We Persians have many looks when it comes to our coat colors and patterns and our eye color, but we also can have different style faces! Doll face (aka traditional) Persians have more pointed features, where peke-face Persians have the more iconic flat face and snub nose look. Peke-face Persians are preferred for cat shows, while doll face Persians are more commonly seen on the couch than in the show ring. No matter what face a Persian has, they will always have a round head, chubby cheeks, and a cobby (short and thick) body.

We Persians are a very old breed, although the humans don’t know exactly how we came to be. They believe my earliest ancestors came from modern-day Iran (aka Persia, which is where my breed gets its name!) and from Turkey. Today’s Persians and our beautiful cousins, Turkish Angoras, are both believed to be related to these early longhaired cats. One human, an Italian composer named Pietro Della Valle, absolutely loved to travel the world, and during his travels to Iran (then Persia), some of my ancestors caught his eye. In 1620, he brought several of these longhaired gray beauties back to Europe with him. We Persians were kings and queens on the scene as early as the world’s first cat show at London’s Crystal Palace in 1871 and we’ve been reigning supreme ever since. Our regal beauty even caught the eye of Britain’s Queen Victoria herself! The Queen had two furbulous Blue Persians, which made us a popular breed among European aristocrats. When we first came to North America in the late 1800s, we were a huge hit. We even replaced the Maine Coon as America’s favorite longhaired feline! We were already hugely popular in America by the time we were recognized by the Cat Fanciers’ Association when it was founded in 1906. We even hit the big screen when Hollywood decided to choose one of us – a gorgeous white Persian – to star in the 1963 James Bond movie From Russia With Love. The “James Bond cat” became iconic and made sure all of America knew we Persians are superstars. Our gorgeous looks and charming personalities make sure that we never fall out of fashion – today we are the CFA’s 4th most popular breed!