Pedigrees of the World - The Persian
If you choose a Persian cat, they are a beautiful breed but with its thick undercoat, they need to be brushed everyday as it can matt very quickly. Sometimes they are purchased without realizing the amount of time required for grooming. When the kitten grows up and the newness wears off, there is a matted unhappy cat with a very frustrated owner. However, this hasn’t affected their popularity. Persians also need frequent baths so it is wise to establish the routine of the bath when they are young. The Persian is not a low-maintenance breed! Also Persian’s eyes need to be checked, because they may have difficulty keeping them clean. Although their long hair makes them look massive, Persians are medium-sized cats. Their bodies are round and stocky, and they have large paws and small ears. Your Persian should really be an indoor pet. As they generally have a relaxed temperament, they make a good choice for families with children. Persian cats often have a calming influence on other members of the household.
With a reputation for being a couch potato, the Persian tends to be docile and gentle, though there are certainly exceptions to this rule. Most Persians would rather sit around with their owners than tear around the house. While they like to play from time to time, they are not usually climbers or jumpers. Persians are not inclined to be very talkative, and when they do speak, most have relatively quiet voices. Persians tend to be cuddly cats, but not particularly demanding. Creatures of habit, most are very predictable in their behaviour.
As the dusty desert caravans wound their way westward from Iran (Persia), it is supposed that secreted among the rare jewels and spices on the basket-laden camels was an even more precious cargo, an occasional longhaired cat. They were called Persian because of their "country of origin," but hieroglyphic references as early as 1684 B.C. shroud forever their exact beginnings. Persians are believed to have originated from central Asia, probably Iran. Longhaired cats were brought to Europe from that region during the seventeenth century. The first documented ancestors of the Persian were imported from Persia into Italy in 1620 by Pietro della Valle, and from Turkey into France by Nicholas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc at around the same time. From France they soon reached Britain.
A growing concern among cat owners in general, and Persians in particular is PKD, which stands for polycystic kidney disease, a genetic kidney disease that appears to be more common among Persians than other cats. In some tests, it was found that nearly 40% of Persian cats were carrying this disease.
