We wrote and organised this guide ourselves, leaning on veterinary literature, breed-club educational material, and current genetic-testing lab guidance rather than starting from scratch. None of this exists in a vacuum, and we're genuinely grateful to the wider Persian breeding and veterinary community whose published work shaped it, including:
- Noble Manes Clinic & Laboratory — feline breeder document library and go-home care handouts, drawing on Cornell Veterinary Medicine, UC Davis Veterinary Medicine, the RSPCA Knowledgebase, and The Humane Society.
- Cacao Cattery — educational articles on starting a cattery and Persian colour genetics, written from decades of hands-on Persian breeding and showing experience.
- The Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA), cfa.org/resources — the Breed Standard, the official Breeder Code of Ethics, the CFA Cattery Standard Minimum Requirements, competition classes and award structure, and CFA's breeder education on genetic disorders in pedigreed cats.
- UC Davis Veterinary Genetics Laboratory (VGL) — PKD1 and related feline genetic test information.
- American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) — vaccination protocol guidance.
- Prince George's County, Maryland, Animal Services Division and the City of Bowie — local licensing information current as of this edition.
For deeper reading
- CFA's official breed standard for the Persian, published at cfa.org, for the complete formal standard judges score against.
- Your own veterinarian, for anything specific to an individual cat — this guide is educational, not a substitute for personalised veterinary advice.
- Local Persian and CFA breed clubs, for mentorship and current show schedules in your region.
This is Edition 1. Regulations change, testing recommendations improve, and best practices shift, so we plan to revisit and update this guide as things move. If you spot something out of date, or there's a topic you wish we'd covered and didn't, tell us — we mean that, not as a formality.
