My wonderful CATS |

Health and care information

I'am always adding to this page. This web site is new for me and creating it is a lot of fun, but it also takes a lot of time. So check often as I have a lot to say and share with you. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have or make a contribution of any information you may like to add. My e-mail address is LVrPets@gmail.com

This is Lisa, she does grooming of cats and dogs. In the picture she is holding Winchester. You will need a good groomer or plan on spending some time on your your Persian's coat.

Kitten care tips:

Transition into a new home can be frightening and confusing for your kitten. These tips may help your kitten feel loved and protected.

Perpare for your kittens arrival- Make sure you have a good quality food, and all supplys, like feeding bowls. You will need a brush, litter box, litter, (nail clippers) I do not clip nails but I will file them.

Kitty proof your home- Kittens and cats are natural explores. Make sure you have no toxic plants. Keep all medicines locked up. Watch out for lose strings on blankets, curtains ect... Keep all cleaners sealed up. I'm sure you can add to this list.

It is inportant to keep your kitten safe. Watch out for chewing, electric cords and computer wires must be covered or removed from a kittens reach. Even older cats will sometimes try and chew on a wire.

Introducing your new home to your kitten- When meeting new family members if your kitten seems frightened keep him or her confined to one room. If you have other animals let them met slowly by first getting to know each others smells. It may take awhile for an older cat or dog to get use to having a baby around. Don't ever force them on each other. Make sure your kitten has a safe room if trouble arises. Persains are in door cats.

Vet visits- Take your kitten to the vets as soon as possible. Not only will your kitten get a good check up but your vet will let you know what shots are needed and when.

Grooming- Persains will need to be brushed often. Persain love to feel clean and pretty. Most Persains loved to be brushed. Your Persain will need to be bathed once a month. Occasional bathing will keep your cat smelling nice and keep her coat tangle free. Make sure you brush your cat's fur out first before you start to wash them, if you give them a bath with tangles you will make them worse. Use a cat shampoo or something mild. You will need to dry their coat as they get older it will be long and thick. Drying time can take awhile so plan for this. Please don't use a hot setting, they do sell pet dryers.

Play with your kitten- Throw balls, lazer light is a lot of fun, kitten mice and other cat toys will help provid exercise.

Eyes- Persains need to have their eyes wiped. Some once a day to help keep them clean. I use a soft cotton cloth damp with warm water. Persains can tear, some more then others. A daily wipe would be a great way to keep tearing under controll and eye stain.

Persian cats can have any color and different markings including pointed, tortoiseshell, blue, and tabby. Tipped varieties are known as Chinchilla. Point varieties are called Himalayan in the United States and Colourpoint Persian in Europe.

Some fun facts: The Persian cat was once use for trade of goods and valued for its beauty and temperament. The breed is thought to have originated in Persia, known today as Iran, but there are also hieroglyphics on pyramid walls that resemble the Persian cat. Today, it is the most popular breed of cat and is easily recognized, highly sought after, and greatly treasured by those who are fortunate enough to own one.

The Persian is as well known for its temperament as for its beauty. They make wonderful family pets because they adapt so easily to their environment. Their cobby body style keeps them from high jumping (usually). This breed is the most calm and docile of all cat breeds but is also loving and affectionate, though they don’t demand your undivided attention and aren’t the pushy sort. Persians are not a very vocal breed and tend to be fairly quiet. Persians tend to be accepting of other animals in the family.

The fact that the Persian requires a large amount of grooming hasn’t affected their popularity, though if you adopt a Persian, you have to be willing to do daily brushing and face washing and give your cat a monthly bath. Many people who love the breed but aren’t interested in the amount of grooming it takes, or who suffer from allergies but still long for a Persian companion, opt for the lion cut for their feline friend. Even with the lion cut, your Persian will still will need eye care and monthly baths. The Persian is not a low-maintenance breed! Your Persian should be an indoor pet!

The Himalayan, a color pointed Persian, was created by breeding the Persian to the Siamese, which made for a coat that is easier to care for. Himalayans aren’t quite as prone to matting and require less brushing, though a daily comb-thru is a good idea. The Exotic Persian has thick, plush fur that is much easier to maintain.

The Persian is a hardy, healthy breed of cat. Some of the more extreme-faced cats may have some respiratory problems and are prone to more tearing than Persian's with a lower nose. Many Himalayan breeders also breed specifically for the doll face cat, which has a lower nose, decreasing tearing. You can also find doll face Persians.

Purchase a litter pan, litter and a scooper.
Look for something 'kitten' size in a litter pan. A regular size pan will do if a small one is not available. Keep it simple, fancy automatic pans and hooded pans can come later.

When purchasing litter for a kitten, the old fashioned unscented clay type works the best. When the kitten is about four months old the clumping litter can be used. Put about an inch of litter in the bottom of the litter pan to train with.
Keep in mind kittens are small animals and the first scooper you purchase should have narrow openings between the slats.

Find the proper location for the litter pan. Kittens tend to hide behind furniture when they have to go potty. Putting a litter pan behind the entertainment center is not a good idea but watching the kitten when he runs toward the furniture is
Remove any large potted plants from your home. Kittens instinctively bury their waste so it's important that the litter box be the only place in the house where they can do this.
Put the litter pan in a location convenient and close to where the kitten will be spending most of his time. It can always be moved closer to your ideal location as the kitten grows.
When you first bring your kitten home, take him to the litter pan and gently put him in it. He may sniff around a bit, he may just start digging right in! If he does not dig in on his own, you need to gently take his little front paws and show him the 'digging' motion for a few strokes. He should catch on right away and dig a little. Some kittens will understand the purpose of the litter box immediately and require no additional litter training. Others will need to be placed in the litter box as many as ten times a day before they figure it out.
Keep an eye on him. Just like a toddler, a kitten shows signs of needing to use the potty. Kittens tend to cry and run urgently towards a hiding spot. The trick is to gently coax the kitten to or place the kitten in the litter pan. Keep in mind, kittens like adult cats, like a little privacy so if you step aside a bit while watching to make sure he uses the pan he will train easier.
- Note: If your kitten does go potty behind a piece of furniture or in a corner in the living room the first thing to do is not get upset. Remember the kitten is just learning. Simply take your kitten to the accident spot and let him have a sniff-do not rub his nose in it. After he has had a little sniff, take him to the litter pan and dig his little paws in the clay.
Keep the litter pan very clean. You will have to scoop the litter pan daily. Using small fold over baggies at first and graduate to gallon size bags or the plastic bags you bring your groceries home in. Simply use the scooper and scoop up the soiled area and put it into the baggie. Tie it off and throw it away. A couple times a month you will need to completely dump the contents of the litter pan, wash it with a safe cleaning product like cleanser, rinse well and use paper toweling to dry it completely then refill it.
With patience, understanding and a lot of TLC your kitten should train in about four weeks.

This is some web sites I use.

http://PetEducation.com

Articles and experts for your questions about your cat's health
www.CatChannel.com

Pedigree:
GC = Grand Champion
RW = Regional Winner
NW = National Winner
PR = Premier
DM = Distinguished Merit
CH = Champion

Cat Breeder’s Terminology

Here is a list of Cat colors:

Albino – A white cat caused by lack of melanin pigmentation

B

Blue-cream lynx point – Color points that are a mixture of blue and cream with underlying tabby markings
Blue / Blue point – A bluish gray coat color
Blue cream – Cat has blue and cream colors in her coat
Bronze - Rich warm red with darker spotting and ticking

C

Calico – A cat with patches of black, red, and white
Cameo – A cat whose fur is white at the base and red on the outer part of the hair shaft
Champagne – Soft beige
Chestnut – Solid warm brown
Chinchilla – Fur that is white at the base and darker at the tips
Chocolate lynx point – Medium chocolate brown with an underlying tabby pattern
Chocolate tortie point – Where the color points are medium chocolate brown with other tortoiseshell colors
Cinnamon – Rich dark brownish red
Cream – The dilute color of red, a pale beige
Cream lynx point – Color points that are cream or pale red with underlying tabby markings

E

Ebony – Black

F

Fawn – Pale beige color

L

Lavender – Pale, pinkish gray
Lilac – Pale, pinkish gray
Lilac cream point – Color points are lilac and cream
Lilac cream lynx point – Color points are lilac and cream with an underlying tabby pattern
Lilac lynx point – Color points are lilac with an underlying tabby pattern
Lilac point – Color points are a pale, pinkish gray
Lynx point – Color points have an underlying tabby pattern

P

Piebald – Mostly white with other colors

R

Red lynx point – Color points are red with underlying tabby pattern
Ruddy – A dark ginger, red color

S

Sable – Dark brown
Seal lynx point – Color points are dark seal brown or black with underlying tabby pattern
Seal point – Color points are dark seal brown or black
Seal tortie lynx point – Color points are dark brown with other tortoiseshell colors and an underlying tabby pattern
Seal tortie point – Color points are dark brown to black with other tortoiseshell colors
Silver – Cat color that is white with black ticking

T

Tortoiseshell – Also called a Tortie, where the hair is black, red, and white
Tortie point – Color points are tortoiseshell

W

White – Cat color lacking pigmentation
appearance. You might also enjoy, “Cat Colors.”
A
- Agouti – When a cat’s hair follicles have contrasting bands of colors
- AOC – “Any Other Color” – Non-recognized colors or patterns in a cat breed
- AOV – “Any Other Variety” – Purebred cats that aren’t eligible for show because of their color or other characteristic
- Awn hairs – The part of the cat’s undercoat that is longer than the down hairs and shorter than the guard hairs
- Awry – Crooked jaw
B
- Barring – Tabby markings
- Base coat – The primary coat
- Bi-color – A cat that is mostly white with spots of another color
- Blaze – Stripe up the center of a cat’s forehead
- Bracelets – Stripes around the legs of a tabby
- Break – Indention of the bridge of the nose
- Brindling – Different colors in a cat’s coat
- Britches – Long hair on the back of the cat’s upper legs
- Brush tail – A long, bushy tail
- Bulls eye – A solid, circular spot of darker coloring surrounded by a ring of darker coloring, found on tabbies
- Butterfly – A mark found on the shoulders of classic tabbies that resembles a butterfly
C
- Classic tabby – Tabby with swirls and blotches of darker color over a lighter base coat
- Cobby – Short, broad, heavy boned, and short legged
- Color point – A pattern where the darker markings are on the extremities of the cat, including the face, ears, tail, and legs
D
- Dilute – A pale version of the darker color
- Doming – The round part of the head between the ears
- Down hairs – The shortest hairs on a cat

Ear furnishings – Tufts of hair in and around the ears

G

Ghost markings – Very faint tabby markings on any cat that disappear as they mature
Gloves – Solid color markings, normally white, on the front feet
Ground color – The color of the hair closest to the body
Guard hairs – The long, outer hairs of a cat’s coat

L

Lynx tufts – Furnishings on the tips of the cat’s ears

M

Mackerel – Tabby pattern with vertical stripes like a fishbone
Mask – Darker color on the cat’s face
Mitted – White feet
Modified wedge – A cat’s face is triangular, but not as extreme as a wedge

O

Odd-eyed – Each eye is a different color
Overshot jaw – When the cat’s lower jaw sticks out abnormally

P

Patched Tabby – Any tabby pattern with patches of red
Parti-color – A color division containing tortoiseshells and bi-colors

R

Rangy – Long body
Rex – A soft, curly undercoat with no guard hairs
Roman nose – A nose that has an arch and low set nostrils
Ruff – Collar of fringe around the neck

S

Self – A cat fur that is one solid color from base to tip
Shaded – Fur is white at the base with darker color from half way down the shaft to the tip
Single coat – When the cat has one coat with no undercoat
Smoke – When the cat’s coat is white at the base with darker fur covering most of the hair shaft
Solid – Fur with one single color
Spotting – White areas in the coat
Stop – Indentation in the nose, normally between the eyes

T

Tabby – A coat that is either stripes, classic, mackerel, blotched, spotted, ticked, or agouti
Ticking – Darker hair on the tips of the hair shaft
Tufts – Hair around the cat’s ears or sticking out between their toes

U

Undercoat – Soft, downy hairs close to the skin
Undershot jaw – Upper jaw protruding abnormally

W

Wedge – A triangular head
Wry bite – Crooked jaw

Color Chart for Pointed and Non-Pointed Persians

Polycystic kidney disease is an inherited kidney disease that has been found in Persian cats. Feline Polycystic Disease (PKD) has been reported sporadically in literature since 1967, but actual study info into this renal disease did not begin until 1990. An affected six year old female Persian was referred to The Ohio State University teaching hospital with large kidneys and symptoms of renal failure that were ultimately diagnosed as PKD. Offspring of this female were used to start a colony and begin research into this condition.

Shown above is a 6 week old feline polycystic kidney. Pictured below are a normal feline kidney and an adult feline end stage polycystic kidney

WHAT DOES THIS DISEASE CAUSE IN CATS?

Polycystic disease is a disease that shows up later in life (late onset) with enlarged kidneys and kidney dysfunction occurring between three and 10 years of age (on average at seven years of age). The condition is inherited and cysts are present from birth, but are smaller in younger animals. Cyst size can vary from less than 1 mm to greater than 1 cm in size, with older animals having larger and more numerous cysts. Problems occur when these cysts start to grow and progressively enlarge the kidney, reducing the kidney's ability to function properly. The ultimate end is kidney failure. Some of the clinical signs are depression, lack of or reduced appetite, excessive thirst, excessive urination and weight loss. There is a marked difference in when and how quickly individual cats succumb, with the possibility of this developing late enough in life that the cat can die of other causes before kidney failure. However, kidney failure is certain when the cysts can grow and cause problems. Rarely, cysts are also seen in other organs such as the liver and uterus.

HOW PKD IS DIAGNOSED

PKD is most easily diagnosed by ultrasound. Ultrasound is a non-invasive imaging technique that can identify the disease very early in its course. All that is required is a mid-ventral abdominal area hair clip and a short time period for imaging to detect the presence of cysts. With the proper equipment and experienced personnel, this can be done as early as eight weeks of age. Usually, the older the cat the larger the cysts and the easier to detect. Ultrasound diagnosis is 98% accurate after approximately 10 months of age.

HOW DOES A CAT BECOME AFFECTED BY PKD?

PKD is not a contagious disease. Dr. David Biller of Kansas State University has recently completed studies and published results showing PKD to be an Autosomal Dominant inherited trait. Published results are in the Journal of Heredity. 1996:87:1-5.

As a quick review of genetics, an autosomal dominant gene is one which shows itself if it is present, even if inherited only from one parent. This means that a PKD free cat is also genetically PKD free. If a cat is PKD positive, then it must be either heterozygous (inherited the gene from one parent) OR homozygous (inherited the gene from both parents). In the chart below, simple Mendelian genetics are outlined to understand how this (and ANY autosomal dominant trait) condition is inherited.

WHAT IS THE TREATMENT FOR THIS DISEASE?

There is no specific treatment for this disease. Treatment is similar to treatment of chronic kidney failure of any cause. This treatment includes moderate dietary protein restriction using high biological value protein, dietary phosphorus restriction, providing fresh drinking water at all times, use of phosphate binders, and treatment of the anemia if necessary. Much more work needs to be done on polycystic kidney disease in cats to understand its underlying causes and devise effective treatment strategies.

HOW DOES A BREEDER ELIMINATE PKD FROM A BREEDING COLONY?

As PKD is the result of an autosomal dominant gene, it is relatively easy to track and eliminate. All breeding animals need to have an ultrasound to detect the presence of kidney cysts. It takes a few minutes with little or no sedation needed. If positive, then go back (if possible) and check parents. The quickest way to eliminate the problem is to neuter and spay these individuals. If a particular breeding stud or queen is extremely valuable, then it is still possible to produce kittens that are PKD negative, IF the other parent is PKD negative and IF the PKD positive parent is heterozygous. Refer to the charts below for the inheritance pattern(s). When the produced kittens are old enough, an ultrasound can be performed to determine their PKD status. This way a replacement of the concerned bloodline can be chosen and the affected parent neutered. It is theorized that PKD is far more common in Persians than is currently diagnosed. With more study and published information about the disease, breeders and veterinarians can work to establish PKD-free breeding programs. In this manner this genetic health problem can be eliminated.

Normal feline kidney

Six week old feline polycystic kidney

Adult feline end stage polycystic kidney

Saggital ultrasound image of an eight week old cat with three cysts (positive for PKD)

Saggital ultrasound image of an adult cat with end stage feline polycystic kidney

Breeding Possibilities with PKD Cats Unaffected Cats = xx Heterozygous affected cat = Xx Homozygous affected cat = XX