INTRODUCTION:

It is now over twenty years since the original version of this paper was published. At the time of its first printing, I felt it was badly needed and I feel it is needed so much more now than it ever was before. There are many new Persian breeders who have appeared over the last five years or so, many of whom are having to learn as they go to do their cats justice in their breeding programmes. On talking to shorthair breeders when I judge their exhibits, I find that there tend to be similar problems in those groups also, so I hope readers won't pass on to another site or article simply because the article is headed "Persians". Genetics are basically the same no matter what the breed of cat, though we sometimes give our colours different names in the various breeds.

Since its first appearance, the details of this paper have, by necessity, been updated due to the broad field of new colours and patterns, yet the essence of the ideas expressed herein remains the same: care in breeding and knowing what colour is about.

There seems to be two schools of thought in the matter of the mixing of colours in breeding cats: the first of which allows for the use of almost any coloured cat to any other within its breed; the second of which allows for only a limited colour range within a breed for any one colour. I am sure seasoned readers will recognize instantly my favourite subject, knowing already that I am of the second school of thought.

Many lists of litter registrations reveal that a certain degree of colour crossing has occurred in the established breeds and colours, though it is interesting that it occurred less on the whole in the newer colours and breeds until about the last five years, in which a higher awareness of the scientific aims of the variety was present and practised. Perhaps breeders became complacent in thinking they could not possibly do much harm to the strains of the established colours.

More recently, however, the tendency has been to mix almost any colours together; perhaps partly due to a decrease in the number of cats and breeders, and therefore in the available gene pool, from which breeders could choose.

A controlled amount of cross colour breeding has merit and is the only way to obtain, for example, the correct type, coat colour, eye colour, and so on, as long as moderation and knowledge of the breed are both evident. The difference between using a Blue Point Himalayan from a Seal Point parent and striving for pure Blue pedigrees i.e. with nothing but Blues on the pedigree, illustrates the difference in the two schools. One might argue that in the first example the Blue Point is a Blue Point regardless of parents. Certainly, this is so, but many people prefer not to have this kind of mixture, though, as it can affect purity of coat colour through the introduction of polygenic modifiers that affect the quality of colour. Furthermore, the second case has the advantage of buyers knowing that only Blue Point kittens would be born from such breeding. The fundamental point is that we need to know two main things: what actual colour can be produced and how our mixing of colours can affect the quality of the colour.

Obviously, there are other comments which could be made with regard to these examples, yet the main object here is to consider colour mixing in Persians, with readers remembering that there is a direct application to what is being said in Shorthairs as well.

BLACKS: To start with, Blacks can be used in two basic groups, which, if possible, need to be kept separate from each other: -

Blacks, Blues and Whites.

The Black Persian is essential for this group in most cases, though Blues and Creams might be introduced where Blacks are not available. The problem arises that many Blacks have the yellow factor in their pedigrees as a result of often being bred with Reds and Tortoiseshells. Certainly, this yellow factor cannot be carried like a recessive gene, but it may put potential buyers off if they are looking for a pure pedigree with only Blues and Blacks on it. This is what I would want ideally if I were breeding Blacks for their own sake. Rarely are they found. A related difficulty is that even more of our Blacks have a White in their pedigrees. This is more likely to be a visual problem, as the white colour can affect the quality of the black coat.

Blacks, Tortoiseshells and Reds.

These are the second group, made up of original solid colours, with the yellow gene; namely the Reds and Tortoiseshells included.

For preference, as stated above, Blacks might have only Blacks and Blues on their pedigree, though in reality, Reds and Tortoiseshells and their equivalent dilutes are generally found also. The likelihood of introducing a larger pool of polygenic modifiers again is presented when Reds are included, so any Reds on such pedigrees need to be chosen for lack of tabby markings. Two parallel breeding programmes might be preferable; one which had Blacks without the yellow gene for the Black/Blue group and another with the yellow gene for breeding Tortoiseshells and Reds.

In either case, Blacks should not be bred for pure black pedigrees.

The actual coat pattern extends these groups many times over, for example into the smoke and himalayan patterns.

BLUE-EYED WHITES:

Whites, Blues and Blacks.

Blue-eyed Whites are bred by mating to Whites either carrying or showing the gene for blue eyes to Blues or Blacks. They have been mated to Chinchillas in an attempt to obtain blue eyes, though in one case where this was done, some Whites still produced Silver Tabbies of doubtful markings up to ten generations later and the blue eyes were never quite the right shade. It had been thought that Blue-eyed Whites would be best bred only to other Whites showing at least one blue eye, though experience later showed that this would probably create inbreeding and they should be treated little differently from any Whites; being interbred with Blues and Blacks.

Regardless of the coat colours used as part of the White programme, deafness can be a problem in Blue-eyed Whites. However, some lines seem much less likely than others to pass on deafness. In personal breeding experience relating to our own two Blue-eyed White studs, only one case of deafness was inherited from the first stud over a decade ago and the current stud has not produced any deafness in Whites, Blue-eyed or other. Certainly, there is a degree of luck in this.

In the end, it is equally important to breed out to Blues and Blacks to maintain type and boning and it decreases the likelihood of deafness by preventing frequent mating of White to White.

ORANGE-EYED WHITES:

In an article many years ago, I described the colours ideally used in Orange-eyed White breeding. A few noted breeders believed that any colour at all is acceptable in the pedigree of Whites, presumably because white has a special kind of dominance called masking, which enables it to hide all other colours and patterns. In fact, a Blue or Black is best used in white breeding, with a White to White mating whenever one wants to boost the number of Whites in the litter. It can also enable one to breed a few Whites with two white genes instead of the more normal one, though the comment on deafness at the end of the section above on Blue-eyed Whites should be borne in mind.

Creams are sometimes used with Whites. While Blues and Blacks are highly preferable, due to the clearer, more sparkling white coat they encourage in immediate and following generations, I have known of breeding lines where having a Cream in a White pedigree has helped avoid deafness, though no study has been done on the reasons for this. The writer's own belief is that the yellow gene may help inhibit deafness.

Also, contrary to the beliefs of some other breeders, Whites do not necessarily make the coats of Chinchillas paler when a Chinchilla strain has a dark coat. All that happens is that the black pigment around the eyes and nose and on the feet is lost or weakened in intensity and whatever colour the white coat is really masking can have other unpredicted effects on the ticking and ground colour of the Chinchilla.

BLUES: Like the Blacks, the Blues belong in at least two groups; the first one with the Whites, the second with Blue-creams and Creams. Again, the actual coat pattern superimposed onto the actual colour extends this into many other sub-groups of Persians, as the Blue is probably even more useful than the Black for its ability to throw type into its offspring; though perhaps less so than it was twenty or thirty years ago, when it was the basis of real body and head type in virtually all Persians in Australasia.

Blues, Blacks and Whites.

The Blues, along with the Blacks, are the best to breed with Whites, as they help to purify the white coat, along with the necessary type and bulk. On the other hand, as long as the Blues used for this group are not from White breeding, they can be used for both the White and the Cream groups, or other pattern equivalents. Having as many pale Blue-creams and pale Creams as possible on their pedigree increases the likelihood of Blue offspring, from straight Blue/Blue-cream/Cream breeding, from White or other pattern matings being pale also.

Blues, Blue-creams and Creams.

This is the dilute group from which most Persians in Australasia obtained their type. The long, pale, even coats, mostly originating in New Zealand, were known far and wide; obtaining their colour quality from a mix of the three colours on the pedigree. No dense colours, himalayan pattern (barely seen here in the sixties or early seventies), tabby or white, were found on their pedigrees. Careful selection removed all tabby markings from the Creams used and helped pale and clarify the two other colours, in a way that has not been done since. For a decade and a half, these coat qualities continued to benefit most breeders in the region.

Later, a number of breeders decided that new bloodlines were needed to prevent breeeding that was too close and to improve the heads on their Persians. Where it was for a time believed that having as many Blues on a pedigree as possible also helped ensure pale blue coats, this proved not to be so. Many pure blue Persian pedigrees, just as with many Blue Point Siamese pedigrees that had nothing but Blue Points on them, produced Blue Persians whose coats became darker and were harsher to the feel. This important point was learnt the hard way when the path of breeding Blues was changed in Australia when a number of imported Blues with pure blue pedigrees collectively helped rid Australia of most of its pastel-coated Blues. The really good pastel Blues that had been bred from the mix of pale, intermingled Blue-creams and pale, even, unbarred Creams were probably lost to Persian breeders.

Sadly, there are very few such dilutes seen these days, despite the efforts of a small number of dedicated breeders with long memories to keep such specimens going or breed more of them from ever-diminuishing stock.

CREAMS:
Dilute solid group.

Most of what needs to be said about this group is covered above in the Blues. Breeding Cream to Cream has generally been done even less than breeding Blue to Blue, for the same reason relating to creating darker coats and because it meant tabby markings were likely to re-appear.

Ticked group.

As well as being used in the dilute solid colour group, Creams have been bred with Chinchillas to breed the early Cameos in Victoria. Of course, it would have been preferable to use Red Selfs to ensure red ticking, which gives better colour contrast, but in those early days of the 1960's and 1970's, suitable Reds with sufficient type were not to be found.

In such ticked programmes, it is vital that the Creams or Reds obtained from such matings never be used in a solid colour breeding programme. The basic principle at work here is the same one which applies to using Blues from White breeding to breed Blues. The quality of the offspring has a high risk of having colour faults due to the modifiers introduced for variation in colour along the hair fibres with the ticking gene.

CAMEOS:
As suggested in the above paragraphs, Cameos are obtained initially by crossing cats carrying the yellow factor ( Reds or Creams, or even Tortoiseshells or Blue-creams if necessary) with Chinchillas or Shaded Silvers; preferably Chinchillas. Cameo males may be obtained in the first cross if the dam is yellow; otherwise all the first generation offspring will be of varying colour range and less clearly any real pattern. Once the Cameo pattern and colours are established, there is no further need to outcross to the Reds and Creams again, unless type has decreased markedly and a typey animal is needed to re-establish this quality. While there were quite a lot of Cameos in Australia in the mid-1980's, at the moment, there are few Cameos being bred. The best have benefited enormously from having top quality Reds in their pedigree. It cannot be stressed too much that while tabby barring is almost inevitable it Reds, it will carry over into the Cameos if selection for non-barred Reds is not ruthless.

A number of early Camoes in the region were bred with Smokes as well; this being seen as the next closest pattern to Cameos. Unfortunately, the practice had a countering effect; Cameos being ticked and Smokes being tipped, with colour further down the hair fibre. The outcome was many kittens that had colouring somewhere between the two patterns, making it very difficult to tell which pattern one had actually bred. It is probably better to use solid colours, as the eye colour is the same basically as for the Cameo and type might be better.

TABBIES:

The Tabby group is in a bracket of its own. The tabby gene is dominant over non-tabby, but it is masked by non-agouti (solid colour) in all colours other than yellow. This failure to mask is especially evident in Red Selfs, where the deeper colour and more likelihood of contrast in the coat makes it more likely that barring will be visible in Reds. Careful selection, together with breeding for pale coats in Persians from the 1960's on, produced superbly pale Creams, with even coat colour free of any barring.

While the original Tabbies were silver, brown (genetically black) or red, there is a multitude of blue, cream, various tortoiseshell combinations and chocolates varieties now.

A few points need to be made at this stage. Firstly, Tabbies of different colours tend not to be mixed with each other as much as would be done in solid colour breeding. Rather, they are likely to be bred just within their own colour or their solid colour equivalent. While it can be argued that tabby to tabby should improve clarity of markings, it has also been shown that breeding to a solid colour can act to do this also, especially if the solid colour is a Black. This works particularly well in Brown Tabbies and Silver Tabbies.

On the other hand, Silver Tabbies are sometimes experimentally bred by crossing to Chinchillas, though this tends to lead to loss of clarity of markings, even if the undercoat colour is improved. Either way, Brown Tabbies and Silver Tabbies are generally not mixed, due as much to a likelihood that the Silver Tabby will lack type as to concerns about mixing the silver gene into non-silver Brown Tabby breeding. The mix would help the Silver Tabby, but may not do much to improve the Brown Tabby.

Brown Tabbies have the advantage over Silver Tabbies in that they may be crossed with Blacks or Blues, as the former are allowed to have copper eyes, whereas the Silver Tabbies mostly are not. Black gives better definition of marking in the case of both these Tabbies. Less commonly, Brown Tabbies may be crossed with Blues, Tortoiseshells or Blue-creams, if particular specimens have the type one is seeking, or if one wants to introduce the yellow gene into Tabbies.

Red Tabbies are bred with Blacks, Tortoiseshells and perhaps with Red Selfs. As with the other Tabbies, the Red Tabbies are bred with each other to improve definition of markings, though there has probably been insufficient breeding done in this area to be certain whether Black, Red and/or Tortoiseshell crosses do the same job. In theory, one should be able to use the same colour groups of other dense colours as would be used in the solid colour equivalents. I've not seen offspring resulting from mixing Brown Tabby and Red Tabby, though it should produce good clarity; remembering that the Brown Tabby is genetically a black cat.

The chocolate group of Tabbies would need to be bred with their dense and dilute solid colour and dilute tabby pattern equivalents, as well as within their own colour range. However, the chances are that there would be so few specimens from which to choose that reality could produce a much more mixed pedigree.

Black Tortoiseshell Tabbies would be intermated within the same group; Blue-cream Tabbies would be kept in the dilute solid colour and dilute tabby pattern group. Once the chocolate gene was mixed with the Tortoiseshell/Blue-cream range, the pedigree would become much more complicated again.

The over-riding stress with all the Tabbies must be to remember that Tabbies of different colour groups are mated together less than are their solid colour equivalents; certainly any Silver Tabbies (and these can also come in the full range of actual colour) would be expected to be on a pedigree because one had introduced non-silver cats to improve the type of a silver programme. The modifiers that produce the white undercoat of Silvers would not be welcome in non-silver cats. The effect of tabby and agouti modifiers also means that tabby-patterned cats should not be seen on the pedigrees of non-tabby cats. It would seem to make little sense to spend several decades selectively and most successfully breeding tabby markings out of solid colour lines, especially in the dilute lines desrcibed earlier, only to carelessly mix the various colours and patterns and lose the progress made in the 1960's and 1970's. The benefit for such mixing in tabby breeding is one way; use solid coloured cats to improve the type and marking clarity of Tabbies, but do not breed the offspring from such crosses back into non-tabby programmes. They are either used as part of the Tabby programme or they are desexed.

CHINCHILLAS/ SHADED SILVERS:
The breeding of Silvers poses a new set of problems in itself, which might alone be the subject of a book. Originally, Chinchillas are thought to have come from a chance Silver Tabby mating, though they are now probably equal most popular of all Persians, in the pet market at least, along with Himalayans.

Chinchillas are traditionally bred to other Chinchillas. It generally seems accepted amongst Chinchilla breeders that this is essential to keep the correct brick-red pigmentation of the nose and the black around the eyes, nose and on the paw pads. The distinctive emerald eye colour further seems to require this. The result of this eventually limiting programme is that some Chinchillas lack size, cobby bodies, ticking and clear coat colour.

One solution to this would be to mate out to very typey, good eye-coloured Blacks. While this would create problems with eye colour, ticking and pigmnentation on the extremities listed above, there are a number of very good Blacks available these days that could benefit the silver group. Blues might have the same type benefits if they could be found, but they would introduce the dilute factor and introduce the possibility of producing Blue Silvers within two generations.

Another possible solution is to import Silvers, though very careful selection of stock is needed if the problems of incorrect coat colour and long bodies are to be avoided.

No doubt, some Chinchilla breeders will disagree with these suggested solutions. Regardless, there can be no dispute that the silver group needs attention. The normal breeding Silver to Silver had not fixed the problem, so outcrossing seems needed. It was done after the last World War in both Britain and the USA, as evidenced by the Brown Tabbies and Golden Chinchillas that are now admitted to having occurred occasionally in many a good line of Silvers. These days, it is not considered a cardinal sin, so they are admitted to more openly.

PATCHED GROUP:

This is a large and important group which includes Tortoiseshells, Tortoiseshell and Whites, Harlequins and Bicolours. These tend all to be used together in breeding, whether they are dilute or dense in colour. If there were enough specimens from which to choose, breeders would be better off keeping the dense and dilute groups separate and breeding out to their matching solid colours. As with many other colours already discussed, apart from the straight Tortoiseshells, any offspring should not be bred back into solid colour breeding, as it would introduce the spotting gene to solid colours, creating a problem for show cats and for solid colour purists, who would not be thankful for seeing patching on their pedigrees.

The chocolate group would ideally be kept separate from non-chocolate, with the proviso that where outcrossing to non-chocolate is needed, offspring would best not be bred into non-chocolate programmes.

Regardless of the spotting gene, at least all the cats in the group have the same basic eye colour - orange or copper - with small variations in their standard, depending on the actual coat colour. This means that intermating is much simpler and it is correspondingly much easier to improve type in the patched group.

HIMALAYANS:
The himalayan or pointed pattern can have almost the full range of colours and coat patterns, ranging from all the solid colours, both dense and dilute, yellow and non-yellow, chocolate and non-chocolate, to tabby and smoke patterns being superimposed on the point pattern. At the moment, Cream Point and Red Point are probably the most widely seen, though at one time in the 1970's and 1980's Seal Point, the original colour, was most widely seen.

It is abundantly clear that good Himalayans are bred mostly by outcrossing to solid colour Persians. This improves bone, head type, eye shape, coat length and possibly even coat texture. While the actual eye colour is totally different in the solid colours, this is generally thought not to matter, as long as the solid colour cats used have good eye colour for their own particular coat colour. In this way, the gene for good eye colour transfers in a majority of the offspring and eventually shows better blue in the Himalayan eyes. The practice is of course that many Himalayans have pale eyes; more so in those with good head type. Reds, Creams and Seals generally seem to have better eye colour than most other coat colours.

Of course, the first cross to solid colour produces only non-pointed offspring, all carrying the himalayan gene in non-visible form. To produce Himalayan kittens, these have to be mated together or to actual Himalayans. Fortunately, most of the Himalayan breeders are aware of the requirements in improving the breed and, while, it is a time-consuming programme, they have made great leaps forward, often winning major awards on the show circuit. Of course, some of this is because Himalayan with excellent type have been imported; thereby shortening the process. Perhaps some Chinchilla breeders could note the advances made by Himalayan breeders.

Given the choice, though, breeders would keep to the same groups as outlined in the solid colour breeding groups; dilute separate from dense, chocolate separate from non-chocolate. Tabby or Smoke should only be introduced to gain the relevant point pattern, kept out of non-tabby, non-smoke and solid colour programmes. The patched gene should not be crossed with the pointed gene at all, as it is too difficult to be sure whether white spots occur on the body of cats with the himalayan pattern, especially when the body is the pale tones required by the show standard.
CHOCOLATE:
The chocolate group is a topic all by itself; having been bred into virtually all existing Persian coat patterns. As has been suggested in more than one place in this article, other solid colours may be needed to provide type in Self Chocolate and Self Lilac Persians, but offspring from such crosses should only be used for breeding in the chocolate group, never put back into other colours. The chocolate gene is likely to have an effect on the quality of the other colours and may introduce poorer type into them as well.

Secondly, it is likely that the greater proportion of the chocolate group will have pointed cats on the pedigree, which should also be avoided in pure solid colour breeding, due to the possibility of passing on poorer eye colour and uneven coat colour, again through modifiers.

Thirdly, chocolate might be bred with both dense and dilute solid colours, but it might be better mixed with dilute colours or pale, even Reds in an effort to produce the much sought after milk chocolate colour. Lilacs, on the other hand, should only be interbred with dilutes unless it is necessary to cross to a Chocolate in order to be sure of breeding phenotypic Chocolates and Lilacs. As with the pointed group, the chocolate gene is recessive. This means that not only does it need to be inherited from both parents to be visible on offspring, but it will take at least two generations breeding before this happens if the breeder is starting with only cat showing the chocolate gene.

Lastly, it should be remembered that the actual quality of chocolate sought after in Chocolates of any variety or coat pattern is pale, warm, milk chocolate, with an equivalent pale, warm pinkish grey in Lilacs. This needs to be selectively and carefully bred for, so breeding partners such as dark or cold Blues or hot Creams should be avoided, as they will probably pass on these modifying polygenes on to their offspring. Whether the issue is Lilac Smoke Points, Chocolate Smokes, Lilac Tabbies, Chocolate Tortoiseshell or Lilac-cream and White, the basic colour quality is the same and the ground rules for achieving the correct tone of colour remain unchanged.

CONCLUSION:
There are many individual colours I have not touched on in this article and others I have done little more than refer to briefly in passing. The overall concern here is the somewhat common practice of indiscriminate mixing of colours. Certainly, availability of breeding partners, cost, distance, numbers of animals to which one has access within the total gene pool are all issues that affect how one breeds for a particular pattern or colour. Unfortunately, the novice breeder is more likely to be the victim in poor selection when starting out. Then he or she has difficulty understanding why their kittens lack type or the correct quality of colour, or why it is not easy to sell their stock. The decreased number of Persian breeders across the country has made selection harder also.

The general trend in the last decade has therefore been that the breeding groups proposed in this article have been able to be kept to less and less. Certainly, it is the breeder's own business as to what colours or patterns are used in a breeding programme. Yet, knowing what is more likely to give better results if other factors are equal is the first step in moving a little closer to breeding better cats. In the end, we all want to improve our stock and breed the elusive, perfect cat. It seems only sensible to minimise the variables. I believe the groups suggested in this article are one way of doing so.

COPYRIGHT. This article expresses the opinions of the author only; not those of the FCCV or its officers. It may only be copied or printed in any form, in part or in total, with the written permission of the author. Permission may be sought via this web site. R. U'Ren.