as the classic Persian look. This extreme looking Persian cat competes all over the US in cat shows and is judged against the Cat Fanciers Association breed standards.

The breed standard says that the components of the face of the exotic persian cat should be vertical. This helps to give the cat a very well rounded head which fits the breed standard. But this desire to produce something different, extraordinary and therefore very saleable for the breeders has it seems backfired as less persian cats are being registered with the CFA.

The reason for this may in part be due to the increase in popularity of the Bengal, which the CFA do not register as it has too much wild blood. However, I feel that another reason is the gradual realization that the breeding of the Persian cat has gone a step too far and produced a cat that simply looks unnatural. Are breeders playing God here and ignoring good practice for the sake of commercial gain? I don't know. What do you think?

More importantly there are health issues associated with the flat face including tear flow problems in part due to poor drainage of tears and in some cases breathing and sinus problems.

What do you think. Which type of Persian cat do you prefer?