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Himalayan Cat
The even tempered Himalayan cat is a great cat to have wondering around the house. Not prone to causing any particular problems around the
house the cat is happy to be a companion ready to recognize and support any of the owners needs. In terms of being recognized as a breed the
Himalayan cat is relatively new to the cat showing circuit. Originally, started in 1930 by Dr Clyde Keller and Virginia Cobb the cat was
officially recognized by the Cat Fancier Association (CFA) in 1957.
An interesting combination
The end product of the Himalayan cat was supposed to have a Persian body type with long hair and color-points from a Siamese. Through breeding
and trial and error the current breed arrived and was merged into the Persian breed in the 1980’s. To breed the cat today a registered Persian/Himalayan
must be used for sire/dam with no Siamese being permitted.
Standard
Coming from a Persian and a Siamese it is rather interesting that the standards dictate a rather round, short and stubby sort of appearance. The head
of a Himalayan cat should be round and be rather large when compared to the body. Instead of a longer neck it needs to be short and stout. As fitting
for a head and neck configuration such as this the eyes need to be large and round while being set widely apart.
Continuing the consistency of the standard; the body should resemble the head characteristics. A solid body of medium to large size and a broad rear end
should comprise the main body. The legs need to be short to the point of being stubby. Rounded feet finish off the Himalayan cat body.
The fur on a Himalayan cat needs to be either long and silky or short and dense. The color of the fur on the main body should be varying shades of white.
Color-points should be restricted to the face mask, legs, tail, feet and genitals. To say that the color-points are varied is an understatement although
most fall into a description of the Lynx color category. The lynx colors accepted include: seal, blue, red, cream, tortie, blue-cream, chocolate, lilac,
chocolate-tortie and lilac-cream. Main grouping colors that are accepted include blue, chocolate, cream, red-tortie and seal-lilac.
As with most animals, the Himalayan cat develops its markings after it is born. When the cat is born it is a white or cream shade and develops color-points
only after a few weeks. For the most part, this is because the color-points arrive as the cats body temperature begins to find its normal pace. As this occurs
at differing rates color points form accordingly.
Body issues
When a crossing of cats is performed there are going to be some issues involved with the physical and physiological make-ups of the cat. This is no different
for the Himalayan cat than for any other cross that may occur. For the Himalayan cat, these issues fall to the face. Because the face has formed into a more
flat configuration the eyes and nose have had to find new ways to rout the “plumbing” system. In this end result the cat can have a tendency to weep from its
eyes and have a slight breathing issue. In either case the problems are not a physical issue but rather a maintenance issue that needs to be addressed each day.
As one might wipe a child’s nose the owner of a Himalayan cat needs to wipe tear ducts.
A cool cat
This cat is generally thought to be a good housemate with only an occasional quick burst of energy. The Himalayan cat is just fun to have around.
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