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CHARTREUX

The Chartreux is medium to large in size. Thebody is rather short, but not cobby, very solid

and heavy, especially at the hindquarters the

body is noticeable heavier. The bones aresubstantial. The chest is very broad. The legsare medium in length and not very strong,

when compared to the body. The paws are

rather small.The head is large and gives the impression of

being somewhat square, its shape looks like an

inverted trapezium - the skull is broad at thetop, and becomes narrower towards the

muzzle. The forehead is rather flat, on the top

the skull is relatively flat.

The ears are medium in size, rather close set,and stand upright on the skull.

The nose is broad, medium in length

(noticeable longer than in British Shorthair)and straight, from the tip of the nose towards

the forehead the nose builds a straight line

without a break or indentation.In males the cheeks are very distinct (like

jowls).

The muzzle is rather small, but square and onewill notice it clearly.

The eyes are large and somewhat round inshape, they are set well apart. The eye colour is

orange, sometimes the colour is slightly paler,but it should be neither watery nor have a

green colour tone.

The jaws are broad, the chin is firm.The coat is medium-short (it is not as short as

it is usually in shorthair cats). The coat is

extremely dense, the undercoat is very denseand woolly. It is not permitted that the coat lies

flat on the body, it must stand up (because of

its dense undercoat). The colour of the coat is

medium blue, although light blue is preferred.The tail is medium long and not very thick, the

tip is slightly rounded.

Only Chartreux cats are the true Carthusiancats, not the British Shorthair, as those are

sometimes called erroneously.

Chartreux litt

Mices

Nightmarecattery

Breeder SandKucher

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Chartreux male, Del Sogno Blu cattery

Breeder Paola Spurio

Coat length and coat colour

There are ongoing very controversial discussions ithe various organizations, it there should be

permitted also Chartreux in other colours, for

example in Bluepoint. The opinions amongst thebreeders are different.

Between the opinions of the breeders, if there

should be also longhaired Chartreux permitted, is

also sometimes a vast difference.

Chartreux male, Mices Nightmare cattery

Owner Sandra Kucher

Chartreux female, Amatoriale catteryOwner Domenica Lepidi

History

The Chartreux is the "natural" breed of France

and is one of the most ancient breeds. Already

in 1558 it had been reported that French

Carthusian monks, who were well known fortheir liqueur called Chartreuse, should have

bred this breed.

Chartreux female, Mices Nightmare catteryOwner Sandra Kucher

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In 1723 the name "Chartreux" was explicitly

used for this blue cat breed in a dictionary

about physics, art and trade. In anencyclopaedia, issued 1753, already an article

about the Chartreux cats described the colour

of the coat as ash-grey till blue-grey, and thatthe coat was used by furriers (because of its

thickness). In 1759 it was reported in the

Systematic and Universal Dictionary aboutanimals that those "ash-grey" cats had been

called Chartreux cats in Paris.

During and after World War II the breed was in

grave danger of extinction, and thus BritishShorthair and Persians had breed crossed into

the breed. At that time there did not exist a

consequently separate registration of British

Shorthair and Chartreux, which was the reasonthat British Shorthair had been called

erroneously Carthusian cats. But already in1950 the Paris Cat Club put an end to this

hybridization, and from that time it was only

permitted to mate Chartreux with Chartreux.In 1970 the first Chartreux cats were exported

to North America.

Temperament

Chartreux are called the "smiling" cats becauseof the expression of their face, emphasized bythe rather small muzzle when compared to the

entire head.

The Chartreux are very quiet, yet proud cats.

Their eyes reveal energy and an acute interestin their surroundings.

Their voice is rather chirping and quiet, but

they are very good hunters.The Chartreux displays outstanding qualities

of endurance and remote reserves of energy,

they are extremely intelligent and alert cats,they are very loyal and devoted to their

owners. Those qualities of silent strength have

enabled that extraordinary breed to survive forso many centuries.

Grooming

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Chartreux have a very dense coat, which plays an important role in breeding those cats. Thus regulagrooming is strongly recommended. To give them a bath periodically is not necessary because their

coat does not get smudged.

Chartreux cat of 1747

Posted on May 25, 2012 by Michael

Chartreux cat of 1747

by Michael

Portrait of

Magdaleine

Pinceloup de la

Grange, ne de

Parseval

In this painting of

1747 by Jean-

Baptiste

Perronneau,

Portrait of

Magdaleine

Pinceloup de la

Grange, ne de

Parseval, you see a

nice grey cat.

It immediately struck me that the appearance of the cat reminded me of the Chartreux.

The Chartreux is a purebred cat. It is France's cat in the same way that the Maine Coon is

America's cat.

The face is very distinctive. The muzzle is square. This cat breed is sometimes referred to

as the smiling cat. It is a cobby cat with slender legs and always gray.

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Breeders have

kept the same

standard forhundreds of

years so the

appearance of

the cat has not

changed

significantly or

at all.

I don't know ifthis cat in the

painting is a

Chartreux but it

is highly likely.

If that is the case

we have a

purebred cat before the cat fancy was invented and before any formal cat breeds existed.

By formal I mean registered and accepted by cat associations. Cat associations didn'texist until late in the 19th century.

There is one thing wrong. The Chartreux eyes should be copper coloured. The eyes of the

cat in the painting are of a colder color.

Michael

Health History and Character of the Chartreux Cat

Posted on May 25, 2012 by Michael

by Michael

(London, UK)

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Chartreux cat photo

copyright Helmi Flick

please respect copyright.

There are someinteresting aspects of the

health, history and

character of the

Chartreux cat. On the

main page I mentioned

that this cat breed can

suffer from patellar

luxation. This can be

found in tandem withhip dysplasia. Not only

can this condition cause

lameness it can make the

cat reluctant to jump. The limb can be locked and the cat might try and pop the kneecap

back into place. Hip dysplasia is found occasionally in the Chartreux cat. The symptoms

are an abnormal walk together with intermittent lameness and a reluctance to jump. The

disease can degenerate to severe joint disease. Sometimes the disease only shows up later

in life. Surgery may be required in cats that are consistently lame.

Behavioral Traits History Registration

As mentioned this cat is quiet with a silent of very soft meow. This is very similar to the

British Shorthair. Indeed the blue (gray) British Shorthair could be mistaken for this

breed. This notable similarity has resulted in some confusion. Firstly it seems that some

authors have claimed that it is identical to the British Shorthair. Although similar it is not

the same cat. The pedigrees are distinct. Also on continental Europe some breeders refer

to the Chartreux as the British Blue; an unwelcome confusion.

The similarity in temperament and appearance has also resulted in a merging of the two

breeds by FiFe, the European cat registry, in 1970. The merged cat breed was called the

Chartreux but was a blue British Shorthair in breed standard. The decision was reversed 7

years later. Sadly, the legacy of this blip in decision making can still be seen with some

breeders and cat clubs continuing to use the name Chartreux for gray Brit SH cats and

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gray European SH cats. Accordingly, when buying a Chartreux on the continent caution

needs to be exercised as the cat could be a blue Brit SH or cross breed instead.

Care and Grooming

Dr Clark (Medical, Genetic & Behavioral Aspects of Purebred Cats), says that people

who keep this cat companion should not brush the cats double coat but stroke the cat and

finish with a chamois. I have never heard that before. However, the website:

http://fanciers.com, says that the coat does not require much maintenance but during the

molting season the dead hair should be brushed out. The coat is dense and water proof so

bathing the cat has its complications.

As to diet it seems that this cat prefers light non-rich food as they sometimes have

sensitive stomachs. That said, owners will need to provide a diet sufficiently nutritious tomaintain muscle mass in a not insubstantial cat.

It would seem that the health history and character of the Chartreux Cat are somewhat

intertwined with the British Shorthair cat.

BRITISH SHORTHAIR

The British Shorthair is medium to large in size, thebody is short (called cobby). Legs are short and strong.Bone structure is very solid.

The head must be round, the skull is broad with a well

rounded forehead.

The ears are rather small and set wide apart.The nose is broad, straight and has a slight indentation

between the eyes, but not a stop like the Exotic.

The eyes are large and round and set wide apart. Eyecolour is different on different coat colours: Orange

eyes are found in solid colours, tabbies , white, smoke,

bicolour. Blue eyes are found in white, bicolours andcolourpoints (but bare in mind that the blue of a

colourpoint is genetically different from the blue in a

white cat!). Green eyes are found in black/blue silvershaded and silver tabbies.

The jaws are broad, bite is level.

The coat is short - when you hold the coat between 2

fingers the hairs should not stand over the fingers too

British Shorthair blue

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much - with very dense undercoat. When you touch the

coat it should be firm, it should be crispy - simply to

test is to stroke the coat on the back towards the head,if the hairs remain standing up like a comb the coat

texture is correct, if not the coat texture is incorrect.

The coat is not permitted to lie flat, it must stand up(because of the dense undercoat !).

The tail is short and thick, the tail tip is rounded.

British Shorthair lilac

British Shorthair chocolate

British Shorthair bluetortie (bluecream)

Many different colours and

patterns

There exist a lot of different

colours and patterns, almostthe same colours as for

Persians: Solid colours as

black, blue, chocolate,lilac, red and cream. Tortie colours asblack tortie, blue tortie,

chocolate tortie, lilac

tortie. Tabby colours in allthree tabby patterns

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(blotched, mackerel and

spotted) in all the colours

mentioned above also with silver, then

they are called silver

tabby. Colours with silver,

as smoke, shaded and

shell (chinchilla). Bicolour patterns, i.e.

all the colours above with

white. Colourpoints (as forthe Persians) and also Tabby

Points.

British Shorthair kittens silver tabby

British Shorthair cream

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British Shorthair silver shaded

British shorthair chocolate

tortie silver blotched

History

The British Shorthair is already mentioned in one of the

first books giving a good overview about the different

breeds which was issued in Britain in 1889 and the catswere shown in that famous show at Crystal Palace in

1871.

In the early days British Shorthair had not beenseparated from the European Shorthair cats, but British

breeders made a lot of efforts during the fifties to

develop a separated standard for the British. Due toWorld War II the breed was decimated and breeders

made outcrosses with Persians which led to a longer

and softer coat because Persian breeders enforced thepolygenes for a full and soft coat.

In our days a lot of new colours were bred like

chocolate and lilac British, originating from the

Siamese, or the colourpoint British resulting fromoutcrosses with Exotics or Persians. But in all cat

federations it is agreed that the head of a British should

clearly differ from that of an Exotic, the nose is not

British shorthairchocolate tortie silver tabby

chocolate

blue spotted

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permitted to show a stop and the coat of a British is

firm to touch and must be shorter than that of an

Exotic.

British Shorthair chocolatepoint

Temperament

The British Shorthair areindependent, yet very

affectionate to their people.

They follow them around the

house to make sure thateverything is done right.

Males are very people

oriented. They are like littleTeddy bears, extremely quiet,

rather little talking, but they

still very alert and can be

sometimes quizzical.Everything is done

cautiously, they are notseriously in a hurry. They

make ideal pets for less

active owners as well as for

rather busy households.

Grooming

The British Shorthair is an easy going cat, their coat does not tangle and has no

tendency to get filthy or knotted. They do not need to be bathed or excessivelygroomed. Their coat should be lightly combed from time to time to get rid of old and

dead hairs.

SIAMESE

The Siamese is, like her close relatives theBalinese, Oriental Shorthair and Oriental Longhair

(also called Javanese), a cat with oriental type:

a very elegant, graceful and slender cat. Siamese

cats are the ballet dancers in the cat world.The Siamese is of medium size, her body is slender

and long, yet with a very well developed muscle

strength, which is quite hard and firm. The legs arehigh (long) and slender with fine oval paws. The

boning is fine and delicate.

The head builds a long wedge which tapers to afine muzzle. The nose is absolutely straight and

long. The jaws are fine built. When viewing the

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head in profile a long straight line can be seen,

which starts at the top of the head and continues

straight to the tip of the nose. When viewing thehead from the front side the outer edges of the

head build a long triangle.

The skull is not supposed to be flat, it is rounded,as if the cat would wear a round helmet.

The neck is long, slender and graceful, thus

emphasizing the elegant lines of the Siamese.The eyes are almond in shape and slanted to the

base of the ears. Their colour is of a striking deep

blue. This combination between the almond shape

and the oblique placement of the eyes emphasizesthe oriental appearance of the Siamese.

The ears are very large, very wide at their base,

thus completing the triangular shape of the head

and continuing the outer lines of the head.The coat is extremely short, very fine and lies

sleek to the body. When you stroke the coat youget the feeling of pure silk. The main

characteristique of the Siamese is her coat colour,

the Siamese is a pointed cat, i.e. the colour isrestricted to very few parts of the body. In the face

there is a mask, ears, legs and tail are coloured, the

rest of the body is almost white. This contrast

between the coloured points, the white body andthe deep blue eyes makes this breed very attractive.

The tail is very long, rather thin and tapers to its

tip.

Siamese bluepoint and seal tabbypoint

Vienna Blue cattery

Breeder Christel Schirrer

Siamese redpointLiberho's cattery

Ownerr Liv Holst

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Okonor Agraba, Siamese white, called ForeignWhite

Silver Fox cattery

Breeder Wendel Stoop

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Siamese exist in the following colours: white, which is called Foreign White sealpoint and bluepoint chocolate point and lilac point redpoint and creampoint

in some organisations also cinnamon pointand fawnpoint tortiepoint, i.e. with tortie patches, all

colours as mentioned above and all these colours exist also with stripes

(tabby), which is called Tabbypoint, f.e. seal

tabbypoint, tortie tabbypoint, etc.

Siamese

tortiepoint

Int.Ch. D-Shiva's Ashea, Siamese sealpoin

Breeder Michael Ghle

Vienna Blue Quite Blue Velvet, Siamese bluep

Breeder Christel Schirrer

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History

It is supposed that the Siamese is originated in

Siam (Thailand). On ancient paintings one can seean elegant cat, whose ears, paws and tail are dark

coloured, with a mask on its face.

The early Siamese of England and Americaresemble very little the modern type of today's

Siamese. Those Siamese had a shorter body, round

eyes and a round head, and were called 'applehead'. In the 1960s a large amount of Siamese

could be admired on American exhibitions, 50 up

to 60 cats were quite usual. This started to change

in the 1980s, and today already a class of 10Siamese is considered as a large class.

Vienna BlueRamses,

Siamese seal

tabbypoint

BreederChristel Schirrer

Siamese chocolate tabbypoint

Liberho's cattery

Owner Liv Holst

Siam chocolate tabbypoint, Zos Kia catter

Besitzer Michael Bauer

Temperament

Siamese cats are talkative cats, they can get quite loud sometimes. Females, which are in heat, and

lonely studs can cry with an ear splitting voice. The Siamese loves to communicate with her owner.

They are active cats, who like to play. If they feel lonely without any playmate, they create one, and

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anything will be dedicated to become their playmate. Siamese like to jump quite high, but they keep

their balance between the narrowest things with great elegance, thus disrupting or disturbing very

seldom something.Siamese are no outdoor cats, they like a cosy warm place - their normal body temperature is 1C hig

than in other cats. They like to sleep on top of radiators, the television or the computer, or anything

which creates heat.Siamese love their owners and demand attention and affection, they enjoy riding on their shoulders

cuddling on their knees, or to cuddle in bed under a warm blanket.

These extremely intelligent cats make very good companions for people, who like to have constantcompanionship. Siamese will follow you, wherever you go, if you sit down, they will sit on your lap

you eat, they will sit besides you on the chair, without being demanding or begging for food, if go to

bed, they will enjoy to sleep in your bed with you. Siamese will be your friends for a life time.

Grooming

Siamese require little grooming. Rubbing their coat with chamois skins will remove dead hears and

produce a silk-like glistening coat.

RUSSIAN

The Russian is a shorthair cat, elegant,slender and high on legs, with striking

green eyes.

The Russian is of medium size, the bodyis slightly elongated. Legs are slender,

high and long. The boning is medium

heavy.

The shape of the head forms a wedge,with a flat skull. The nose is medium long

and straight. When viewed in profile, anobtuse angel can be seen, whose vertex isbetween the eye brows (bride of the nose),

one side of the angle is built by the

straight nose, the other side is built by theflat forehead which continues into the flat

skull. The whiskerpads are clearly marked

and rather pronounced.The eyes are almost round and have a

striking intese green colour.

The ears are large, open and wide at their

base, almost upright placed.The coat is short and very dense, it doues

not ly flat to body and stands up. The coat

is said to be double. The most well knowncolour is the Russian Blue, whose coat has

a pale blue-grey colour, where the tips of

the hairs are silver tipped (i.e. the hair tipsare very pale in colour), which give the

Russian Blue kittens

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coat the characteristic silver shine.

The tail is long, rather broad at its base.

EP&EC Fjodor Zar v. RasputinOwner: Sari Kulha

The Russian exists mainly in blue, butalso white, black, chocolate and

colourpoint Russian have been bred. Not

all colours are recognized in allorganisations.

IC FIN*Zarin Brilliant, Owner: RenateDorenberg,

EC FIN*Zarin Bellamor, Owner: Sari

Kulha

HistoryThe Russian is originated in the area of

the Russian city Archangel. Merchants

imported those cats into Europe in the

mid-1800s. Archangel, Maltese, ForeignBlue and Spanish Blue had been exhibited

in Crystal Palace in 1871. 1912 theRussian was registered as a separate

breed. The Russian survived World War II

- as many other breeds - because of the big

effort of English breeders. The originalRussian had orange eyes and was cobby

with a rather round head. In the 1940s and

1950s Scandinavian breeders crossedthem with Siamese, English breeders

crossed them with bluepoint Siamese.Thus the body type and exe colourchanged, the body became more slender

and longer, the eye colour changed to

green. Also the Himalayan gene (Siamesespoints) has remained in the gene pool of

the Russian.

EC. Anneliese Tolstois ChildBreeder: Ioana Negulescu

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Fairy Tale Tolstoi's Child & Final Fantasy

Tolstoi's Child

Zchter: Ioana NegulescuTemperament

There are gentle and shy, the Russian prefer delicate handling. They are affectionate

and very loyal companions of their owners.

Grooming

Grooming is very easy and does not need a lot of time. The breed does not need to be

bathed, but regularly brushing will remove old and dead hairs and will intensify thesilky shine of their coat.

Pictures are a courtesy of:The Russian Blue Association of Finland