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I have always loved animals and feel I have a special quality that animals respond to and trust. When I bought my first home, I decided it was time to find a special kitty to share it with, so I attended a local cat show, and wandered the aisles. I knew I wanted a Persian cat, but I had not decided on the color. When I saw a white kitty tipped in black with gorgeous green eyes rimmed with black "mascara", my heart sang! Most of the other color Persians have a rather extreme flat face, giving them an almost angry, rather coarse expression, whereas the Silver Persians have a more refined, open and sweet expression that I love and which meets the current written standard.
The standard merely specifies a "break". It does not specify that the break be deep or shallow nor does the CFA Breed Standard specify that the nose must be placed between the eyes. Only the standard for the Peke-faced Red did, and they are extinct. I think a judicious outcross to another color persian is beneficial to widen the gene pool improving coat quality and boning, but there is always a price to pay in terms of loss of coat and eye color. As there is a lot of out crossing to other color Persians being done today, we are seeing a number of odd color kittens crop up, many, many, many generations from the original outcross.
I believe we will see more and more of these "odd color" kittens as well as more tarnishing and other color bleeds if this practice continues at the current rate and perhaps our lovely coat and eye color will be lost forever. We will also lose the round smooth top heads and incredible doming our breed is prized for. IMHO Moderation as opposed to extremism may the wise course in the long run. With that being said, some have bred gorgeous "extreme" Silver Persians, which do retain the special ethereal characteric of our Silvers. I love the special "looks" of their Silvers as well as the many and varied "looks" produced by many wonderful "colorbred" Silver and Golden breeders around the world.
Silver Persians are said to be the most exquisite breed in the cat world and I must agree! Silver Persians are often commonly referred to as "Doll-faced" or "Silver-tipped". The correct color description is either Chinchilla Silver or Shaded Silver. Goldens are sometimes produced by Silvers carrying the golden gene and they too have two recognized color classes: Chinchilla Golden and Shaded Golden Persians. Also, now that the Blue chinchilla and Blue Shaded silver and Golden Persians have won acceptance to compete in the show ring this season (2010/2011), so our Silver and Golden Divison has grown.
Purebred cats make up only five percent of the domestic cat population world-wide. Of that very small percentage, only a tiny fraction are choosen to carry on the precious geneolgy that makes-up a particular breed of cat. The balance of the kittens born in the home of a reputable breeder are placed already neutered or spayed (if there is a nearby clinic that performs early spays/neuters) or are placed with a strict spay/neuter contract. Please spay/neuter your precious pet(s) and prevent unwanted or unexpected or unplanned litters. Please be a responsible pet owner.
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