Tuesday, January 17, 2012

What is a Teacup or Toy Persian Kitten?


This seems to be the question on everyone's mind so let's clear up some of the confusion with facts. Persian cats have been around since at least the 1600's and have evolved into the beautiful Diva's that we have today. They are, as written by the standard's created by the Cat Fancier's Association, "a thick bodied, heavy boned and well rounded feline". The average weight of a "standard" size Persian, NO MATTER THE COLOR, is 10 to 15 lbs. In the last 20 years, a select group of individual Persian breeders decided to take the smallest boned color category (historically the Silver/Golden division) and use those lines to create a smaller structure Persian. These have taken the last 2 decades to arrive at where we are today with a polished and refined version of exactly what they are, Teacup and Toy sizes. 
A few rebels within our group have tried to coin their own personal descriptive terms such as "micro" and "pocket kitty" and while we applaud their creativity, bottom line is there are only 2 smaller divisions aside from the "standard" size and at the risk of repeating myself, they are the Teacup and Toy size. Weight varies slightly depending on diet, so as with any living creature, size is not precise to the half pound, but is within a certain range. Is it a fair comparison to make between a 11 mo old Teacup female that has not yet been spayed and a 6 year old female that was spayed and is slowing down in her activity a bit and eats treats twice a day? As much a comparison could be made in relativity to a calorie burning teenage girl and a 40 year old woman who works behind a desk. So, it can not be, nor should it be an obsession with exact weight of these 2 smaller sizes but more of an overall structure which is indeed and significantly less than the "standard" size Persian. 
Teacups range from 4 to 7 lbs. at full maturity, Toy size range from 7 to just under 10 lbs at full maturity. Is this a guarantee with absolute certainty? Is ANYTHING in this life??  No, it is an educated "guestimate" based on the history of a particular line within a breeder's program and one that each breeder should know better than anyone else and also not something that a breeder who has not chosen to work with these smaller lines has any business commenting on. No more than another woman across the country could recite in accuracy of another stranger's children could a breeder who doesn't KNOW and work with a particular line have an opinion based on any factual knowledge. So, opinions will vary depending on who you ask, so be sure if you are wanting advice on your eyes, you're speaking to an optometrist.