Photos of champion pedigree cats from the period 1890′s-2010s. More than 120 years of Persian cats.
The majority of these cats have been awarded titles at cat shows – champion title and higher.
The changes in their faces started in the 1970′s in the USA and in Europe in the 1980′s.
According to the judges on cat shows: “The flatter the nose, the better”. It’s a miracle the modern Persian can still breathe…
I was enjoying the video unless I began to notice the obvious changes around the ’80s. And now that I’m done, I’m appalled.
It’s criminal to change the natural anatomies of animals to their disadvantage because of some fad or fancy propagated by sick people who know of no better ways to spend their time and wealth.
Honestly the poor cats of the 90s and 2000s look deformed to me. This kind of selective breeding should be checked.
I wonder if these cats are healthy and if they are active enough, since I seriously doubt whether they are able to breath freely.
If countries can ban certain breeds because of the supposed danger they pose to human beings (like some pit-bull type dogs) I see no reason why cruel practices like these can’t be checked.
Your comment is spot on, Sampurna!
If you look, the chinchilla and shaded goldens are still far behind the normal Persians in face flattening.
Breathing is a problem, the mouth is a problem (crooked teeth or tongue sticking out), and blocked tear ducts running out and staining the fur is a problem for the peke-faced cats.
Outside of the clique of judges, I’ve never had anyone tell me they prefer the peke faced look. Doll faced Persians are being driven out only because of the demand for cats that win awards.
What the judges have done to the Siamese is nearly as bad.
What exactly did they do to the Siamese?
The new Siamese has a very wedge shaped head and very large ears on a gaunt body. The original body shape was muscular but not gaunt, and had an ‘apple shaped’ head.
Again, you could put together a very similar video to the Persian showing Siamese for 100 years looking like X and in the last 20 years all looking completely different.
This person may be overstating things, but has some info too –
http://www.breeds.traditionalcats.com/BreedInfo/FAQTSiamese/FAQTSiamese.html
Really? I had no idea!
Does it gives them any health issues?
Thanks for the info, Oldcat.
It seems that there are some issues due to the inbreeding required to change the body shape that quickly.
I don’t know if aside from that, the body shape chosen has built in problems, like the short Persian nose making the teeth not fit and the eye ducts block.
Hm, interesting. I only know about the cross eyed thing and the kinked tail.But that doesn’t really give them problems, so far I know.
I did find a source that said that wedge kittens are sometimes born with eyes coming out the sides of the head, so there do seem to be a problem with the extreme head shape.
http://www.life-with-siamese-cats.com/types-of-siamese-cats.html
Eh, on the sides of their head?! I don’t even want to know how that looks like. Thats insane.
Thanks for the link!
The contemporary Burmese cats also have some head shape related birth defects.
Ugh, that’s sickening.
What Oldcat describes is, I think, more about the Modern Siamese, and I must agree totally on that. The Traditional Siamese didn’t have to do to that much change, and looks more like a regular cat with a nice color and more muscular. Traditional Siamese have much less health problems than the Modern Siamese, and looks a lot better to me.
It looks a lot like what they have done with the bulldogs! Purhaps the judges need to be educated. With the bulldogs, since 2009, they are going now towards longer faces, and judging more on overall health. But when you read judging specifications, you can see how breeders can get carried away to reach what thety think is perfection.
It’s all about perfection and winning. That they forget to think about the animal.
Gorgeous as they are, I must admit that it’s what bothers me – humans interfering until the animal cannot survive on it’s own. Like right now, when I’m very pleased to know that Jangles is a very capable hunter. Imagine how I’d be panicking if she were not able to!
Oh, I know what you mean.
Humans always interfer, it’s terrible. I couldn’t see all the video, my internet is going loopy, will pop by later xx00xx
Mollie and Alfie
It’s painful to watch sometimes.