Persian Colourpoint

In most of the countries of the world, the color point Persian is one of the so many varieties included within the Persian race. However, up to the middle of the eighties, all the American Feline Associations considered this variety as a different race, the Himalayan. In fact, some associations still maintain this criterion.

It is included in this book to avoid any kind of confusions to the reader.

Classification
In the last years, the cat fanciers’ association and the American Cat Association have adopted the most extended criterion, which seems to indicate that the days of classifying the Himalayan as a race is ending. Anyway, it is possible that, when this happens, the breeders will still use this term in an informal way.

Breed Origins
The color point Persian is a hybrid variety that rises from the wish to obtain a long hair cat with Siamese features.

The first crossings of Persians with Siamese were done in the twenties and at the beginning of the thirties in Sweden and in the United States.

Its artificers were scientists more interested in genetic investigation than in feline breeding. In the American experiments, done in the Harvard Medical School, a female Siamese and a black Persian male were mated, which gave place to a litter of black short hair whelps.

When crossing male Siamese with a black Persian female, the same results gave place, but in 1935, the mating between the whelps of those same litters finally produced a Persian exemplary with color point marks. It was the first specimen of the so-called Himalayan race; its name was debutante.|

After these experiments, the genetists lost the interest, but the North American and European feline breeders observed with interest the results.

It seems, that the first American enthusiasts for the race, following the example of other animals with a similar color, put the name Himalayan, as are goats, rabbits and hamsters.

Experimental breeders founded clubs in the United States, Canada and Great Britain, but until the end of the forties no exhaustive programs of crossings and retro crossings (crossings with an original Persian to enrich the genetic heap) were done.

The Himalayan debuted as an exhibition cat in North America, concretely in Calgary (Canada), in 1957, and between 1958 and 1961, the North American Feline Associations began to admit it in its norms.

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