The long-haired show cat with the round face: calm, quiet and gentle, with a coat that needs care every day.
The Persian is one of the oldest show breeds. It was already at the first big cat show, in London in 1871. It has a round head, small ears and a long, silky coat with a big ruff. By nature it is calm and quiet: it would rather lie on the sofa than climb the curtains. Its coat does need a comb every day.
Sweet and gentle, but many Persians do not seek much contact.
Some love a lap, others would rather lie beside you. It differs per cat.
Plays a little and is curious, but in a gentle, unhurried way.
One of the calmest breeds: it would rather lie on the sofa than climb.
Very quiet. It asks for attention with a look, not a meow.
Can learn simple routines, but nobody has really studied it.
Usually calm with visitors: rarely shy and rarely grumpy.
Good with calm children who stroke it gently, not with rough play.
Can live with a calm dog; a boisterous dog is too much for it.
Rarely aggressive to other cats, so usually fine with a calm housemate.
Usually copes well with some time alone, as long as its routine stays the same.
Made for indoor life: it is calm, and its long coat tangles quickly outside.
The Persian is an ancient breed, straight from Persia (Iran).
Not really. 'Persian' was a trade name: most long-haired cats came from Afghanistan in the nineteenth century. The breed itself was made in Britain, and DNA studies place the Persian with Western European cats.
A Persian has always had a flat face.
No. The Persians of 1871 had longer noses. The very flat face only came in the twentieth century, through show breeding. The old type with a clear nose, the 'doll face', is still bred today.
Pietro della Valle brought the first Persians to Italy in 1620.
He wrote in a letter that he wanted to take long-haired cats home. Nothing shows that he actually did.
From the seventeenth century on, long-haired cats came to Europe from the Middle East. In Queen Victoria's England fanciers turned them into a show breed. After that the Persian became much loved in America too. In the twentieth century show breeders chose an ever flatter face. The old, moderate type with a real nose still exists.
Persians take part in the first big cat show, at the Crystal Palace in London. Harrison Weir organises it.
Harrison Weir writes the first breed standard for the Persian.
The Persian is one of the six breeds America's CFA starts out with.
Researchers at Harvard University cross Siamese with Persians. This is the start of the colourpoint Persian.
The European federation FIFe recognises the Persian.
Around this time the very flat 'peke face' appears in America. Show breeders then choose ever flatter faces.
Britain's GCCF recognises the longhaired Colourpoint, bred from Siamese and Persians.
In America the Himalayan, the colourpoint Persian, is put forward for recognition by CFA.
CFA makes the Himalayan a colour division of the Persian, instead of a breed of its own.
In the Netherlands the NVWA tells a breeder of flat-faced Persians to stop breeding from cats with too-short snouts.
Round and sturdy, low on its legs, with an enormous coat. There are two types: the traditional Persian with a short but clear nose, and the modern show type with a very flat face.
The same Persian, but with dark 'points' like a Siamese: a darker face, ears, legs and tail, and always blue eyes. The kittens are born pale and colour up over the following months.
Recognition: FIFe, WCF, Britain's GCCF and America's CFA treat it as a colour of the Persian; GCCF since 1955, CFA as its own colour division since 1984. TICA calls the Himalayan a breed of its own within the Persian group.
Cat registries write colours as an EMS code. The letter is the colour (n black, a blue, d red, f tortie), s means silver or smoke, y golden, and the numbers tell you about white (01–09), shading (11, 12), the tabby pattern (22–25) or colourpoint (33).
White with orange eyes(w 62)
Blue(a)
Red classic(d 22)
Chinchilla(ns 12)
Black and white(n 03)
Seal point(n 33)America's CFA lists only classic and mackerel. In a very long coat the markings often blur a little.
Only Britain's GCCF also has pewter: silver shaded with copper eyes instead of green.
Britain's GCCF has bicolours, but no van or harlequin.
Always with blue eyes and no white. TICA treats the colourpoint as a breed of its own, the Himalayan.
Cinnamon and fawn are not in the FIFe, CFA or GCCF lists. Only TICA accepts sepia and mink. A small white spot (locket) counts as a fault.
The first colourpoint Persians were bred at Harvard University in America in the 1930s.
Colourpoint kittens are born pale. Their dark points only appear after a few weeks, and red points keep colouring up until about six months.
Red Persian kittens often have faint tabby stripes that fade as they grow.
A white Persian can have two blue eyes, two orange eyes, or one of each.
Silver and golden Persians should have green eyes. With copper eyes they cannot compete at a CFA show.
Usually about 11 to 14 years. In English vet records half of the Persians reached 13.5 years or more. Kidney disease was the most common cause of death there, more often than in cats in general.
The flatter the face, the less room for the nose. Such a cat may snore, breathe with more effort and tire sooner. In a Swedish study of show cats, about 9 in 10 had a nose set too high or nostrils too narrow. It depends mostly on how flat the face is: a Persian with a clear nose has far fewer problems.
How it is found: No DNA test. Look at the parents: a visible nose and open nostrils.
With a flat face, tears often run down the cheeks and the eyes get sore more easily. In English vet records about 1 in 7 Persians saw the vet for an eye problem each year, more than twice as often as cats in general.
How it is found: No DNA test. Check that the parents' eyes are clean and clear.
Small cysts grow in the kidneys, so they work less well later in life, often somewhere between 3 and 10 years. It used to affect about 1 in 3 Persians. Testing has cut it sharply: at one English lab from about 28 in 100 in 2005 to 2 in 100 in 2016.
How it is found: DNA test of the parents, or a kidney scan after 10 months.
An inherited eye disease in which a kitten loses its sight in its first months. It only happens when a kitten gets the gene from both parents. How common it is has not been measured.
How it is found: DNA test of both parents. Two carriers are never mated together.
Comb it every day, or its coat will mat. Also wipe the corners of the eyes and the folds beside the nose every day. Coat problems were the most common issue Persians saw the vet for.
It needs little exercise, but a gentle game every day keeps it fit and at a healthy weight.
With a very flat face it can be hard to pick up and chew kibble. Choose food it eats easily, and keep it at a healthy weight.
A Persian is not hypoallergenic. No study shows that it makes fewer allergens.
Its teeth sit tightly in a short jaw. Have its teeth and eyes checked by the vet every year.
Checked on 20 October 2026
Keeping a Persian is fine. In the Netherlands you may not breed from cats with a too-short snout, because it can trouble the cats themselves; the NVWA has acted against breeders of flat-faced Persians.
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