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Breed Profile

Size: Medium
Origin: Persian/Siamese crossbreed
Colour: Chocolate

A solid-coloured version of the Himalayan Cat developed in North America. It has no connection with Kashmir. The name is based on the fact that this breed is close to the Himalayan breed and that Kashmir is close to the Himalayas.

Owner's Guide

Domestic Breed: A solid-coloured version of the Himalayan Cat developed in North America. It has no connection with Kashmir. The name is based on the fact that this breed is close to the Himalayan breed and that Kashmir is close to the Himalayas.

Appearance: A Persian Cat with solid chocolate or lilac fur.

History: In the 1930s breeding programmes were started to obtain a Persian cat with Siamese markings. This colour-pointed Persian, called the Himalayan, was given championship status in the 1950s (1955 in Britain and 1957 in the USA) . During the course of creating the chocolate-point and lilac-point versions of this breed, occasional specimens appeared with solid colours. Some breeders decided that these all-over chocolate and all-over lilac individuals should be given separate breed status under the name Kashmir. There was considerable opposition to this on the grounds that this was just another minor colour variation and did not justify a separate title. One author described the Kashmir as 'A taxonomist's daydream and a superfluous breed division.'. Another says it is 'unnecessary splitting...simply in order to create another breed.'. As a result, it remains controversial, welcomed by some but ignored by many. The Canadian Cat Association is one of the few major organizations to accept it as a separate category. For most others, the cats are merely Chocolate Persians or Lilac Persians.

Technically, the justification for calling these cats by a separate name is this: when the Himalayan Cats were being developed from traditional Persians, they acquired their Siamese colour-points from an introduction of Siamese genes into the breeding programme. When a few self-coloured individuals arose by accident in this programme, they may have lacked the colour-points, but still carried a Siamese genetic element in their make-up. They are therefore not pure Persians, even though they may look like them. In other words, this is a cat that is given a separate breed name, not for what you see when you look at it, but for what is hidden in its genetic make-up. For some authorities this is simply not enough.

Personality: Terms used to describe this breed include: Gentle, intelligent, outgoing, calm, self-confident, devoted, demanding and affectionate.